Monday, December 17, 2007
The West's superficial consumer society thinks it can buy peace at the store. A lack of funding is not what's keeping Palestinian Arab society at war. But sure, let's toss a few billion at the problem. Like a lot of spending sprees on a smaller scale, this one is meant to mitigate some strange sort of guilt and feeling of powerlessness. Do this and we can all say it's someone else's fault. Trust me, it'll go on Israel's blame tab when it all goes flush, not the Arabs': World powers gather in Paris to bankroll Palestinian state
Ninety international delegations are expected at the one-day Conference of Donors for a Palestinian State, the biggest of its kind since 1996, which aims to shore up the process jumpstarted in the US city of Annapolis last month.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is seeking 5.6 billion dollars (3.85 billion euros) spread over 2008 to 2010 for an ambitious development plan to underwrite a promised state and tackle economic hardship in the Palestinian territories.
The United States is ready to pledge more than 500 million dollars, officials in Washington said.
Delegates gathering for the occasion include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov...
A fraction of a fraction of 500 million would pay my mortgage. Better use.
