Palestinian Authority Broke Again

Facing financial problems, the Palestinian Authority will pay only half salaries to its civil servants for June, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced on Sunday.

Palestinians Busy Fighting Each Other: Not Ready For Statehood

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image via Mid East i

Dahlan ousted via Maan News

Bio of Dahlan via Lawrence of Cyberia

Abbas’s recent decision to expel Dahlan from Fatah is threatening to divide the faction into two separate parties. Dahlan is enormously popular among many Fatah cadres in the Gaza Strip, where there is great anger over Abbas’s decision. via hudson-ny.org

Dahlan hates Hamas and Hamas hates him. It is reasonable to think that he is being forced out because he opposes Fatah’s cooperation with Hamas. Dahlan believes that in any such deal Fatah will eventually be the loser and Hamas will take over the PA. via crethiplethi.com

Many Fatah leaders are now threatening to quit the faction in protest against the dismissal of Dahlan. Even those who are not known as Dahlan supporters have come out against the decision because of the way it was taken.
They point out that the removal of Dahlan was carried out illegally and without the approval of Fatah institutions. They also note that as a member of the Palestinian parliament, Dahlan enjoys parliamentary immunity – a fact that Abbas preferred to ignore when he decided to remove him.

Bio of Barghouti via Lawrence of Cyberia

Another Fatah leader who is now challenging Abbas is Marwan Barghouti, who has been in Israeli prison for the past nine years after being convicted of organizing armed attacks against Israelis. Barghouti’s wife this week published a letter she sent to Abbas in which she accused the Palestinian president and his top aides of turning their backs on her husband.

Fayyad …will announce his intention to refuse to head the new unity government if he is offered the post, sources close to the appointed West Bank Prime Minister told Ma’an. Fayyad has publicly said he would accept whatever parties decide in Cairo. via Maan News h/t Challah

On the other hand, the Fatah-Hamas “reconciliation” accord, which was announced on May 4, seems to be going nowhere. The two rival parties were supposed to announce the establishment of a unity government this week. But the announcement was postponed indefinitely because of Hamas’s refusal to accept Salam Fayyad as prime minister of the new government. It also seems that not everyone in Fatah is happy about the idea of having Fayyad as prime minister.

Hamas, meanwhile, is also witnessing a power struggle between its leaders in the Gaza Strip and those sitting in Syria, especially in regard to the reconciliation pact with Fatah and the fate of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, who has been held by Hamas for five years.
Two weeks ago, Palestinians were shocked when they learned that militiamen belonging to Ahmed Jibril’s Popular Front-General Command opened fire at a demonstration in a refugee camp in Syria, killing 14 people and wounding many others. more via hudson-ny.org

Incidentally, nobody has ever been kicked out of Fatah for advocating, ordering, organizing, or participating in a bloody terrorist attack against Israeli civilians. Nor has anyone ever been thrown out for incitement or breaking the group’s commitments in the “peace process.” via crethiplethi.com

Stanley Fischer disqualified to IMF candidacy due to age… sounds like the disqualified AntiSemitism program at Yale

former IMF head …Dominique Strauss-Kahn:

…if I may add… the IMF’s last head is in worse shape then Weiner. Old man is going down for RAPE??? Strangely bizarre the way it appears that Jews that are under the control of Arabs because of whatever reason go down as sex perverts once in power. I know this post is about IMF finance, but it appears to be an eco-system of corruption of Jews in power that they don’t speak out in the right places and turn out to be perverts. 

Fayyad got outsiders to float the Philistine state because Fayyad got a doctorate in economics and had a career at the World Bank and IMF who are ready to approve the state. Best way to control the system… is to be the system.

The World Bank which for years praised the fictitious Palestinian economy finally admitted in the report that it is entirely based on donor money which trickle down through oligarchs to Palestinian entrepreneurs.

Palestinian PM suffers heart attack while attending son’s graduation at Great Satan University in Austin, TX

Washington (CNN) — Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suffered a heart attack while visiting the United States and was hospitalized for treatment, according to a spokesman from the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank.

Fayyad felt chest pains Sunday while visiting Austin, Texas, for his son’s graduation from the University of Texas, Dr. Ghassan Khatib said from Ramallah early Tuesday. The prime minister was hospitalized and doctors found a blocked artery that they corrected, Khatib said. More… via eye-on-the-world.blogspot.com

I hope he doesn’t need any Israeli technology to save him. Would be a shame to have a martyr for the cause because of his BDS campaign.

