Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, August 01, 2011

Is UNIFIL going to publish its findings?

Some 12 hours after the Lebanese border incident, YNet, and only YNet, reporting that UNIFIL admits that the IDF stayed on the Israeli side of the border and that the LAF shooting towards the IDF was uncalled for.

The UNIFIL site still has its initial press release up, saying that it is opening up an investigation.

Is YNet's report accurate? Was it "off the record?" Or is UNIFIL not anxious to publish the facts because it would antagonize its hosts?

Wikileaks: Hezbollah recruiting young Saudi Shi'ites

Wikileaks released a couple of interesting cables about Shi'ites in the Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.

The first cable, from 2006, was optimistic. Here's the summary:

(S) Some Sunni Arab leaders, including Egypt's President Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah, have recently publicly questioned the loyalties of Arab Shi'a populations in the Middle East. Privately, senior Saudi officials raise similar concerns. Given the ongoing sectarian conflict in Iraq, increasing regional tensions vis-a-vis Shi'a Iran, and the tenuous status of Saudi Shi'a within their own country, the question of whether Saudi Shi'a loyalties belong primarily with Saudi Arabia - or, alternatively, to their coreligionists elsewhere in the Gulf - is a timely one. It is also of central concern to U.S. strategic interests in the region, given the concentration of Saudi Arabia's Shi'a population in its oil producing areas.

Our conclusion, based on discussions with a broad spectrum of Saudi Shi'a contacts over the past eight months, is that most Saudi Shi'a remain committed to the agreement reached between the Saudi Shi'a leadership and King Fahd in 1993-4, whereby Shi'a leaders agreed to pursue their goals within the Kingdom's political system in return for the King's promise to improve their situation. Saudi Shi'a have deep religious ties to Iraq and Iran and are inspired by the newfound religious freedom and political power of the Iraqi Shi'a; they also have a lengthy history of persecution by the Al-Saud and face continuing discrimination (ref B). Nonetheless, their leaders still appear committed to working for reform from within, a strategy that, thanks to King Abdullah, is slowly bearing fruit. In our view, it would require a major internal or external stimulus to move the Saudi Shi'a toward confrontation with Riyadh. Such stimuli could include a major shift in SAG policy or leadership, the spread of uncontained sectarian violence to the Kingdom, or a major change in regional security arrangements, especially escalating regional conflict involving Shi'a (ref C). Absent these circumstances, the vast majority of Saudi Shi'a are not likely to demonstrate significant external political loyalties, either to Iran or to any inchoate notion of a "Shi'a crescent."

But in 2009, it was starting to look like a new threat was looming:

Our recent meetings with Saudi Arabia's Shi'a groups in the Eastern Province (EP) revealed divergent attitudes toward their country.

-- (U) Mainstream Shi'a, including municipal council members, identify themselves as Saudis first and Shi'a second.

-- (U) Elsewhere, Hizballah's messages find fertile ground among younger Shi'a, frustrated by religious and economic discrimination. They openly criticize the government and identify themselves as Shi'a first. The same group acknowledge that today they have more employment opportunities at Aramco than they had ten years ago.

-- (C) Signs of sympathy toward Hizballah among some EP Shi'a include recent street demonstrations and the open display of Hizballah flags and posters.

...SMELLS LIKE SOUTH LEBANON. Further north along the coastal oasis, in the majority-Shi'a community of Safwa, Emboffs paid a nighttime visit to a group of five younger Shi'a at the home of XXXXXXXXXXXX (protect). Safwa, like Qatif, lacks the smartly developed infrastructure of Riyadh or even Dhahran, with narrower streets and modest homes. Al-Ahmed's spartan sitting area boasted two photos of Nasrallah hung in one corner and three rifles propped in another. Upon Emboffs arrival, XXXXXXXXXXXX called together a group of colleagues who more openly shared the frustrations of EP Shi'a.

RELIGIOUS MINORITY. In a free-ranging discussion, this younger group attributed their economic marginalization to religious discrimination. In one of several examples, a medical student in the group described his ejection from a shopping center mosque, where he was called "kafir" (unbeliever) and told to leave. "Why should I support the government when I am treated like this?" he asked. Nevertheless, they characterized EP Shi'a as able to distinguish between religion and politics. Though they may look to Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran, Ali al-Sistani in Iraq or Mohammed Fadlallah in Lebanon for their religious guidance, many of the youth in particular look to Hezbollah as their political voice.

