EnterTheVoid Posted March 3, 2009 Posted March 3, 2009 .... with most of the money coming from America Donors pledge $4.5bn to help Palestinians By Heba Saleh in Sharm El Sheikh Published: March 3 2009 02:00 | Last updated: March 3 2009 02:00 International donors yesterday pledged $4.48bn in new money to help the Palestinian economy and rebuild Gaza. The pledge came as Hillary Clinton called for urgent action by Arabs, Israelis and the international community to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and move towards peace. The US secretary of state said: "Only by acting now can we turn this crisis into an opportunity to move us closer to our shared goals". She was addressing an international donors' conference in Egypt for the reconstruction of Gaza, the Palestinian territory shattered by a three-week Israeli offensive. The Barack Obama administration, unlike its predecessor, has moved quickly to engage with the Middle East, even if it has not advertised any substantially different position on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Mrs Clinton, on her first trip to the Middle East since her appointment, pledged $900m (€714m, £643m) of aid for the Palestinians of which $300m was earmarked for urgent humanitarian relief to Gaza. The aid includes budgetary, security and infrastructure support for the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, which was ousted from Gaza in 2007 by Hamas, the Islamist militant group. Mrs Clinton stressed that the US had worked with the PA to put in place safeguards to ensure that the funds did not fall into "the wrong hands" - a reference to Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the US. The European Union said it would give $554m and there were pledges from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries totalling $1.65bn. Although billed as a donors' conference, delegates at the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh focused less on sums of money pledged than on the need to resume a political process aimed at delivering a Palestinian state. They stressed the need for Palestinian reconciliation to end the situation where there are rival administrations in Gaza and the West Bank. Donors do not want any government to include Hamas because of its commitment to armed struggle and refusal to recognise Israel. Neither Israel, which continues to blockade Gaza, nor Hamas were represented at the conference. The two sides have yet to agree a ceasefire in spite of more than a month of Egyptian mediation. Israel insists that it will not open Gaza's border crossings until there are arrangements to ensure that the militant group could not bring in weapons or rebuild its strength. "Aid workers do not have access," said Ban Ki Moon, secretary-general of the UN. "Essential commodities cannot get in . . . Our first and indispensable goal, therefore, is to open crossings. By the same token, however, it is therefore essential to ensure illegal weapons do not enter Gaza." Mrs Clinton said Palestinian rockets launched against Israel by Hamas militants had to stop. She said Israel had to show "the Palestinians that there are benefits to negotiating". She did not, however, call on Israel to open Gaza's crossing. www.ft.com/arabisrael Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 ************************************************************************************ Typical. Expected nothing less.
Ram Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 First they bomb it, then they pledge to rebuild it. Strange. You can rebuild roads, schools and colleges, but what about the 1000 innocent Palestinian lives that were lost?
2 balls 1 bat Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 First they bomb it, then they pledge to rebuild it. Strange. You can rebuild roads, schools and colleges, but what about the 1000 innocent Palestinian lives that were lost? they reproduce fast enough to replace that sooner than the roads, schools, and colleges will be rebuilt, so its all gravy.
punjabi_khota Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 they reproduce fast enough to replace that sooner than the roads' date=' schools, and colleges will be rebuilt, so its all gravy.[/quote'] :giggle::giggle::giggle::two_thumbs_up: welcome dude! The bat is baseball-ish though. This is a cricket forum.
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