Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, May 29, 2011

PA economy seriously screwed up by NGOs

I recently posted a couple of articles about how NGO money, poured into the Palestinian Arab territories, has been counter-productive.

Another article, written by a businessman who is trying to build a real business in the PA-controlled areas, sheds light on the problem from his perspective:

Due to the enormous amounts of donor funds provided as “development aid,” many NGOs are able to lure educated and professional Palestinians by offering salaries that are three to four times higher than what the local private sector can afford. This causes labour costs to rise significantly, and directly undermines the local private sector’s ability to recruit educated professionals and build an autonomous Palestinian economy.

When Palestinian businesses do hire employees, they are forced to offer exaggerated salaries that reduce overall capital returns and hinder Palestine’s competitiveness in attracting investments. Limiting private investment stifles Palestine’s economic growth and reduces government tax revenue that can otherwise be utilized to fund the public services currently provided by NGOs.

This dynamic compromises the “non-profit” status of NGOs, which receive all the tax benefits of charitable organizations. This means that, for NGOs, offering high salaries is the equivalent of a business distributing profits among its employees. If Palestinian businesses were to triple the salaries of their employees and offer “hazard pay” for their locally stationed expatriates, as NGOs do, they could surely arrange their income statements to report zero profit. Would private businesses then become non-profit organizations? Could they receive tax exemptions? Clearly, the answer is no. The private sector cannot flourish in an environment where it is forced to compete with the financial prowess of donor governments. This is an example of a much greater problem that has enormous implications for Palestinians.

Today, international aid accounts for 30 per cent of Palestinian gross domestic product (GDP), with a large number of educated and professional Palestinians flocking towards NGOs and donor-sponsored projects, thus further exacerbating Palestinian donor dependency.

To complicate matters, international aid is highly political, and is provided in the interests of a donor states’ foreign policy rather than due to a genuine interest in helping Palestinians. Palestinians saw the detrimental effects of this donor dependency when they elected their own government in a free and fair election only to have donor states boycott them because of whom they elected. The international community turned off the tap of donor aid, leaving roughly 150,000 Palestinians who were employed by the Palestinian Authority and NGOs helpless without income. Only the employees of the private sector continued to receive paycheques and maintain their independence regardless of how they exercised their right to vote.

Interestingly, this businessman has no problem with a terror organization being part of the government. He believes, perversely, that such a move could help Palestinian Arab self-sufficiency:

The recent Hamas-Fatah agreement could cause a repeat of the donor boycott that took place in 2006. It may, however, also prove to be another example of how the private sector can play a vital role in empowering people in developing nations while liberating them from the shackles of foreign-donor dependency.

The problems of a Hamas government do not exist for him. He just wants to get rid of the NGOs sucking out his ability to make money.

Which shows, from a Palestinian Arab perspective, the choice is not to make real peace with Israel or not. It is to choose between staying a welfare state while pretending to be against terror, or officially embracing terror and becoming more economically self-sufficient.

By the way, there are plenty of NGOs who support Hamas - and they are proud of it.

(h/t Anne)

Syria update: 13 year old tortured to death

A horrific video is going around Arabic sites showing the dead, tortured body of a 14-year old Syrian boy named Hamza al-Khatib. (Warning: very gruesome.)

Some 8 protesters were killed on Friday and there are reports that Iran is sending trainers and advisers to Syria to help stop the demonstrations.

Now Lebanon is reporting that Syrian opposition leaders in Lebanon are being kidnapped and presumably forced into Syrian jails.

Weekend links

Daniel Gordis speaks to J-Street: "In the tent or out?"

Krauthammer: What Obama Did to Israel

Is Obama a Zionist Agent? (Toameh)

Saudi Arabia gets a pass (Adam Daifallah)

Canada's Harper blocks mention of "1967 borders" in G8 statement

"Jordan Isn't Palestine, But It Could Be" (Victor Shikhman)

Followup on the Saudi woman driver: she's in jail for another ten days at least, and has a sick son

Egypt strips citizenship from Coptic Christian man. "According to the lawyer handling the case against him, Sadek is guilty of insulting Islam, supporting Judaism and “calling for the killing of Arabs.” Additionally, the Egyptian court is upset over his call for the United States and Israel to get involved in the nation’s internal affairs.