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed his wishes for a speedy recovery to Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad, who suffered a heart attack Sunday. via ynetnews.com

IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn

…IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn: France’s Socialist Party, described news of his arrest as a thunderbolt…

Police say he faces three charges, including attempted rape. His lawyers say he denies the claims.

The married former French finance minister is also considered a possible Socialist candidate for the presidency.The BBC’s Hugh Schofield, in Paris, says Mr Strauss-Kahn has been riding high in the polls and was seen as having a genuine chance of beating President Nicolas Sarkozy. 

Martine Aubry, leader of France’s Socialist Party image via en.wikipedia.org

Martine Aubry, leader of France’s Socialist Party, described news of his arrest as a “thunderbolt” which left her “astounded”.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is expected to appear before a New York state court later on Sunday, Reuters reports.
He had been scheduled to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, but that meeting has now been cancelled, reports say.
On Monday he had planned to attend a meeting of European Union finance ministers in Brussels on Monday to discuss the bailouts of Portugal and Greece.
Correspondents say his detention is likely to complicate ongoing efforts to stabilise the finances of struggling eurozone member states. via librabunda.blogspot.com

The International Monetary Fund has issued a statement in the wake of the arrest of its boss, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, on sex-assault charges in New York.

The IMF is not exactly standing up for the man:

Statement on IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Ms. Caroline Atkinson, Director of External Relations at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today:

To Control The System is to Be the System: IMF Says Palestinians Are Ready To Make A State?

“IMF Managing Director Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York City. Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case; all inquiries will be referred to his personal lawyer and to the local authorities.

“The IMF remains fully functioning and operational.”

The IMF has already had to investigate and apologize for one Strauss-Kahn sex scandal (an affair with a subordinate). Strauss-Kahn survived that one, after apologizing publicly to the IMF and his wife. His surviving this one, at least with his job intact, seems unlikely. via businessinsider.com

Salam Fayyad Will Be Out As PA Prime Minister

There are growing signs that the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad may be on his way out, as the rival Fatah and Hamas movements prepare to sign a reconciliation deal this week and form a new “unity government.”

An ouster of the internationally respected economist could cost the Palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars in Western aid, spell the end of critical US training for Palestinian security forces and endanger an effort to win support for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.
…”Both Fatah and Hamas don’t want Fayyad as prime minister,” said Hani Masri, a Palestinian independent who has been mediating between the factions. “Nothing is impossible in politics, but so far Fayyad is not the preference of either side.”

via challahhuakbar.blogspot.com and image via electronicintifada.net

buh bye

Palestine is a giant Welfare state

Oh and that Palestinian state they’re all lining up to support, it’s a giant welfare state.

from the World Bank report

The economic growth observed in West Bank and Gaza is arguably donor-driven… the growth is mostly confined to the non-tradable sector and reflects the importance of donor aid in driving the Palestinian economy…
Thus, growth is mostly confined to the non-tradable sector and probably reflects the importance of donor aid in driving the Palestinian economy. Israel remains WB&G’s largest trading partner, yet in the first three quarters of 2010, exports of goods and services to Israel were only about US$480 million in nominal terms…
Because of the need to fund development projects for which designated aid was not received, the PA was forced to increase bank borrowing and accumulate arrears at an unsustainable rate. Net domestic bank financing increased by about US$84 million, with gross borrowing of US$200 million, so that at the end of 2010, total domestic debt stood at about US$840 million, which may be close to the PA’s borrowing limits. In 2010, the PA paid close to US$23 million in arrears in net lending, but it accumulated another US$144 million in new arrears.

Total domestic debt twice as high as exports, an economy based entirely on soliciting money from the US and the EU. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
Obama for Palestinian president. Oh wait, he is already.
And good news. Fayad wants another 5 billion dollars to create a Palestinian state. In 2007 he was asking for a billion euros and it’s done ‘wonders’.

