Palestinian minister seeks $1.3 billion in aid

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Palestinian minister seeks $1.3 billion in aid

By Paul Taylor
1 hour, 28 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad told
the European Union on Wednesday a new national unity government
needed more than $1.3 billion in international aid this year to
avert a "devastating" humanitarian crisis.

He won a cautious endorsement from EU External Relations
Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who promised technical
assistance to enable his ministry to receive aid once the
Palestinian Authority meets key political conditions.

"We are looking for external support to bridge a gap of nearly
1 billion euros ($1.34 billion) for 2007," Fayyad told a joint news
conference, stressing his government's commitment to respect all
peace accords with Israel.

Asked what would happen if aid was not forthcoming, he said:
"The consequences are far too grave, quite frankly."

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070411/wl_nm/palestinians_eu_dc

[sellitman]

1. Translation:

We are running out of klashnekoff missiles.

:sarcasm:

[Shaktimaan]

2. Maybe they could

call Suha Arafat and ask for their money back?

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Arafat comments are so season before last...

But like all worn-out obsessions, there's always some who will try to keep it rolling long after its use-by date...

An economy that's so close to total collapse isn't a joking matter, and there are several things that the international community should do to make sure it doesn't happen. Aid should be forthcoming and Israel should stop trying to pressure other countries into not giving aid to the Palestinians. Israel should also free up the Palestinian tax revenue that it's withholding, as it's not legally entitled to that money and trying to make the situation worse by holding onto most of it is not helping the situation at all...