This may shine more light on the earlier Wikileaks cable that said that Saudi Arabia proposed a multinational force to destroy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Arab incitement against Jews, 1920 (updated)

"Israels' History - A Picture a Day" is a great new website that uses old photos, many from the huge Library of Congress collection, to show a visual record of Israel's history.

Today's entry shows photographs of Arab demonstrations a few weeks before the 1920 Nebi Musa riots, and some of British soldiers belatedly trying to control them.

Tom Segev describes the riots this way:

In the early morning hours of Sunday, April 20, 1920, Khalil al-Sakakini walked over to Jerusalem's municipal building, outside the Old City's Jaffa Gate. It was his custom to do this each year, to watch the Nebi Musa procession. Passover, the Greek Orthodox Easter, and the traditional Muslim procession to a shrine associated with Moses—or Nebi Musa to Arabs—all happened to fall that year during the same week of the "cruelest month." The outbreak of violence that marred the celebrations, driven by the mixture of "memory and desire" evoked by T. S. Eliot, was in essence the opening shot in the war over the land of Israel.,

"The Nebi Musa festival in Jerusalem is political, not religious," Sakakini wrote. Al this time of year, Christians from all the countries of the world would flock to Jerusalem, he explained, and so Muslims had to mass in Jerusalem as well. to prevent the Christians from overwhelming the city. They come from all over the country as well as from neighboring countries, tribe after tribe, caravan after caravan, with their flags and weapons, as if they were going to war, Sakakini wrote. The Turkish authorities used to position a cannon next to the Lion's Gate in the Old City and escort the procession with large contingents of soldiers and police. The religious aspect of the holiday was designed only to draw the masses, otherwise they would not come. Food was handed out for the same reason, he wrote.

When he arrived at the city square, sixty or seventy thousand people had already congregated there. Some were from Hebron and some from Nablus. They carried banners and waved flags. The VIPs stood on the balcony of Jerusalem's Arab Club, but not all of them were able to deliver their speeches because of the commotion and noise. One man angrily tore up the text of his speech.

The time was now about 10:30. In the Old City, Arab toughs had been brawling in the streets for more than an hour. Gangs surged through the walkways of the Jewish Quarter, attacking whomever they passed; one small boy was injured on the head. They broke into Jewish stores and looted. The Jews hid.

Meanwhile, the speeches from the balcony of the Arab Club continued. Someone waved a picture of Faisal, who had just crowned himself king of Greater Syria. The crowd shouted "Independence! Independence!" and the speakers condemned Zionism, one was a young boy of thirteen. The mayor, Musa Kazim al-Husseini, spoke from the balcony of the municipal building; Ater al-Aref, the editor of the newspaper Suriya al-Janubia ("Southern Syria"), delivered his speech on horseback. The crowd roared, "Palestine is our land, the Jews are our dogs!" In Arabic, that rhymes.

No one knew what exactly set off the riots. In testimony given to a British court of inquiry, people said that a Jew had pushed an Arab carrying a flag, or that he'd spat on the flag, or that he'd tried to grab it. In another version, the violence began when an Arab pointed at a Jew who was passing by and said, "Here's a Zionist, son of a dog." Many testified that Arabs had attacked an elderly Jewish man at the entrance to the Amdursky Hotel, beating him on the head with sticks. The man had collapsed, his head covered with blood. Someone had tried to rescue him but was stabbed. People said they had heard gunfire. The furor almost turned into madness," Sakakini wrote. Everyone was shouting,"The religion of Mohammed was founded by the sword," and waving sticks and daggers. Sakakini managed to get out of the crowd unhurt. "I went to he municipal garden, my soul disgusted and depressed by the madness of mankind," he wrote.

A short time later, the Arabs - emboldened at the weak British response to the riot and angry at the beginnings of an organized Jewish force being organized to defend Jews - stepped up their threats against the Jews, threatening a massacre:

More on the fake holiday of Nebi Musa.

A much more recent example of the same chant used in 1920.

UPDATE: My Right Word adds a whole bunch of interesting historical information, including the seeds of this incitement in 1919.

Israeli left: "We want two states!" Arab response: "Screw you!"

The Israeli left tries so hard to be loved by the Palestinian Arabs, but, gosh darn it, they always fall short.