And everyone's been sending this around - for good reason:

(h/t Serious Black, Mike, Menachem, Ed, jzaik)

Israel's deaf-blind theater troupe touches audiences

This is Zionism.

The YouTube page has links where you can download performances.

(h/t Mike)

Terrorist who stabbed a rabbi to death gets monthly salary from the PA

Remember how people said that Hamas would become more moderate when they became part of a government?

Hamas' AlQassam.ps site put up an article today about Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed Fallit, who has been in an Israeli prison for 19 years. In May 1992, Rabbi Shimon Biran was ambushed and stabbed in the back by the terrorist, near Kfar Darom. The article praises him for stabbing a civilian and then talks about how difficult his time in prison has been.

Apparently, glorifying terrorists is still in style with the new, improved, moderate Hamas.

By the way, Fallit has been getting a monthly salary since 1994, courtesy of the Palestinian Authority - and your tax dollars. As PalWatch reported last week:

In 2004, the PA defined by law exactly who would be considered a prisoner as "anyone imprisoned in the occupation's [Israel's] prisons as a result of his participation in the struggle against the occupation."

The PA's Ministry for Prisoner Affairs said Thursday that its policy had always been to pay salaries to prisoners and their families "regardless of their political affiliations."

The ministry said it was unaware of any new law concerning salaries of prisoners and their families. It said, however, that the PA government had in recent years taken a number of decisions to raise the salaries of the prisoners and their family members.

The ministry pointed out that the PA had been paying salaries to prisoners since its establishment in 1994.

Good analysis of the Netanyahu/Obama drama from JPost

Herb Keinon in the Jerusalem Post has a thought provoking article that discusses, from a diplomatic perspective, why things happened the way they did over the past eight days.

He gives fairly reasonable answers to the questions:

Why did Obama surprise Netanyahu with a speech that clearly stated the 1967 lines as the negotiation baseline?

Why did Netanyahu choose to pick a fight with Obama, issuing an extremely tough response to the president’s Mideast speech?

Why, after issuing this response, did Netanyahu feel the need to cross swords with Obama when they issued joint statements after their Friday meeting?

Why did Obama decide to speak before AIPAC, and why did he say what he said?

Why was Netanyahu’s speech to Congress important, especially since he did not chart any radically new course?

Read the whole thing.

To that last question, I will add another answer.

Bibi's speech was not only important diplomatically, but also by its effect on the entire discourse around the Arab/Israeli conflict.

His speech changed the discussion from one that is framed in a pro-Arab way ("the settlements are the main obstacle to peace") to one that is more accurate, that is, that Israel is never going to compromise on its security, regardless of what people want. Changing the framework in this way has resulted in reporters and pundits being forced to change their arguments. It has, in short, moved the goalposts and re-awakened people to hearing Israel's viewpoint after years of nonstop pro-Arab rhetoric that invaded mainstream news media.

I don't know how long this will last, but that is not a small achievement.

(h/t Russell)

UNIFIL member killed, 4 injured in Lebanese blast

From AFP:

An Italian peacekeeper was killed and four wounded, one gravely, in an explosion targeting a UN patrol in south Lebanon on Friday, ANSA news agency reported, citing defence ministry sources.
Contacted by AFP, a defence ministry spokesman in Rome said: "I can confirm the attack but as the rescue is still under way I do not have a very clear idea of the situation. In principle we have one fallen and one gravely injured."

Other sources are saying two were killed.

JPost notes:

The explosion happened on the UN's International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, when peacekeepers killed in missions across the world are commemorated by their colleagues.

Must be Israel's fault. Probably rage at Netanyahu's speeches.

Why is BDS silent on Microsoft?

From Time in March:

Microsoft's "Kinect" hands-free motion control peripheral for the Xbox 360 has been confirmed by Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling consumer electronics device ever.

Kinect "sold through an average of 133,333 units per day, for a total of 8 million units in its first 60 days on sale," says Guinness. The "sold through" part is especially important as sell-through denotes products actually purchased by customers—not just shipments to retail stores.

Guinness also points out that Kinect sales eclipsed "both the iPhone and the iPad for the equivalent periods after launch."

More than 10 million XBox Kinects have been sold.

The Kinect was designed by a company in Israel that sold it to Microsoft.

