An EU contract paying for fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip for its sole power plant expired on 30 November 2009, according to Kan'an Obeid, deputy manager of the Energy Authority in the coastal enclave.Missing from this story is the fact that Israel is willing to provide the fuel Gaza needs - the problem is that someone needs to pay for it. Apparently, the world's Arabs, who claim their solidarity with the beleaguered Strip daily, cannot seem to find it in their hearts to pay for their Gaza brethren's fuel.
While the EU had been providing the service after the contract expired, EU officials notified the Energy Authority that they would no longer pay for the fuel shipments unless the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah drafted a new agreement and payment scheme.
Obeid said that the fuel in Gaza will last until Thursday morning. If a new shipment does not arrive, Gaza's power plant will be forced to shut down, in turn affecting 70 percent of the population.
Hamas, which gets hundreds of millions of dollars from Iran, is not interested in paying a dime for the citizens under its control to get any electricity either.
The PA expects the EU to provide the cash, while the PA gives
an across-the-board raise to all of its workers.But when the power plant shuts down, and the Gaza stringer photographers take their poignant pictures of Gazans in candlelight, guess who will be blamed?