From Budour Youssef Hassan at Electronic Intifada:

Can every instance of Israelis flocking to the streets chanting “End the occupation” be blithely described as solidarity? Should every occasion of Israelis carrying Palestinian flags be ecstatically celebrated as a major boost for the Palestinian cause? Should Palestinians be simply grateful that, amid the increasing construction of settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the overwhelming surge of racism in Israeli society, there are still some Israeli voices willing to “recognize” a Palestinian state?

When persons in a position of privilege formulate and design a solution and impose it on a colonized and occupied people as the only viable solution and the “sole remaining constructive step,” as the 15 July call to action put it, this is not solidarity but rather another form of occupation. Solidarity means not telling people what you think their problem is, let alone telling them what you think the solution should be. Solidarity means not agreeing on everything or even agreeing on a fixed solution but fighting for a shared cause irrespective of the differences.

A quasi-state built on 22 percent of the land of historic Palestine is not what Palestinians have been fighting for over the last 63 years and presenting it as such strips Palestinians of their voices and of their right to decide their own destiny.

... The whole idea of two states for two peoples as the only solution to the Palestinian-Israeli impasse — extremely popular among liberal Zionists — is predicated upon isolationism, exceptionalism and Zionists’ sense of moral righteousness and superiority to Palestinians which grants them the legitimacy to determine the problem, the solution and the means by which this solution shall be achieved.

When the Palestinian Arab leadership decided to launch the terror spree known as the second intifada, it caused many former Israeli leftists to wake up and realize that the Palestinian Arabs were not interested in living in an independent state side by side with Israel. There were some hard-core leftists who kept the faith, continuing to demonstrate and push for a two-state solution and pointing to flawed public opinion polls that seemed to imply that Palestinian Arabs were interested in peace with Israel.

Certainly the minority who march with Palestinian Arab flags feel that they are in the vanguard of solidarity, that they are the "good Jews" and that they are appreciated by the Palestinian Arabs who are happy thattheir cause is being publicized by the enemy.

But this essay shows that the Palestinian Arabs aren't really that appreciative. In fact, they resent it. The activists among them are not demonstrating for peace or equality - but for Arab subjugation of Jews in the Middle East. They are dead-set against the Jewish right of self-determination.

They want Israel destroyed, and they will not be happy until they reach that goal. They make their positions crystal clear.

Yet the sympathetic media and their Israeli leftist buddies continue to act as if these people are liberal, tolerant Arabs. They simply cannot accept that their Arab counterparts are bigoted, hateful warmongers whose entire purpose is the destruction of the Jewish state. It doesn't fit into their worldview, so they willfully ignore it and pretend that they are as interested in peace as they are.

And, as Israellycool points out, this writer who rails against Zionism and the Zionist left is a third-year law student at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The media will reluctantly portray crazed Islamists as being against Israel's very existence, but they will never interview a well-dressed secular Arab whose views are equally intransigent and repulsive. They prefer to ignore the evidence that is staring them in the face that the Palestinian Arab "left" is not motivated by the desire of peace but of revenge, not of compromise but of conquest. The website that carries this pure, unbridled hate is treated with respect by the New York Times and is funded by the Dutch government.

When will the media call out and start to highlight the pure hate and intransigence that has become mainstream in Palestinian Arab thought?

(h/t Rafael)

UNIFIL quotes lies from Iran on its news crawl

On UNIFIL's webpage there is a news crawl of "UNIFIL in the News" where headlines from various news sources are displayed.

Here is one that was there this morning:

They are quoting Iran's Abna as saying that the IDF crossed the border with Lebanon.

Naharnet quotes the LAF as saying that the IDF crossed some 70 meters into Lebanese territory.

Voice of Lebanon is even quoted as saying that the IDF opened fire first.

However, the IDF did not cross the border and were fired upon for no reason - and UNIFIL backs them up!

UNIFIL said Monday that Lebanese fire on IDF troops earlier in the day was uncalled for, and that the latter had not crossed into Lebanese territory, as the country's army had claimed. The facts did not stop the Lebanese president from rebuking Israel for "provocation", however.

Unfortunately, that same UNIFIL webpage has (as of this writing) not yet clarified that the IDF acted properly and that the LAF fired for no reason.

(h/t Dan)

Tahrir Square demonstrator: "We are all Osama Bin Laden"

From Al Jazeera:

Credit where credit is due: this is good reporting and the female journalist has guts to go to the place where female reporters have been sexually assaulted.

(h/t jzaik)

Peaceful PalArab weekend

A Hamas policeman was killed when he was shot trying to make an arrest in eastern Gaza City.

