Twenty eight Palestinian Authority municipalities in the West Bank
have announced "a boycott of the American consulate, its
diplomats, and the American institutions in Jerusalem." The
announcement was made by Hatem Abd Al-Qader, holder of the Jerusalem
portfolio in the Fatah party, who explained that the Americans
"cannot extort the Palestinian people and
humiliate it with a
bit of aid."
This message repeats PA Chairman
Mahmoud
Abbas´s snub of US financial support , reported last week by
Palestinian Media Watch . Abbas said
he would not allow US aid to "dictate" PA policy.
PA TV news reported that it is specifically the American "aid
organizations" that are being boycotted:
"Twenty-eight institutions and
local councils in the Jerusalem district have announced their
intention to boycott American aid organizations and to cancel the
agreements signed with them."
[PA TV (Fatah),
Feb. 24, 2011]
PA TV quoted Kais Abd Al-Karim, member of the political bureau of the
Democratic Front:
"The Palestinian people prefer to
start a boycott against these American organizations, which provide
so-called assistance, because we prefer liberty and dignity over
bread dipped in humiliation and submission."
[PA TV (Fatah), Feb. 24, 2011]
Al-Qader explained that the boycott "will continue until the
American administration changes its stance... and apologizes to the
Palestinian people and its president, Mahmoud Abbas."
It should be noted that the "bit of aid" that the PA is
rejecting totaled more than half a billion dollars in 2010 alone
[Hillary Clinton speech, Nov. 10, 2010, US State Dept. website]. The
PA boycott of American "so-called assistance" will impact
significantly on the 28 PA municipalities. The following is just one
example of US aid listed on the USAID website under
"Water
Resources and Infrastructure/ EJP - Emergency Jobs
Program":
"Successes : Completed 201
construction activities... Generated more than 350,000 person-days of
employment benefiting approximately 1.5 million Palestinians.
Graduated 117 Fellows from the Engineering Fellows Program... -
Completed four women´s centers... with a combined budget of $658,400,
generating 6,700 days of employment. Completed a girls´ school... one
of 15 girls´ schools completed throughout the West Bank through EJP
with a budget of $428,997, generating 3,495 days of employment.
Completed five youth club projects to... benefit more than 38,900
youth and have a combined budget of $2,608,675, generating 19,610
days of employment to date... EJP completed nine health clinic
renovations and new construction projects impacting 86,093
beneficiaries with a combined budget of $319,894, generating 5,797
days of employment to date... Life of Project: 09/30/2007-01/30/2011;
Total Estimated Cost: $34,000,000."
As stated, this list is just one of many listings of the "bit of
aid" and "so-called assistance" the US is currently
giving to the PA.
The following is the article in the official PA daily announcing
the boycott:
"Hatem Abd Al-Qader, who holds
Fatah´s Jerusalem portfolio, announced a boycott of the American
consulate, its diplomats, and the American institutions in Jerusalem,
in protest over the American veto of the proposed law [i.e.,
resolution] at the [UN] Security Council denouncing the Israeli
settlements.
Abd Al-Qader told Agence France Presse: ´The local councils and
municipalities in the Jerusalem district, 28 in total, have decided
to boycott the American consulate in Jerusalem and all the American
institutions, American personnel and diplomats, in protest over the
decision of the Barack Obama administration to use its veto power to
sabotage a proposed Palestinian resolution denouncing Israeli
settlements in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem.´
Abd Al-Qader stated that ´the Palestinian factions in Jerusalem are
inclined towards a comprehensive boycott´ of American institutions in
Jerusalem. He added that this boycott ´will continue until the
American administration changes its stance concerning the Palestinian
cause, and especially concerning the issue of settlements, and
apologizes to the Palestinian people and its president, Mahmoud
Abbas.´
Abd Al-Qader said that the American administration ´cannot extort the
Palestinian people and humiliate it with a bit of aid and support for
Palestinian institutions, and therefore we have decided to boycott
these personnel, including the American consulate in occupied
Jerusalem.´
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