The international community double-standard policy towards the Middle East region, particularly, Palestine, has been steadily apparent since the formation of a Hamas-led Palestinian government in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Such a biased stance has been represented by cutting off financial aids to the Palestinian people, despite the fact that the Palestinian democratic experience of January25, 2006, was one of the rare in the Middle East.
Starvation and poverty would probably prevail within few weeks unless such aids reach hundreds of thousands of people, including more than 140.000 governmental employees, who have not received their salaries over the past couple of months.
The aids have been cut because of ‘violence’ and non-recognition of Israel, the Hamas movement has been advocating since years, yet such a violence might resume not by Hamas, but rather by the entire Palestinian people, who are being forced into a state of ‘uncontrollable’ anarchy due to lack of money.
The situation over here in the occupied Palestinian territories is very alarming for those concerned with peace in the region, therefore, such parties should have the courage to meet the new reality in Palestine, rather than facing the Palestinian people, who have not realized over the past decade , neither real peace nor genuine economy.
In late 1999, when the Israeli Labor Party, headed by the then Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, the international community, headed ‘always’ by the United States, rushed to save the Palestinian-Israeli peace, but failed, you know why, because of the Ehud Barak’s NOs; No for return of Palestinian refugees, No for Palestinian Sovereignty over Jerusalem, No for Return to the 1967 borders.
The question here, what a double standard policy, the International Community continues to adopt towards the Palestinian people, who acted within the ‘democracy’ that has ever been demanded by such a community, mainly the United States of America, ‘mother of democracy’ in the world???.
To conclude, let me quote a local Palestinian owner of one of the largest supermarkets in the central Gaza Strip refugee camp of Nusiarat: “I have 9 employees”, said Hatem, “Only 3 of them are now actually working, while the others are not working, as I’m not able to pay them. If conditions continue like this, I’ll have to close my shop and go bankrupt within two months time.”
In this regard, Karen Koning AbuZayd, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, known as UNRWA, was quoted as saying “donor countries who decided to cut aid to the Hamas-led government should be aware of the consequences of their decision on the humanitarian conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, where a total of 3.8 million Palestinians live.”
Source: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4657.shtml
Rami Al-Meghari can be reached at rami_almeghari@hotmail.com
