Saudi Arabia may not give Palestinians $1.4 billion in promised aid

Sunday December 16, 2007 00:20 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

As the Paris conference of donors to the Palestinian Authority draws near, a request by the Palestinian Authority to Saudi Arabia to provide $1.4 billion in aid seems to be falling on deaf ears.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia normally leads the Arab nations in donations to the Palestinians, but now, with the U.S. And Israel demanding that the money go to the unelected government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, rather than to the democratically elected Hamas government, the Saudis are hesitating on whether to donate the money.

The Saudi hesitation has drawn a cloud over the otherwise optimistic leadup to the Paris talks, scheduled to take place on Monday. Saudi Arabia is normally the single largest contributor to the Palestinian budget, and other Arab states tend to follow their lead.

Of $421 million in support pledged by Arab nations for this year's Palestinian Authority budget, only $80 million has been delivered. Palestinian Authority officials blame the gap on the Hamas-Fateh division. Hamas won the Palestinian elections in January 2006, but the government they formed was not recognized by the U.S. And Israel, who both consider Hamas a 'terrorist' entity. In June 2007, Hamas took power in one of the two Palestinian territories – the Gaza Strip, after months of bloody infighting with the rival Fateh party.

Fateh took control of the other Palestinian territory, the West Bank, and the U.S. and Israel immediately recognized Fateh's 'emergency government' as the legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people – despite the fact that the party was not elected.

Although the Palestinian parties are said to 'control' the Palestinian territories, Israeli military forces occupying the territories control all Palestinian movement, ID cards, imports, exports, vehicle registration and movement, passports, birth, death and marriage certifications, and all parts of the land, sea and air of the Palestinian territories.

Ninety states are scheduled to participate in Monday's donor conference in Paris, in order to mobilize support for the Palestinian Authority controlled by Mahmoud Abbas, while further delegitimizing the elected leadership of Hamas. It is expected that Saudi Arabia will make a decision on the day of the conference on whether to provide aid money.

arab world | palestinian politics | news report saed at imemc dot org