Tuesday 28 September 2021

Palestinian Leaders: No to Solving Economic Crisis

 

Palestinian Leaders: No to Solving Economic Crisis

by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  September 28, 2021 at 5:00 am

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  • The Hamas charter does not talk about improving the living conditions of the Palestinians. It does not talk about boosting the economy or creating job opportunities for unemployed Palestinians.

  • Instead, the charter talks about jihad (holy war) and urges all Arabs and Muslims not to abandon the fight against Israel....

  • "The people of the Gaza Strip want their freedom," he said. "They want the return of their land. Israel does not know the reality of the Palestinian people and believes that economic solutions would prompt the Palestinians to abandon their goals of liberation and achieving the right of return. This is not an economic or material issue." Hazem Qassem, Hamas official, i24news.tv, September 13, 2021.

  • The PA and Hamas leaders are apparently worried that the Palestinians would forget about the jihad against Israel once they have jobs and a strong economy.

  • That is why the PA and Hamas rejected former US President Donald Trump's plan for peace in the Middle East, "Peace to Prosperity."

  • By rejecting all the offers, the leaders of the Palestinians are actually telling... the world: For the Palestinians, the conflict with Israel is not about financial aid or boosting the Palestinian economy. Do not expect the Palestinians to make any concessions to Israel because of the billions of dollars that you are offering or have already given us.

  • This is an important message that needs to be grasped by the Biden administration in the aftermath of its decision to resume financial aid to the Palestinians. The Biden administration and other Western donors are wrong to assume that their funds could change the hearts and minds of the Palestinians. The only way to bring about such a change is by ending the anti-Israel rhetoric of Palestinian leaders and media outlets -- something that is not likely to happen, at least not in the foreseeable future.

The Hamas charter does not talk about improving the living conditions of the Palestinians. It does not talk about boosting the economy or creating job opportunities for unemployed Palestinians. Instead, the charter talks about jihad (holy war) and urges all Arabs and Muslims not to abandon the fight against Israel. Pictured: Hamas gunmen parade on trucks with rockets in a street in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2021. (Photo by Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinian leaders have again proved that they are continually and cynically putting their own interests before the best interests of their people.

On September 13, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid presented a plan for improving the conditions of the two million Palestinians living in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Addressing a conference of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University in Herzliya, Lapid called his plan -- dubbed "Economy for Security" -- a "more realistic approach towards reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip] in exchange for disarmament [of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups]."

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