By way of comparison, look at this 1938 footage of Jewish militia training under General Wingate

In less than a decade, they became an army and defeated the armies of most of the regional powers combined. In a generation they were considered a match for many European militaries. And that was before a cent of US aid ever came their way.
Compare that to the pathetic site of terrorist leaders like Abbas and Fayad carrying on a holy war for popularity and then demanding money for a state.
Finally Steven Plaut has an important piece on Lessons from the Ivory Coast at Front Page Magazine

The most important aspects of the crisis in the Ivory Coast are being overlooked or deliberately disguised by the Western media. One can read media report after media report without discovering the basic fact that the Northern Ivory Coast “rebels” are Muslims. Indeed they are Muslims who by and large entered the Ivory Coast as infiltrators, through borders that are poorly patrolled, from neighboring countries. A better advertisement for stronger border control cannot be found. At least four million illegal immigrants, mostly Muslim, entered the Ivory Coast during the past two decades, tilting the demographic balance there.
And these Muslim infiltrators and interlopers, increasingly backed by African, French and Western powers, are challenging the control by Ivory Coast natives over their own country. The sufferings and violence in the Ivory Coast may well illustrate what awaits Europe if it continues its own demographic suicide and if it continues to flood itself with Muslim immigrants.

via sultanknish.blogspot.com

image via marxistleninist.wordpress.com and via ourtwocents.wordpress.com

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To Control The System is to Be the System: IMF Says Palestinians Are Ready To Make A State!

Anyone can start their own country! That doesn’t mean that people will recognize it, but hey, they generally won’t stop you from trying–as long as they don’t see it as a threat. So if you’d like to do your own thing in your own country, here’s how to establish a micronation.
Wikihow: How To Start Your Own Country

It looks like Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad could give Wikihow a tip or two on creating a country. Just yesterday, the ArabNews was reporting that Fayyad felt he was close to meeting the International Monetary Fund’s highest standards:

Palestinian Authority Prime Minster Salam Fayyad said on Tuesday he is confident his government will have the institutional framework in place by the end of the summer necessary to win global support for an independent Palestinian state.
“It is our goal and our expectation that as a result of what we are doing – getting ready for statehood, developing institutions that delivery services competently and (developing) core values – that our state of Palestine will be founded,” Fayyad said. “I am very happy to tell you that in many areas of governance we are already there.”
Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority’s No. 2, has been cracking down on corruption and inefficiency as part of a two-year-old campaign to gain recognition for a Palestinians state from the United Nations General Assembly, probably in September. Israel is opposed to the plan, saying a state should be achieved through negotiations, even though they have been deadlocked for months.
Fayyad said the PA’s economic bodies, including the Palestine Monetary Authority and Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), were already up to the standards he had set. He cited the Palestinian CBS for special praise, saying it was close to meeting the International Monetary Fund’s IMF’s) highest benchmarks.

And all in just 4 years–not bad considering the corruption and incompetency that has marked the Palestinian Authority over the years. Of course, the fact that the term of President Abbas–who still periodically threatens to resign–ended 2 years ago, with no elections in sight.
Be that as it may, while yesterday the ArabNews was talking about Fayyad saying they were ready for statehood–today, the IMF itself says the West Bank is ready to be a state::

Palestinian financial institutions are ready for statehood, an International Monetary Fund report praising Palestinian fiscal reform said Tuesday.
“The PA is now able to conduct the sound economic policies expected of a future well-functioning Palestinian state,” the report said.

So: what is the secret of Fayyad’s success?
Maybe it’s because:

Since taking over a barely functioning administration four years ago, Fayyad has deployed a Western-trained security force to restore law and order and spent billions of dollars in foreign aid to build infrastructure and boost the economy.

Or maybe Fayyad just knows the right people:

In contrast to most Palestinian leaders, Fayyad spent much of his adult life in the West, getting a doctorate in economics from the University of Texas and enjoying a career at the World Bank and IMF.

Of course, back in 2009, when the New York Times noted that Signs of Hope Emerge in the West Bank, there was not one mention of Fayyad–though there was a mention of Netanyahu, who had made economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority a key plank in his campaign:

The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it shares the goal of helping Mr. Abbas, which is why it is seeking to improve West Bank economic conditions as a platform for moving to a political discussion. The Palestinians worry that the political discussion will never arrive and say the Israelis are doing far too little to ease the occupation. Still, they point with pride to the many changes in the West Bank.

