Fayyad, Arab donors and the PA's perpetual disfunctionality

LOTL..
06 January '13..

The level of disfunctionality of the Palestinian Authority while apparent to most, at times can still be quite difficult to put to paper and describe. While not the goal of today's AP interview in the New York Times, they may have just captured it in all its glory.

AP Interview: Palestinian PM Warns of Cash Crisis
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 6, 2013 at 2:22 PM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian self-rule government is in "extreme jeopardy" because of an unprecedented financial crisis, largely because Arab countries have failed to send hundreds of millions of dollars in promised aid, the Palestinian prime minister said Sunday.

The cash crunch has gradually worsened in recent years, and the Palestinian Authority now has reached the point of not being able to pay the salaries of about 150,000 government employees, Salam Fayyad told The Associated Press. The number of Palestinian poor is bound to quickly double to 50 percent of the population of roughly 4 million if the crisis continues, he said.

"The status quo is not sustainable," Fayyad said in an interview at his West Bank office.

.....Fayyad pinned most of the blame for the Palestinian Authority's financial troubles on delinquent Arab donors, saying they are "not fulfilling their pledge of support in accordance with Arab League resolutions."


European countries kept their aid commitments, he said.

Some $200 million in U.S. aid were held up by Congress last year, a sum the Obama administration hopes to deliver to the Palestinians this year, along with an additional $250 million in aid. "We have made it clear that we think the money should go forward," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said last week.

.....Now he's not even sure how he will cover the government payroll, his heftiest monthly budget item. The Palestinian Authority employs some 150,000 people, including civil servants and members of the security forces. About 60,000 live in Gaza and served under Abbas before the Hamas takeover, but continue to draw salaries even though they've since been replaced by Hamas loyalists.

Let's think about this. What are the chances that these "delinquent Arab donors" just can't imagine why they are somehow obligated to pick-up the tab for those 60,000 PA employees who "continue to draw salaries even though they've since been replaced"? Can you imagine?

That the European countries will continue to keep their pledges, that the Obama administration hopes to deliver $450 million dollars in total this year, what can one say. Surely Salam Fayyad will note their faithfulness to commitments made, with the shaking of hands, an appreciative nod of the head, and with a look on high, give thanks that he has survived another day. As to the Arab donors though, what can one expect. After-all, they do live in the neighborhood.

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