Two Qassams were fired from Gaza to Israel on Sunday.

There was a family brawl near Bethlehem; one was killed and 11 injured.

A Gaza man was stabbed to death by his son-in-law.

A storefront in Gaza was heavily damaged by an explosive device.

Europe's BDS targets Palestinian Arab farmers!

Israel's only agricultural exporter, Agrexco, has been in some financial difficulty as it has tried to transition to a private company earlier this year. It is now facing bankruptcy.

Smelling blood, BDSers in Europe are calling again for a total boycott of all Agrexco goods:

We, Palestinian and Europeans together, affirm our determination to put an end to Agrexco’s presence in Europe. Our actions are taking place within the framework of the Palestinian-led global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

We have established a European wide coalition of organisations committed to coordinating our boycott campaigns and court actions against Agrexco. Secondly, we are calling for a European day of action against Agrexco on Saturday 26 November 2011.

We aim to build the widest possible alliance of individuals and organisations across Europe concerned with international law and refusing to be complicit in the violations of the rights of the Palestinian people perpetrated by Agrexco.

Agrexco is dedicated to exporting agricultural products. Sold under brand names such as Carmel, Coral, Biotop, Eco-Fresh, etc. these products embody Palestinian suffering: grown on stolen land with stolen water, produced through the exploitation of Palestinian labour – including child labour – they are part and parcel of a policy of colonisation, dispossession and apartheid carried out by Israel in Palestine. Agro-industrial corporation turned towards exportation, Agrexco is developing an industrial agriculture which harms the environment and destroys peasant agriculture in Palestine as well as in Europe.

There are a couple of things to note in this letter.

First is that, even though they claim to be a coalition of "Palestinians and Europeans together," there is not a single Palestinian Arab signatory.

Second is that the BDS movement is apparently not as confident that hating Israel is enough to get them support so they are adding charges about the environment, child labor and how somehow Agrexco's existence is threatening "peasant agriculture" in Europe. It sounds like the same argument could be made against most importers of produce in Europe.

The most interesting part, though, is that this group is explicitly boycotting Coral. Coral is the brand name of Palestinian Arab agricultural products sold in Europe. In order to be certified for export, they agree to be exported through Agrexco under that brand name, and if you want to buy produce from Palestinian Arab farmers, that is the brand name you must look for. Gaza bell peppers and strawberries are likewise sold under the Coral brand.

BDSers are going out of their way to destroy the only non-domestic market available for Palestinian Arab farmers.

Right now, as the Palestinian Authority is suffering from a huge budget crisis, the most important private industry in the territories is agriculture. The supposed friends of Palestinian Arabs are working overtime to destroy the livelihoods of thousands of Palestinian Arab farmers and workers.

As usual, BDS has exposed itself as not caring at all about Palestinian Arabs. This letter shows that their supposed interest in "peasant agriculture" is a sham. They could not get a single Palestinian Arab farmer group so sign on to this letter, because it represents further misery for the people they are claiming to help.

It would have been very easy for them to exclude Coral from this boycott call out of consideration for the livelihoods of Palestinian Arab farmers. At the very least, they could have acknowledged that this boycott call might hurt the ones they pretend to help, but it is a necessary evil. Yet they lump in Coral with the other Agrexco brands.

All this proves again that BDS movement is motivated not by love of Palestinian Arabs but hate for Israeli Jews. That hate is so potent that they don't give a damn if they destroy the lives of Palestinian Arabs along the way.

These smug Europeans pretend that they know what's best for Palestinian Arabs, even better than the Arabs themselves, and won't even ask the victims what they think.

Sounds a bit like colonialism, doesn't it?

July 2011 rocket calendar

The number of rockets has been increasing this month:

G=Grad
Q=Qassam
M=Mortar
P=Unidentified projectile
S=Fell short in Gaza
F=Fatality (Green-Gaza, Red-Israel)

July 2011

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat
					1	2
3 1Q	4	5	6	7	8	9 2Q 1QS
10	11	12 2Q	13 2Q _	14 6Q 1M	15 1M 1Q	16
17 3Q	18	19 1Q	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28 1Q	29	30
31 2Q

A rosy open thread

But he that dares not grasp the thorn

Should never crave the rose.

Saudi cleric rules that men can marry baby girls "in the cradle"

From the WSJ:

A senior Saudi cleric issued a religious ruling to allow fathers to arrange marriages for their daughters "even if they are in the cradle," setting up a confrontation between government reformers and influential conservative clergy.

