Palestinian Billions

Michael Rubin writes that more than the terrorism, The Middle East's real bane: corruption:

Palestinian ministers have also used their positions more for self-enrichment than development. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has little to show for billions of dollars in foreign aid. Critics of Israel can point to the bulldozed Gaza airport and complain about border closures, but it was not the Israeli government that built palatial mansions for Palestinian ministers or that wired PA President Yasser Arafat's wife Suha $22 million annually. In 2003, a team of American auditors estimated Arafat's net worth at $3 billion. At the time of his January 2001 assassination, Palestine Broadcasting Services director Hisham Makki had $17 million in his bank account; his monthly salary was only $1,500. In the autumn 2004 issue of Middle East Quarterly, former Palestine International Bank director Issam Abu Issa detailed the mechanism by which other Arafat aides pocketed millions of dollars. Palestinian refugees, meanwhile, live in squalor.

This of course is not really anything new. Every once in a while an article turns up that discusses the corruption of the PA. But considering the funds that certain Palestinian Arabs have stashed away, the funds available to the oil-rich Arab countries in the area, and the overall waste of billions of dollars--its becoming a bit pathetic to watch Europe fall all over itself in an effort to find a new excuse to give more.

Jews have a tendency at times to be their own worst enemies.
Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

What is Europe's excuse?

Update:

According to Reuters:

Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, who has battled parliament to force it to carry out fiscal belt tightening measures, has submitted his resignation ahead of legislative elections due in January.

Fayyad, a former International Monetary Fund official, said on Saturday he wanted to step down because he was considering running in the polls, and turned in his resignation several days ago as required under Palestinian law.

Other officials who asked not to be named said his resignation was in protest against the government's refusal to implement concrete fiscal reforms.

...The aid-dependent Palestinian Authority is under pressure to carry out fiscal reforms, and Fayyad's resignation followed threats by foreign donors in October to suspend direct budget support unless ballooning public wage costs were reversed.

There was no immediate word on whether Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie would accept the resignation, which comes as Palestinians are under increasing scrutiny over how they run the Gaza Strip -- seen as a proving ground for statehood following
Israel's withdrawal after 38 years of occupation.

"His resignation is going to affect the Palestinian Authority very negatively," political analyst Ali Jarbawi said. "He was trusted by the international community, and this trust will disappear when he goes."

The World Bank has said boosting the Palestinian economy is crucial to peacemaking. Donors have given an average of $25 million a month this year in budget support for the Palestinian Authority, according to figures from an international envoy.

Let's see where this goes.

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