Soccer Dad: Wolfensohn cries wolf

February 28, 2006

Wolfensohn cries wolf

James Wolfensohn is at it again. Remember he claimed that

"The Government of Israel, with its important security concerns, is loath to relinquish control, almost acting as though there has been no withdrawal, delaying making difficult decisions and preferring to take difficult matters back into slow-moving subcommittees," the letter said. "The Palestinian Authority has undergone further erosion in its capacity to cohere around key issues, and in some cases must come forward with creative proposals of its own."

Ah yes, then it was the Israelis who were preventing Palestinian development. Now, what's the problem? Palestinians on Financial Brink, Envoy Warns and what must be done?

Wolfensohn, a former World Bank president and the quartet's envoy to the Middle East, said the Palestinian Authority needed $60 million to $80 million by this week to pay 150,000 civil service employees and trainees, nearly half of them in the security forces. The European Commission, the E.U.'s executive body, agreed Monday to provide $144 million to the Palestinian Authority, designating most of it for social programs and energy bills. About $20 million could be used for salaries.

And if that doesn't happen what are the possible consequences?

"If we do not want to see rising tension leading to violence and chaos -- particularly just before the Israeli election -- we will have to develop urgently a convincing strategy addressing the PA's financial and developmental needs, not only in the short-term of the next few weeks but also in a longer time frame," Wolfensohn wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post. Israel has scheduled elections for March 28.

Now excuse me for not being alarmed. "[R]ising tension and chaos" has been pretty much de rigueur for the Palestinian Authority since 1993 when it was established, I hardly think that giving the PA money or not is going to be the trigger for more "chaos." (Was the fact that the PA was fully funded in September 2000 a factor stopping the "Aqsa intifada"?)

And why would Wolfensohn think that a lack of money would lead to chaos? I give him a lot of credit; he put his money where his mouth was when it came to the Palestinians. He invested $500000 of his own money in them. But it can't be said that his investment paid off all that well. As the AP reported

Palestinians looted dozens of greenhouses on Tuesday, walking off with irrigation hoses, water pumps and plastic sheeting in a blow to fledgling efforts to reconstruct the Gaza Strip.

American Jewish donors had bought more than 3,000 greenhouses from Israeli settlers in Gaza for $14 million last month and transferred them to the Palestinian Authority. Former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, who brokered the deal, put up $500,000 of his own cash.

Palestinian police stood by helplessly Tuesday as looters carted off materials from greenhouses in several settlements, and commanders complained they did not have enough manpower to protect the prized assets. In some instances, there was no security and in others, police even joined the looters, witnesses said.

Now this guy Wolfensohn is a banking guy. He's made an investment and it backfired. Now he's encouraging the nations of the world to join him in his folly. He should know better than most the folly of throwing good money after bad. Yet he persists.

Since 1993 the mantra has been, we must do this, that or the other to prevent chaos. This that and the other have been done and chaos has resulted regardless. Anyone suggesting that the PA must be funded else there will be chaos should have little credibility. And yet ...

Here's an exchange from today's Live Online session with Scott Wilson the Washington Post's Middle East correspondent:

San Diego, Calif.: What is the fuss about? Isn't this democracy in practice? Palestinians know that Hamas is a hated organization in the West and yet they elected Hamas. Freedom has a price and it appears that the "in your face" election of Hamas will have a heavy price for Palestinians.

Why should we bail them out?

Scott Wilson: Many diplomats would answer your question by saying to avoid chaos and violence, as James Wolfensohn did in a letter to the Quartet over the weekend.

Exactly why these diplomats have any credence is beyond me, yet for Wilson these guys know what they're talking about. For years the Palestinians have received more foreign aid per capita than anyone and yet haven't developed industry. The PA has a huge proportion of security personnel among its population ( nearly 75,000 according to the Washington Post story above.) and cannot provide security for itself or for Israel. The time for excuses is over.

This isn't the world's problem. This isn't Israel's responsibility. It is the Palestinians' problem and responsibility. They have never chosen co-existence or peace. Until they change their fundamental ideology that a Palestinian state can only be built when there's no Jewish state, the Palestinians will have nothing. If their goal is to destroy Israel, the moneys they receive will be used to bolster terror not aid civilians. There is every reason to assume that aid going to a Hamas run PA will make matters worse. That is why all aid, whether it goes directly to the government or to NGO's must be cut off. Now. And shame on the Bush administration for failing this test of its resolve.

Technorati tags: James Wolfensohn, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, Israel.