Among Netanyahu’s proposals for the West Bank back in March 2009:

Netanyahu’s 100-day plan pledges to work with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, envoy of the so-called Quartet that supports Israeli-Palestinian talks, to advance the Palestinian economy. The Quartet is composed of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the U.S.
…Israel has already approved electricity and water supplies for the park in the district of Jenin, where a bloody battle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen took place seven years ago.
…Of the at least four industrial parks on the drawing board, Jenin is the most advanced, boosted by cooperation between Mousa and his Israeli counterpart, Danny Atar, and supported by a U.S.-trained Palestinian police force. Also working in Jenin’s favor: The two Jewish settlements that once existed inside the district boundaries were evacuated in 2006.

But no one is going to give credit for helping turn around the West Bank economy to the person most credit for turning around the Israeli economy.
Besides, back in 2008, there was already a turnaround noticed in Ramallah–and there was no mention of either Netanyahu or Fayyad:

It’s easy to notice a huge variety of languages, cultures, and Western faces among the crowded tables of Cafe de la Paix, next to Ramallah’s city hall. Pilgrims, foreign NGOs’ personnel, journalists, and Palestinians from other West Bank cities have found a perfect place to spend some quality leisure time. The peace is broken only when nearby mosques play the muazzin calls for prayers.
Palestinian analyst and businessman Sam Bahou says the city is definitely going through a “five-star occupation,” pushed by the resumption of hundreds of millions of dollars received by the Palestinian Authority by international donors. Besides that, the recent high oil prices have created additional revenues for oil-rich countries like Qatar and other Gulf nations, which are investing: music festivals and other cultural activities haven’t been so lively in the past few years, says Mohammad B, a shop owner.

Bottom line, the turnaround in Ramallah–and the rest of the West Bank–is undeniable.
However, whether that qualifies the West Bank as being capable of existing as a standalone independent state is another question entirely. Now add to that the continuous incitement of hatred in the West Bank towards Israel, and Israel’s security concerns about limiting the military and airspace of such a proposed state.
What will actually end up happening come September is anybody’s guess.

via daledamos.blogspot.com
image via electronicintifada.net

Abbas’s Intifada: Isolating Israel and Unilateral Steps

shake that Obama hand like Mubarack

Palestinian cabinet to resign in wake of Mideast turmoil

The Palestinian cabinet will tender resignations on Monday after which Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will select new ministers at the request of President Mahmoud Abbas, political sources said.

	Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad attending Eid el Fitr prayers in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sept. 10, 2010. via haaretz.com

Palestinian President Abbas has reached the same conclusion as his predecessor, Yasser Arafat — that he will not get all of what he wants from Israel at the negotiating table; also the reason he opposes a third intifada [uprising] against Israel — he has instead decided to take the battle to the international arena.
His Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, is basically hoping that by September, the plan’s deadline, the Palestinians will have created new facts on the ground that will convince the US and the Europeans to support their unilateral declaration of statehood.
To achieve their goal, Abbas and Fayyad have chosen to embarrass and isolate Israel through a series of resolutions. Abbas’s Palestinian Authority leadership in the West Bank and he have decided to launch a different kind of an uprising – -a diplomatic one, designed to isolate Israel in the international arena and force it to submit to all Palestinian demands.
First, they are seeking to convince many countries to back the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to press war crime charges against Israeli political and military leaders.
Second, the Palestinian Authority is now making huge efforts to have the United Nations Security Council issue a resolution condemning settlements as illegal.
Third, Abbas and Fayyad have been working hard to persuade many countries to declare their recognition of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Their efforts have so far been successful in South America, where several countries, including Brazil, have complied.
It is not clear at this stage how Israel, or the US, would react to the Palestinians’ planned unilateralism. Israel could always argue that unilateral steps are a violation of the Oslo Accords with the PLO – a move that could pave the way for the abrogation of the agreement. In such an event, Israel would be free to reciprocate with its own unilateral measures, including annexing parts of the West Bank.
Abbas and Fayyad hope that in the next few months, they will be able to win enough support for it. These measures coincide with Fayyad’s two-year plan to establish state institutions.
Israel and the US should already now state their position regarding this issue, and explain how they intend to respond.
When Arafat reached the conclusion that he would never get what he wanted from Israel through negotiations, he resorted to violence, unleashing the “second intifada” in September 2000.
His successor, Mahmoud Abbas, has since learned from the mistakes of the past. Abbas knows that the violence has been counterproductive and has caused the Palestinians huge damage.
Abbas has therefore chosen a different approach to achieve his goals. Abbas’s diplomatic intifada, or offensive, is ultimately aimed at circumventing the Oslo Accords by winning the international community’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines.
The Palestinian Authority needs to watch its steps carefully and consider the consequences of its actions. Some Palestinians have already expressed concern that the policies of Abbas and Fayyad could have a boomerang effect on their constituents.
Those who think that a Palestinian state could be established without negotiations with Israel are either naïve or have no idea what they are talking about. Why would any country ever again sign any international agreement if it can so easily be abrogated?
Although it is true that the peace talks are currently facing a crisis, it would still be better to wait than embark on unilateral steps that would only further complicate the situation.

