One of the most popular topics in the media today relating to Israel is how the Palestinian Authority has no money and has not paid any of their workers in the past three months. And as the PA supports 35% of the families in Gaza, no paychecks is a pretty big deal. Who is to blame? The media is quick to point to:

• Israel: they have been withholding tax revenue – amounting to $50 million per month – since Hamas took control in February
• The United States: they have also not been sending any money to the PA, and have threatened trouble to any other country who would do so
• The European Union: they have also been withholding their payments to the PA (gasp) since Hamas came into control

Those poor Palestinians. Abandoned by the countries who have been giving them free money for so long, they are in dire straits. Does this seem weird to anyone else? The “government” in Gaza is run jointly by two terrorist organizations (the PLO and Hamas). Almost all of their revenue comes from money that is given to them by the countries that they hate the most (the US, Israel, Europe). So much so that when they stop receiving monthly checks, they can no longer bay the 35% of the workforce who are employed by the government. (To get an idea of how ridiculous that is, imagine if the US government employed 57 million people). And of course, when the checks stop (because of the addition of a second group of murderers, Hamas, as the majority in the Palestinian government) who is to blame for the missed paychecks, poverty and low-employment in Gaza? Israel and the US (of course). From a NY Times article on the subject:

After Hamas took over the Palestinian Authority, Israel stopped transferring $50 million a month in tax and customs revenues, and the United States and European Union cut most of their aid, including budget support, since Hamas is listed as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Israel. “The Palestinians are furious with the United States, which presses democracy and then punishes us for our free vote,” said Ahmed Yousef, a political adviser to Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, a Hamas leader. “It took the Islamists more than two decades to decide to participate in democratic voting,” Mr. Yousef said. “For us it’s a big step in the right direction. But this is selective democracy — not what the people decide, but whether their decision fits America or not.”

So a failure to send over millions of dollars in exchange for nothing means that the US is out to get the Palestinians? Some thoughts:

• It is not the responsibility of the United States, Israel or the Europeans to fund the PLO and Hamas or to pay for their hugely overinflated payroll.
• This responsibility falls first and foremost on their own government. To end poverty and get people working again, all they need to do is cease all hostilities against Israel and renounce their desire to destroy the Jewish State. That is all.
• If anyone else would be expected to be helping the Palestinians, it would have to be one of the other Arab states nearby. Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE and others are raising oil prices every month and are swimming in money. If they really wanted to show their solidarity with their Palestinian brothers they would support them with more than just words.
• If the US, Israel and the Europeans want to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, they should do so. They should send wheat and other food staple product. They should send medical supplies. They should send other physical materials that would help restart the economy over there. If it is really a humanitarian mission, treat it as one, the same way you would treat such a mission in Somalia. But under no conditions should they send any more money. Even when the money is sent “directly to the agencies that need it for humanitarian aid”, and in such a way that “Hamas will never get control of the money”. Really. Who are we kidding here?
• On a related note, shame on Israel, the US and the Europeans for caving in.

If someone has dug themselves into a deep hole, there are always ways out. But digging the hole deeper only lengthens the depravity of the situation.

(Cross-posted on Newsvine)