Barry Rubin On Why Jordan's PM Doesn't Like 'Rubin Reports'

Jordan’s Prime Minister Reads ‘Rubin Reports’ and–guess what–doesn’t like it! Plus Palestinian Leader Involved in Corruption Tells Us Culture Doesn’t Matter in Undermining Economic Development

by Barry Rubin

During a recent dinner in Amman, Jordan’s prime minister Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh talked about me at some length, citing my PJMedia article on Israel being in a good strategic situation. Apart from the various name-calling, insults, and snorting, he could not refute one point I made. In fact, I think he knows that everything I wrote was true. And that’s what scares him and makes him angry.

What particularly upset him was my point that a Sunni-Shia conflict would displace the Arab-Israeli conflict. Jordan, of course, is caught in the middle, being a Sunni country with a long border with Iraq and fearing Iran, not to mention its border with a Syria which is still ruled by Iran’s ally, and nearby Lebanon ruled by Shia Hizballah.

But I think his attacking me was most unsporting. King Hussein read my articles years ago on a regular basis and I have had excellent relations with some members of the royal family and high-ranking Jordanian officials. I even advocated the Saudis and other oil-producers’ plan to let Jordan into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and give Amman $1 billion.

Arlene Kushner On Palestinian Condemnation Of Minute Of Silence

From Arlene Kushner

July 26, 2012

Ludicrous

Sometimes the PA comes out with a statement that is so ludicrous that the impulse is to simply laugh at it.  This is the case with the statement made by Jibril Rajoub, President of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, in a letter sent to President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, thanking him for his stand in refusing a moment of silence for the Israeli Olympic athletes massacred 40 years ago in Munich:

"Sports are a bridge to love, interconnection, and spreading of peace among nations; it must not be a cause of division and spreading of racism between them."

Read: PA: Moment of silence at Olympics would be racism

The Middle East Media Sampler 6/4/2012: Behind London Olympic Silence On Munich Massacre

From DG:

1) Olympic Silence

The Boston Globe argues in An Olympic silence 40 years after Munich (h/t Jeff Jacoby):

So far, the IOC’s position has been that Rogge has previously attended memorial commemorations hosted by Israel’s Olympic committee, so there is no need for the international committee to pay tribute to the murdered athletes at the games themselves. But the Munich 11 weren’t killed at a private Israeli event. The terrorists invaded their dormitory in the Olympic Village, blindfolded and manacled them, and then killed them after a 20-hour standoff intently followed by a worldwide audience watching on television. 

Barry Rubin: Where Did All the Billions of Dollars Given to the Palestinian Authority Go?

The following by Barry Rubin is reposted here with permission:

Where Did All the Billions of Dollars
Given to the Palestinian Authority Go?

By Barry Rubin


Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says that his regime is short of funds. And meanwhile a reader asks me:

"Can you please explain to me why 20 years after Oslo and billions in dollars in foreign aid, the Palestinian Authority (PA) still has not built modern hospitals? Or rather, why do the donor countries pour money down the PA drain without expecting even some face-saving results?"

Good question. Short answer: Swiss bank accounts.

The Middle East Media Sampler 5/17/2012: The Maturing Palestinian Political System

From DG:

1) The man who swallowed Gaza is targeted

 AP reports Arafat's moneyman targeted in corruption probe:

Anti-corruption campaigners lauded the case against the shadowy former aide, Mohammed Rashid, as a sign of the maturing of the Palestinian political system, although the probe also appeared to be tinged with political intrigue. 

Rashid, who has in the past denied wrongdoing, made veiled threats on a website to disclose purported secrets about the rise to power of Arafat's successor, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. And Palestinian watchdogs, while praising growing government vigilance about corruption, expressed concern that such investigations are at times being used selectively to settle personal scores.

Sampler: Gazans Are Getting Wise To Hamas; Tom Friedman's Reversal

Mideast Media Sampler

by DG

1) Whatever happened to Hamas?

Maybe it's wishful thinking. In early October, The Christian Science Monitor reported:

Of the many complaints in Gaza, one has become a popular refrain: the increasing taxes levied by Hamas. Fathi Abu Gamar, a gas station owner in Jabaliya refugee camp, readily joins the chorus: The Islamist movement that rules this tiny coastal territory takes more than half his revenue from gas sales, he says, leaving him with a tiny profit. 

But he quickly becomes quiet when a man, whom neighbors identify as a Hamas informer, begins hovering nearby, listening intently. Above him, the green flags of Hamas flutter in the strong sea breeze. Like Hamas's popularity, they are faded and tattered.

Questions Raised About Palestinian Funds Missing Under Abbas's Watch

Challah Hu Akbar has put together sources indicating Abbas Lies About His Ties to the Palestine Investment Fund:

The other week Jonathan Schanzer wrote:

However, in recent years, Fayyad has been sidelined by PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has consolidated power, and he is now abusing it.