U.S. to Give $900 Million in Gaza Aid, Officials Say

callhimar

callhimar

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By HELENE COOPER
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration intends to provide some $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after the Israeli incursion that ended last month, administration officials said Monday.

In an early sign of how the administration plans to deal with Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza, an official said that the aid would not go to Hamas but that it would be funneled through nongovernmental organizations.

By seeking to aid Gazans but not Hamas, the administration is following the lead of the Bush administration, which sent money to Gaza through nongovernmental organizations. In December, it said it would give $85 million to the United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The United States considers Hamas a terrorist organization, and the Bush administration refused to have any formal dealings with the group.

The aid will include new spending as well as money already set aside for the Palestinian Authority, and it will be formally announced next week when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton travels to a Palestinian donors' conference in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, the officials said.

The aid, first reported by Reuters, would have to be approved by Congress, where many lawmakers are skittish about even appearing to help Hamas until it renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist.

"None of the money will go to Hamas, it will be funneled through NGOs and U.N. groups," said an administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the aid before Mrs. Clinton announced it.

The donors' conference in Egypt is seeking to raise close to $2 billion to rebuild Gaza, which was devastated by the three-week war with Israel. Some of the $900 million from the United States will go to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, officials said.

But even if the bulk of the money goes to Gaza, it will do little good unless Israel first opens the border crossing into the territory, said Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a research organization in Washington.

"It's a good effort, but the money can't be spent unless materials can get into Gaza," Mr. Levy said. "The next step is opening the border crossings, and that requires more than just signing a check."

Hamas has demanded the opening of the crossings as part of truce negotiations being conducted through Egypt. Israel, which imposed an embargo after Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, demands an end to rocket fire from Gaza, a halt to weapons smuggling and the release of a captive Israeli soldier.

After the donors' conference in Egypt, Mrs. Clinton will make her first trip to Israel as secretary of state, Israeli officials said. She is expected to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister-designate.

Mrs. Clinton is also expected to travel to Ramallah in the West Bank for meetings with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Salam Fayyad, the prime minister, whose Fatah organization is the principal rival to Hamas. Administration officials said it was unlikely that Mrs. Clinhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/washington/24gaza.htmlton would go to Hamas-controlled Gaza.

New York Times

Hopefully Congress doesn't vote this down because it is definetly necessary and it would be a step in the right direction. If we could actually putpressure on Israel to open the border crossing it would be phenomenal, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.
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I don't think they want it. Aren't these the people dancing in the ruins of their buildings claiming victory over Israel? Let them deal withthemselves, we have bigger problems here at home.
 
Originally Posted by CarminePOWER

I don't think they want it. Aren't these the people dancing in the ruins of their buildings claiming victory over Israel? Let them deal with themselves, we have bigger problems here at home.
Click to expand...

You clearly do not know what you're talking about.

How can you guys be mad over 900 Million to rebuild an area that was completely crushed and not complain about the 3 billion plus we hand Israel yearly?

This is the least we can do for these people since its our misguided policy on Israel that allowed this to happen.
 
Originally Posted by CallHimAR

Originally Posted by CarminePOWER

I don't think they want it. Aren't these the people dancing in the ruins of their buildings claiming victory over Israel? Let them deal with themselves, we have bigger problems here at home.
Click to expand...

You clearly do not know what you're talking about.

How can you guys be mad over 900 Million to rebuild an area that was completely crushed and not complain about the 3 billion plus we hand Israel yearly?

This is the least we can do for these people since its our misguided policy on Israel that allowed this to happen.
Click to expand...
Lol, I think I have an idea. I believe it was a Hamas person who said "One enemy - Israel - is enough. Let others in Iraq and Afghanistantake on the Great Satan."
I can understand aiding an ally, but I don't understand aiding a region that fights against our ally.
 
Originally Posted by CarminePOWER

Originally Posted by CallHimAR

Originally Posted by CarminePOWER

I don't think they want it. Aren't these the people dancing in the ruins of their buildings claiming victory over Israel? Let them deal with themselves, we have bigger problems here at home.
Click to expand...

You clearly do not know what you're talking about.

How can you guys be mad over 900 Million to rebuild an area that was completely crushed and not complain about the 3 billion plus we hand Israel yearly?

This is the least we can do for these people since its our misguided policy on Israel that allowed this to happen.
Click to expand...
Lol, I think I have an idea. I believe it was a Hamas person who said "One enemy - Israel - is enough. Let others in Iraq and Afghanistan take on the Great Satan."
I can understand aiding an ally, but I don't understand aiding a region that fights against our ally.
Click to expand...
But you have to understand that the only reason that these people direct such anger and hatred toward the United States is because of itsunwavering and extremely bias policy that favors Israel.

We jump at the drop of a hat for Israels wishes, even when it is clearly detrimental to the security of not only the U.S. but Israel itself.
 
besides the citizens of Gaza which the U.S. cares oh so much about now after israel attacked them, even though it originally supported Israel during the attack

i wonder who else benefits from this
 
Eff everybody who hates this idea, this is the MOST remarkable & smartest thing the US has done thus far!!!!

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Props to the Obama camp for making the smarest decisions!
 
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