Comfort and Joy, Palestinian Style

[pistoff democrat]

As yuletide approaches, the average Palestinian must be wondering what present he can expect from the wintry North. But Bethlehem’s man in the street might be surprised to hear that the EU has already filled his Christmas stocking with around €4 billion over the past decade.

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The problem, it appears, lies elsewhere. The stupendous personal economic gains of the Palestinian elite and their largesse provide a good place to start looking.

Yasser Arafat’s personal wealth was assessed by Forbes magazine in March 2003 as marginally trailing the Queen of England’s. His wife and daughter “make do” in their luxurious Paris quarters on a monthly allowance of €85,000 of Palestinian public funds, according to a CBS News analysis.

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No surprise to anyone - except perhaps to the European Commission. One full year earlier, George T. Abed, a Palestinian and Jordanian national, in his role as Director of the IMF’s Middle Eastern Department, wrote: “… there has, no doubt, been some abuse …the IMF does not and cannot control downstream spending by the various Palestinian agencies. This matter remains between the Palestinian Authority and the donors.”


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