Sheik Saleh al-Fawzan, one of the country's most important clerics, issued the ruling after the Justice Ministry said this month it would act to regulate marriages between prepubescent girls and men in the Islamic kingdom.

"Those who are calling for a minimum age for marriage should fear God and not violate his laws or try to legislate things God did not permit" them to legislate, Sheik Fawzan wrote in a fatwa, or religious decree, which was published on his website.

It isn't clear what legal weight Sheik Fawzan's fatwa would have if the Saudi justice ministry proceeds with its plan to outlaw child marriages. Saudi Arabia's legal system isn't codified, but because it is based upon an interpretation of Sharia law, the rulings of senior clerics can be used by individual judges when deciding cases.

..."Scholars have agreed that it was permissible for fathers to marry off their young daughters, even if they are in the cradle," Sheik Fawzan wrote in his fatwa. "But it isn't permissible for their husbands to have sex with them unless they are capable of being placed beneath and bearing the weight of the men."

He cited the example of the prophet's wife Aisha, who he said was wed at the age of six, but didn't have sex until she was nine.

Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti said in 2009 that it was acceptable for girls aged 10 and above to marry.

How long will it be before some Saudi pervert asks the esteemed cleric whether he is allowed to copulate with his 4 year old bride if he finds a position that does not force the child to bear any weight?

I wonder if they have lavish parties for the enslaved children to celebrate the consummation of these marriages.

This utterly depraved and sick story came out in Arabic over two weeks ago.

US DEA busts Hezbollah weapons smuggling ring

From Now Lebanon:

It was just an undercover operation meant to lead to the arrest of an Iranian drug dealer in Bucharest, Romania. But it developed into one of the largest operations the American Drug Enforcement Agency initiated in the last decade. It ended with the arrest of a Lebanese weapons dealer who claimed he was buying weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, worth $9.5 million for Hezbollah.

The American Drug Enforcement Agency announced last Tuesday that it had arrested Lebanese citizen Bashar Wehbeh in the Republic of Maldives for trying to purchase weapons from two undercover agents who were posing as dealers. As a result of the same operation, Cetin Aksu and Siavosh Henareh, Turkish and Iranian citizens, respectively, were arrested in Romania.

An international network of security institutions from Interpol to the Maldivian, Romanian Turkish, Greek and Malaysian police kept the suspects under surveillance, recorded conversations, intercepted phone calls and e-mails, and, on Monday, arrested the suspects.

...The agents recorded phone calls and conversations, filmed the meetings and kept e-mails in which they negotiated selling to [Hezbollah's] Wehbeh 48 American-made Stinger SAMs, 100 Igla SAMs, 5,000 AK 47 assault rifles, 1,000 M4 rifles and 1,000 Glock handguns for a total price of approximately $9.5 million.

Aksu and Wehbeh signed a written contract in June 2011 in Malaysia.

“During a meeting on June 12, 2011, Wehbeh stated that he was purchasing the weapons on instructions from Hezbollah,” the indictment reads. “On June 28, 2011, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wehbeh and co-conspirators not named as defendants herein caused approximately $50,000 as a down payment for the weapons purchase… to be sent to the [DEA agents].”

The case also shows links between Hezbollah weapons dealers and the drug trade.

The full indictment is here.

Chabad members strike deal to enlist in IDF (updated)

From Israel HaYom:

Leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch ultra-Orthodox movement have brokered an agreement with the Israel Defense Forces to draft male members for full military service. The agreement is to be signed soon, both sides report. The move marks the first time an entire Orthodox Hasidic movement will commit itself to sending its members to the Israeli military.

The deal is unique and significant as most Israeli ultra-Orthodox men do not perform military service, preferring instead to focus on their religious studies. The issue is a serious cause of tension between the religious and secular sectors of Israeli society.

The agreement between Chabad and the IDF, which comes after several months of negotiations, allows Chabad yeshiva students to leave the country for one year at the completion of their religious studies. After their year abroad, the students will be required to return to Israel for regular military service of three years.

The agreement stipulates that the men will be drafted and will have to serve a full three-year term even if they were married before beginning their service.

