The bankruptcy of Hamas

[barb162]

The bankruptcy of Hamas

Published April 10, 2006


On Wednesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, presiding over the first meeting of his Hamas-dominated Cabinet, announced that the government was broke and appealed for international help. Yes, there's nothing like an empty treasury to concentrate the mind. Or so you would think.

But aside from some murky hints, Hamas leaders haven't renounced violence, recognized Israel or declared that they would respect previous agreements, all demanded by the U.S. and the European Union to keep hundreds of millions of dollars in aid flowing. Instead, in a show of defiance, Haniyeh vowed that he and his ministers would work without salaries until money is found to pay nearly 150,000 civil servants.

Nice gesture. Maybe Hamas zealots are willing to starve for their cause, but as much as one-third of the Palestinian population, including security forces, is supported by government funds. We wonder if Palestinian voters anticipated that they'd lose their paychecks, too, if the terrorists won the majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament.

In the first flush of a surprising victory, the Hamas-niks reaped plenty of promises from Arab governments and Iran to fill the gap if the U.S. and Europeans followed through on threats to curb funding because the Palestinians' government would be run by a terrorist group. But guess what? That government's still broke.
snip
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0604100116apr10,0,665469.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. US actions haven't helped. All they did was harden the population agin us.

we have been almost as pathetic as the Israelis about this election,.

[barb162]

2. If we go along with that logic, then perhaps some other countries

should be giving hundred of millions in aid as the US has been doing for many years. I am not seeing many countries, including some very rich oil based economies, coming forward with full replacement aid. The Quartet is solid right now on only humanitarian aid.

[idontwantaname]

3. theres oil rich.. and then theres super power. n/t.

[barb162]

5. CANADA is not a super power and they were one of the first

if not first to stop aid; many of the European countries are not super powers also

[idontwantaname]

6. canada???

the article doesnt mention canada, nor did antifaschits. what are you talking about?

i was commenting re:the US, THE SUPERPOWER, has a lot of influence in the region... giving israel 3B/year. of course the "oil rich" countries "should" give aid... but ultimately the US being THE SUPERPOWER looks very stingy and one-sided by clamming up under the guise of "human rights, democracy and other ideals"

[barb162]

7. Canada was the first country to stop donations to Hamas

I certainly know what you were commenting on and I will comment on this subject as I see fit, especially in regard to matters that are applicable. Aid is the subject and Canada was significant in that it did stop aid before the US or EU.

What the heck is this word supposed to mean:antifaschits. That sentence isn't making sense


I disagree with your comments on the last paragraph.

[idontwantaname]

8. please see post #1...

your clairvoyance seems to be a bit off today...

[barb162]

10. You perhaps want to read the article again

I think clairvoyance has nothing to do with an article about the financial matters of Hamas and its relationships with donor countries.

[idontwantaname]

11. so what about post #6 dont you agree with?

[Igel]

4. Well, then, they should understand when they do it to others.

Because by electing Hamas, they certainly hardened official Washington attitudes against them.

[breakfastofchampions]

13. bankrupt on so many levels

They start with a moral bankrupcy.

Then because their platrom relies on keeping the people poor, so they are willing to blow themeselves up for paradise, they get a economic bankrupcy.

The only way to stop this is to bankrupt Hamas of their lives and power.

[barb162]

9. self delete

[occuserpens]

12. Basically, they call for war against Hamas

So, this is what they will get