So why are we not hearing from BDSers to boycott Microsoft, or at least the XBox and Kinect?

After all, company size shouldn't matter. Isn't this a question of morality?

(Well, yes, it is, but not in the way the BDSers pretend it is....)

Arab Spring: new Nazi party in Egypt

From Al Masry al Youm:

A group of Egyptians have announced their intent to establish a Nazi party with "a contemporary frame of reference," an independent Egyptian news website said on Wednesday.

Al-Badeel, a leftist news portal, quoted founding member Emad Abdel Sattar as saying the party would bring together prominent figures from the Egyptian society. The party’s founding deputy is a former military official.

The party believes in vesting all powers in the president after selecting him or her carefully, Abdel Sattar said, adding that preparations are underway to choose the most competent person to represent the party.

The Nazi party operated secretly under former President Hosni Mubarak, whose regime prevented party leaders from carrying out their activities freely.

Although Al-Masry Al-Youm could not verify the news reported by Al-Badeel, two Facebook pages have appeared recently under the title of "the Egyptian Nazi Party".

I found a few Facebook pages, with lots of videos and photos and (predictable) anti-semitism. Here are two logos I saw:

They might be fringe, and they might be small, but I am not seeing any outrage in Egypt.

(h/t Elder of Lobby)

Is Israel booby-trapping Hamas weapons?

Firas Press quotes Israeli media today as saying that Hamas is fearful that some of the weapons it is receiving are actually booby-trapped or otherwise tampered with by Israel.

According to the story, Israel passes weapons to Bedouin in the Sinai who in turn smuggle them to Gaza. The Popular Front claims to have received weapons that were tampered with.

I don't know if it is true, but it is a great idea, isn't it?

They should add tracking systems as well.

Bad anti-Israel folk-singer tries again

Last year a self-styled "folk singer" named David Rovics put out a truly horrible song that made the Mavi Marmara terrorists sound like heroes. It turns out he has an entire library of anti-Israel songs, each one written and sung worse than the next.

He has a new song now because Netanyahu's speech really burned him up. It is so bad, it is funny.

I wrote my own folk song in response to last year's Rovics train wreck that is much better, and I even made a video of my own where the singer, in the same faux-singing style of Rovics, sings almost as badly as Rovics does.

So because it is Friday, here once again is the video and lyrics of my quickly written folk-song masterpiece, The Pawns of the Middle East:

In 1948 their leaders abandoned them

The rich Arabs packed up and went to Lebanon

Their confident leaders told them to get out of the way

So the Jews could be slaughtered and then they'll be back to stay

But that's not what happened. Their fighters didn't fight.

Wild rumors scared them, and most then joined the flight

They ended up in Egypt, Syria, Jordan

The Palestinian Arabs thought they'd start over again

They thought that they'd be welcomed by the Arabs who said that they loved them

But they were placed in giant camps, and had to stay in tents

They thought that they were all Arabs, but they were only that in name

The other Arabs didn't want them to remind them of their shame

Chorus:

Decade after decade, the Arabs let them down

They treated them like animals, and just used them as pawns

They thought that their problem was that they didn't have a state

But the real problem was that they were taught only to hate.

They wanted jobs, they wanted land, they wanted to fit in

Their hosts only wanted the millions given by the UN

They kept them stuck in camps, in disgusting misery

They did everything possible to ensure they'd never be free.

The Arab states passed laws to let them know where they stand

They couldn't work in certain jobs, couldn't own any land

They had no choice, no rights, no control over their fate

And they raised a generation who was taught nothing but hate.

Chorus

Jordan never gave them an inch of "historic Palestine"

The entire world had no problem. They thought that this was fine.

The only land that Arabs would allow them to receive

Was the land that would be left over when they forced the Jews to leave.

Their new leaders taught terror, for them not to be so meek

Jordan slaughtered thousands of them in a matter of just weeks

And so it went, year after year, kept in dire straits

400,000 of them got kicked out of Kuwait

Decade after decade, the Arabs let them down

They treated them like animals, and just used them as pawns

They thought that their problem was that they didn't have a state

But the real problem was that they were taught only to hate.

I made this song a "video response" to Rovics on YouTube, but somehow I doubt that he'll approve it. In fact, I predict that he'll complain to YouTube about mine and try to get it taken down.