Chabad is concerned about fallout from other ultra-Orthodox groups because of the agreement, said a source with knowledge of the agreement. The IDF, on the other hand, is satisfied, considering the agreement a significant achievement after years of trying to integrate ultra-Orthodox communities into greater Israeli society, and is looking forward to the official support of some of Israel's most highly respected rabbis and Haredi community leaders. “This sets a precedent in the Haredi world,” the source said of the agreement. “For the first time, rabbis will support an agreement that will significantly increase the numbers in the IDF's ranks.”

This is very good news. It can help diffuse the anger that Israelis have towards the Haredim and it can help Chabad members integrate better into Israeli society.

I would be surprised if other chassidic groups follow very soon, though. Chabad is known for being able to live in secular of environments and encourages its members to live in the most remote places on the planet; other haredi groups are quite the opposite.

UPDATE: Chabad denies the deal. (h/t Miriam)

Death toll in Syria up to 136 today, rumors about who is in control (update)

From Al Arabiya:

Syrian forces killed at least 136 civilians and wounded hundreds in major tank assaults on Hama and other cities that began at dawn on Sunday to crush pro-democracy demonstrations, activists said.

“The army and security forces launched an attack on Hama and opened fire on civilians, killing 95 people,” Ammar Qorabi, who heads the National Organization for Human Rights, told AFP earlier.

He said that elsewhere, “19 people were killed in Deir Ezzor in the east, six more died in Harak in the south and one in Al Bukamal,” also in the east.

Several observers wondered if Mr. Assad was truly in charge of the situation. Some suggested that his brother, Maher, may be leading the assault against pro-democracy protesters. Maher Assad is known for his personal brutality and intolerance of dissent.

Reports have suggested that President Assad’s immediate family is in London, including his wife Asma. Mrs. Assad is particularly popular throughout Syria and internationally because of her humanitarian concerns, social work – and her great beauty.

While speculation increased Sunday afternoon about her husband’s whereabouts and whether he was still in control of Syria, world condemnation of the Syrian brutality slowly started.

The Obama Administration did not directly issue a condemnation from Washington. But a US embassy official in Damascus said on Sunday Syrian authorities had launched a war against their own people by attacking the city of Hama to try to crush pro-democracy demonstrations.

“It is desperate. The authorities think that somehow they can prolong their existence by engaging in full armed warfare on their own citizens,” Press Attache J. J. Harder told Reuters by phone. He described the official Syrian account of the violence as “nonsense.”

If the Assad family knows anything, it is how to hold onto power. I would not bet against Bashir yet.

Germany issued a real condemnation of the Syrian regime.

UPDATE: President Obama said he is "appalled" at the brutality.

More trouble for the PA: Workers plan to strike

This was predictable:

The union of civil servants in the West Bank on Sunday called for an open strike to begin Tuesday in protest over the late payment of salaries.

Union chief Bassam Zakarna dismissed the Palestinian Authority's claims that it could not pay employees' wages on time because of a financial crisis.

"This financial crisis is made up, and the government adopts a policy of blackout to frustrate employees and citizens while the treasury has enough money to pay full salaries," Zakarna said in a statement.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister and Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday that the government needed $300 million "urgently" to help ease a cash crisis.

Speaking at an extraordinary meeting of Arab League representatives, Fayyad said the crisis stemmed from the fact that pledged aid had not materialized.

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki told AFP that President Mahmoud Abbas had requested the meeting as the PA faced the possibility of being unable to pay the salaries of its employees for July or August.

Zakarna said Fayyad was "trying tactics" as shops were forced to close and the country's economy was "collapsing."

The union leader said government employees were not able to buy goods for the holy month of Ramadan, which begins Monday, and could not pay for their children's university applications.

If the PA starts to see strikes and anti-government demonstrations in August - which Hamas may very well help organize and encourage - it would make the statehood bid at the UN look like a joke. And Ramadan protests, with hungry people in the heat of the summer demanding their money, seem likely to flare up into violence, which would be even more embarrassing before any UN bid.

The PA is by far the largest employer in the West Bank, so if the government workers aren't paid the entire economy very possibly would collapse.

Interestingly, although Fayyad managed to get the Arab League to meet about the PA's financial troubles, I have not seen any indication that any money was actually forthcoming.

Is it possible that Arab leaders are not really keen on this whole unilateral statehood stunt and are trying to undermine it by withholding promised funds? I haven't seen much enthusiasm for the idea in the mainstream Arabic press. This sounds like the type of passive-aggressive move that Arab leaders have used in the past, as they mouth words of support for "Palestine" but do little to help.