Lame as some people call it
Thursday December 9, 2004 - 2:07AM EDT
This article and its many incarnations are a doosy, I can't even find the original text of the article. Now here is something that is truly disgusting. On Wednesday December 8th early in the day I read an article about the US government giving 20 million to the Palestinians. The headline of the article was something like US gives 20 Mln to Palestinians , so I clicked and read the article which went on to say that the money came with stipulations that it was to go to paying Palestinian utility bills to Israeli companies. It also pointed out the fact that the US gives 3 billion a year to Israel in aid money. The headline was misleading but the wording of the article wasn't. It specifically said that the money came with "a stipulation". That stipulation is just more smoke and mirrors to make it seem like the US government is doing some type of goodwill gesture when all they are doing is giving more money to Israel. I immediately pointed this out to two of my online buddies and told them that this was going to be played up in the news and some type of goodwill gesture when it was essentially a sham.
The original Reuters article made it perfectly clear that this money is intended for Israeli utility companies and that the Palestinians essentially get nothing. Much to my surprise when I revisted the article things had changed. Missing was the sentence about "a stipulation" of the money going to Israeli utility companies. Instead it was replaced with "to help pay their bills" as if the Palestinians are delinquent. Also suddenly the article was filled with rhetoric about the Palestinians need the money to keep their power on so they can run an election. Further more there were quotes from US officials involved saying that this money represented some type of desperate budget support. Attached at the bottom of the article was (Additional reporting by Steve Holland), that wasn't there when I read the article earlier. Now all of a sudden this thing is framed as some sort of crisis help from the US government. Here is an excerpt
The Palestinian Authority is facing a severe financial crisis due to falling tax revenues during four years of violence which has paralyzed the Palestinian economy
What I did next was search for more stories associated with this US government generosity. All of the articles I read(all mainstream media articles) downplayed or failed to even mention the fact the money has to go to Israeli utility companies. They did mention however that the congress prevents the US from giving direct aid to the Palestinian Authority and that the magnanimous President Bush used his powers to waive that rule so this donation could be made. Below is a particularly interesting excerpt from the article.
A senior Bush administration official said it hoped the aid would encourage additional donations from other countries "at a time when the Palestinian Authority is in desperate need of budget support to pay its bills, maintain stability and allow it to focus on the larger question of governing."
Are they seriously thinking that the Palestinians have any hope of government with a 20 million phantom donation. When they have psychos running around blowing themselves up, militant groups refusing to listen to anyone and an Israel military funded by the US with tanks, fighter jets and probably better equipment than the US's own under equipped army attacking them everytime a psycho blows himself up in a nightclub. Not only is the donation phantom, but 20 million isn't going to do anything, hollywood stars get paid that for 3 months work and they expect a fucking country to run a government with it. I just wonder in a country so small if the utility companies are private industries or actually government "owned." No one asks that question.
I just wonder if the US didn't give Israel so much money if this situation would have resolved itself a long time ago with the two sides eventually destroying themselves or just running out of resources and resorting to bare fisting boxing matches in the street. The Palestinians are funded by rich sympathizers who ironically make most of their money from US oil purchases and investments. They may be blowing themselves up, but bombs just don't appear out of nowhere they cost money and who better the buy those bombs than rich middle eastern industrialites. Israel and Palestine are the pathetic pawns of the rich who have been told by them to hate each other. It will only end when they realize they are being used.