By Ryan Jones
Jan 31, 2006
If Washington and Israel stop financially aiding the Hamas Authority (Hamas-led PA), the ?Palestinians? will get money from Iran and other Muslim states, and the West can go fly a kite.
Palestine [sic] Monetary Authority Governor George Abed told media analyst Aaron Lerner Monday Israel and the US cannot block the transfer of funds from Iran, Iraq, Syria or any other regional power via the banking system in PA-controlled Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Earlier, leading Hamas candidate Ismail Haniyah announced his organization was ready to turn to its allies in Tehran, Damascus, Riyadh and elsewhere in the Islamic world.
?Hamas has many alternatives [for aid], there is much good within our people and we have the Arab world and we also have all those who love the oppressed peoples in the world and who stand beside us,? Haniyah told Reuters at the weekend.
The terror group reportedly intends to send a delegation to Islamic and certain European countries in the near future to ?explain its position? and seek alternative funding so as to end PA dependence on Western aid.
After meeting visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel Sunday, Israeli Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Berlin backed his decision to withhold nearly $50 million in tax revenue that was due to be transferred to the PA this week.
On Monday, both US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice indicated American financial aid would soon come to a halt as well.
The US Congress is expected to pass legislation in the coming days forbidding the transfer of funds to a Hamas-led government until the group disarms and renounces its goal to eliminate the Jewish state.
Unsurprisingly, the Europeans will continue to fund the PA while ? ignoring the ongoing Hamas hate speeches ? they wait to see what policies the group enacts.
Whether Israel and the US will stick to their guns on this issue, time will tell. Already Washington is seeking a way to bypass a total aid ban, saying it will continue to support the leadership of PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas, who remains overall ?Palestinian? leader.
But in a Hamas-led government where all ministries are controlled by the terror group, the flow of money will inevitably be directed by the bearded killers.