Monday, June 19, 2006

Palestinians pass on food aid, instead order TVs for soccer

The word from the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip is of hunger and impoverishment because of the Western boycott of the Palestinian Authority. Every day, the PA feeds to captive Palestinian correspondents of Western media reports of women selling jewelry for food or men begging for medical treatment. The Gaza Strip is not Fifth Avenue, but nobody is starving or running to the poor house. The European Union and Arab states continue to pump in money to non-government organizations and the United Nations has been sending in 400 truckloads of food and medicine every day. The PA has even rejected an Israeli offer of medicine and instead asked for cash. So, what do the Palestinians want? They want color television sets to watch World Cup soccer. Over the past three weeks, about 120 trucks loaded with TVs have arrived in the Gaza Strip. The televisions were imported by Israeli companies and resold to Palestinian wholesalers. It turns out that Palestinians are as nuts over soccer as their counterparts in neighboring Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The games are broadcast throughout the region and many Palestinians rush home to eat supper watching their favorite teams. The idea that Gazans are not dying doesn't sit well with the EU. So, Brussels wants to pump more money for such services as education, welfare and psychologists. That means that the Hamas-led government will have the means to teach school kids about jihad, anti-Semitism and Bin Laden — all at Western expense.


And a SHOCK..........
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