via hudson-ny.org

The shake-up, disclosed to Reuters on Sunday, was long demanded by Fayyad and some in Abbas’s Fatah faction. It follows the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to a popular revolt that has set off reform calls throughout the Arab world. “There will be massive change in the composition of the government,” one political source said of the planned mass-resignations in Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, which was formed under 1993 interim peace deals with Israel. Another source said: “Dr. Fayyad will immediately start his discussion with the factions to form the cabinet. Some ministers will keep their portfolios.” Bankrolled by international donors and engaged in security coordination with Israel, the Palestinian Authority has a limited mandate in the occupied West Bank. It lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas Islamists in a 2007 civil war. Abbas’s credibility has been further sapped by long-stalled negotiations with Israel on an accord founding a Palestinian state. Hamas spurns permanent coexistence with the Jewish state. Of the 24 posts in Fayyad’s cabinet, only 16 are currently staffed. Two ministers resigned and six are marooned in Gaza. Of those present in the cabinet, some face allegations of incompetence. The Palestinian Authority announced on Saturday it would seek new legislative and presidential elections by September but Hamas rejected that call and said it would not take part in the poll, nor recognize the results.
they should be scared

via haaretz.com

Analysis: Washington’s "Fresh" Attempt at Talks Puts Netanyahu on the Spot

On Monday, hours before the arrival of U.S. special envoy George Mitchell in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Washington’s new position, taking the condition of another settlement freeze in the West Bank off the table. He said:

To reach peace, we have to discuss the issues that are truly delaying peace … I welcome the fact that we will now begin discussing these issues and try to narrow gaps.

When Mitchell arrived in Israel, Netanyahu declared:

In their direct talks, both sides decided together to pursue a framework agreement that would establish the fundamental compromises on all permanent status issues and pave the way for a final peace treaty. That remains our goal.
Reaching this goal [face to face negotiations] will not be easy by any means. The differences between the two sides are real and they are persistent. But the way to get there is by engaging, in good faith, with the full complexities of the core issues and by working to narrow the gaps between the two.

But the Prime Minister still faces a challenge. The Obama Administration wants a “fresh” start for indirect talks from both sides. Netanyahu is expected to put forth an offer, especially on borders between Israel and a Palestinian state. The US hopes that a consensus on those borders will bring the solution of other core issues such as security, Jerusalem, water, and settlements.
On the Palestinian side, West Bank “Prime Minister” Salam Fayyad confessed the bluff of going unilaterally to the United Nations for recognition of “State of Palestine”. Fayyad said, “We have already done this in 1988. We are looking for statehood.”
Fayyad is right. The recognition of the state of Palestine by dozens of countries will not solve the problem, even if chief negotiator Saeb Erekat has sent an official letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, calling for recognition based on pre-1967 borders. Ramallah knows that the only approach is to fulfil all the requirements of a sustainable state. That begins — along with steps towards the legitimacy of the rule of law, the political system, and economic policy — with an open dialogue with the Israelis.

But that of course brings everyone back to the difficulty of resuming direct negotiations, especially with the conservative and cracking Netanyahu government. As the leader of the opposition party Kadima, Tzipi Livni, revealed, Netanyahu has ruled out the possibility that Jerusalem could be divided, contradicting the statement of his Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

via enduringamerica.com
Livni does not come across as someone I would want representing me.
forget all the baggage that you might know.  She looks weak and ineffective.

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