Arab nations continue to promise much, give little to Palestinians

The World Bank keeps a running total of how much the nations who pledged to give to rebuild Gaza in 2014 have actually paid.

Nearly all of the $1.5 billion of pledges (as of the end of 2016) that have never been paid comes from Arab countries.

It seems likely that those pledges will never be paid.

Arab nations keep saying they support Palestinians - but they don't follow up.

The Arabs have been at the forefront of reneging on their pledges to the Palestinians for years. 

In the first decade of this century, Arab nations paid only about 40% of their pledges to the PA.

In 2010, there was a big story that the Arab League pledged a half billion dollars to "defend Jerusalem." The amount paid? Zero.

However, Arab nations consistently tell Western leaders that "Palestine" is the major issue for them. This deception ends up fooling even otherwise smart diplomats and generals who assume that when it is the top agenda item in every meeting, it must really be important  to the Arabs. 

As always, the importance of "honor" is not realized. The Arabs find the Palestinian situation - corrupt leaders, refusal to make peace, the bitter split between Hamas and Fatah - to be an embarrassing and shameful reflection on the Arabs as a whole. They must try to convince the West that the issue is important to them because they want to minimize the embarrassment.

Appearances is what matters in an honor/shame culture, not reality. Pledges fulfill the appearances.

It is interesting that South Africa, which is very vocal in its support for the Palestinian Arabs, pledged almost a token $1 million - and hasn't paid a dime.

Here is the list of countries who pledged to rebuild Gaza, sorted by how much they still owe (and will never pay.)

Donor	Support to Gaza	Disbursement of Support to Gaza	Disbursement ratio of Support to Gaza	Shortfall
Qatar*	1000	216.06	22%	783.94
Saudi Arabia*	500	90.41	18%	409.59
Kuwait*	200	48.93	24%	151.07
UAE	200	59.08	30%	140.92
Turkey	200	139.48	70%	60.52
European Union1	348.28	296.73	85%	51.55
Italy5	23.68	4.69	20%	18.99
Spain	22.8	14.6	64%	8.2
Germany	63.32	60.67	96%	2.65
Bahrain*	6.5	5.15	79%	1.35
South Africa	1	0	0%	1
Estonia	1.27	0.63	50%	0.64
Greece	1.27	0.63	50%	0.64
Slovenia	0.19	0.127	67%	0.063
Croatia	0.4	0.35	88%	0.05
Serbia	0.05	0	0%	0.05
USA	277	277	100%	0
World Bank	62	62	100%	0
Algeria*	61.4	61.4	100%	0
Japan4	61	61	100%	0
UK	32.16	32.16	100%	0
The Netherlands	15.31	15.31	100%	0
Canada	14.66	14.66	100%	0
Denmark	14.46	14.46	100%	0
Australia	13.18	13.18	100%	0
France7	10.13	10.13	100%	0
Finland	9.31	9.31	100%	0
Russia	8.74	8.74	100%	0
Belgium8	7.92	7.92	100%	0
Austria9	5.22	5.22	100%	0
India	4	4	100%	0
Ireland	3.17	3.17	100%	0
Brazil10	2.46	2.46	100%	0
South Korea	2	2	100%	0
Mexico	1.1	1.1	100%	0
Chile	0.25	0.25	100%	0
Hungary	0.16	0.16	100%	0
Poland	0.1	0.1	100%	0
Malaysia	0.1	0.1	100%	0
Singapore	0.1	0.1	100%	0
Bulgaria	0.06	0.06	100%	0
Slovakia	0.05	0.05	100%	0
Romania	0.05	0.05	100%	0
Portugal	0.03	0.03	100%	0
Sweden	10	11.37	114%	-1.37
Switzerland	65.28	66.96	103%	-1.68
Norway2	144.98	173.91	120%	-28.93
	3,395	1,796		1599.243

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