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Thursday, May 04, 2017

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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