Bush pledges $50 million to Palestinian Authority

[Beirut]

Wow! That's what the US gives to Israel every... about seven days.

I'm impressed. Amazing. What outstanding generosity.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I really really dislike Bush, but even I have to admit he has done something truly remarkable here.

It's not that remarkable. He's already too free with taxpayer money.

[Redleg]

Wow! That's what the US gives to Israel every... about seven days.

I'm impressed. Amazing. What outstanding generosity.

Well its better then a swift kick in the ass.....

[PanzerJaeger]

Especially since they dont deserve anything.

[Proletariat]

Does this mean 'great compromise'?

Ladies and Gentlmen, that's how you piss away 50 million bucks.

That's what the US gives to Israel every... about seven days.

[sharrukin]

Maybe the money will be used for schools for Palestinian children!

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:4...t=1&lr=lang_en

BBC, By Jeremy Cooke in Gaza

The Islamic Jihad is running a summer school - to teach boys the benefits of becoming suicide bombers.

A new generation of children, Palestinian boys aged between 12 and 15 years old, is growing up amid conflict and violence.

Teacher Mohammed el Hattab: Suicide bombers go to the highest state in paradise. The militant group has a sworn mission to wage a holy war against Israel. The boys are told not only that it is good to kill, but also that it is good to die. They learn that suicide bomb attacks have proved the most deadly way to hit the Israelis.

Mohammed, a 14-year-old boy, draws himself with explosives strapped to his body, ready to blow himself to pieces if it means killing Jews.

"Yes," he says, when asked if he wants to be a suicide bomber. "I want to liberate Palestine and be part of the revolution."

The boys are told that it is good to kill and good to die. The boys are shown pictures of those who have already died in the conflict with Israel. They are taught that to give their lives is to be guaranteed a place in heaven. And to be a suicide bomber is one of the highest forms of martyrdom. They will be greeted in paradise by 70 virgins.

"We are teaching the children that suicide bombing is the only thing that make the Israeli people very frightened. Furthermore, we are teaching them that we have the right to do it," said Islamic Jihad member Mohammed el Hattab, one of the teachers on the programme.

"We are teaching them that after the suicide attacks, the man who makes it goes to the highest state in paradise," he said.

[Productivity]

Maybe the money will be used for schools for Palestinian children!

All the more reason why money is needed for real schools, so children have an alternative to these propaganda centres.

[sharrukin]

All the more reason why money is needed for real schools, so children have an alternative to these propaganda centres.

I would agree with that but it would require that we direct where the money goes rather than allowing it to be used without restrictions.

[Beirut]

Especially since they dont deserve anything.

You mean like food and water too?

Yep, disposable people. How terribly convenient. I heard some decades back there was a group of people that some others thought didn't deserve anything. In the end though they did at least get special treatment. Lucky them eh?

[Papewaio]

I heard some decades back there was a group of people that some others thought didn't deserve anything. In the end though they did at least get special treatment. Lucky them eh?

I think your timelime is out by a couple of centuries as the early pilgrims where helped out by the Indians and they now celebrate that as Thanksgiving day.

[LittleGrizzly]

well im amazed, well done bush.

[PanzerJaeger]

You mean like food and water too?

No, they dont deserve a $50 million handout from the US, but we're helping them in an effort to better the lives of everyone in that area. Its funny, i post an article about how were giving them a bucket load of cash and were still the bad guys.

Yep, disposable people. How terribly convenient. I heard some decades back there was a group of people that some others thought didn't deserve anything. In the end though they did at least get special treatment. Lucky them eh?

Thats an especially cheap shot.

And thus ends the good news for the peace effort thread..

[Beirut]

No, they dont deserve a $50 million handout from the US, but we're helping them in an effort to better the lives of everyone in that area. Its funny, i post an article about how were giving them a bucket load of cash and were still the bad guys.

It's not that you're stil the bad guys, but this doesn't exectly make you the good guys either. $50M, in this context, is like letting the Palestinians look at a picture of your cousin while you're letting the Israelis bonk your wife. The US bears a much, much higher responsibility in this affair.

Thats an especially cheap shot.

A nasty one, but not that cheap. After all, there are people on the boards who again and again refer to the Palestinian people as animals. The Palestinians are often dehumanized as a people, both on these forums and elsewhere. They are looked down on and seen as less than equal. This bears a stricking resemblance to events from the past, in different eras, events that had tragic consequences.

Good news? I want to hear Bush say he's granting $500M for starters to build up the infrastructure for the Palestinians. Challenge the other Arab states to match it. Send neutral, third party engineers and doctors, paid for by the Americans, (and other Arab states if they can get off their lazy behinds) to start the process. The US can take the money out of the three billion a year Israel receives. Start a process that snowballs and becomes unstopable. Give the Palestinians a real taste of civilized life, not just a daydream from their prison existence. When they see and experience good hospitals, plentiful water, irrigation for crops, new homes (living in the bulldozed ones is very cramped I hear), neighbourhoods cleared of rubble, parks and greenspace, employment and opportunity, those are things they will not want to let go of too easilly. Those are the things that people need. Even Palestinians.

(Mind you, the Israeli armed forces might see the rebuilding as a sort of mission editior in a flight sim. Someone else creates a scenery file, the Palestinians download it and install it, then the Isreali air force blows it up again. Sorry, been playing IL2 too much. )

[Lazul]

Especially since they dont deserve anything.

Neither Isreal or Palestine deservs any support from any other country, since both nations act like racist, narro-minded bombhappy morons.

Thats exactly the way I feel!

[Idaho]

Pointless drop in the ocean. The place is a war zone. End curfews, checkpoints, air strikes and home demolitions and perhaps in 10 years time a normal economy and society can return to Palestine. The place is inoperable right now.

[Papewaio]

If we could make Idaho and Jag the leaders of Israel and Palestine.

Have everyone obey their rulers absolutely.

Then in a generation we would have a paradise.

Put Pindar and myself in charge and in a generation it would be a desert and two guys still going over the fine print of the negotiations.

Pindar "But in common usage it always means this"
Papewaio "Since when did I say I was using common usage? And what do you define as common in this instance and season?"

Everyone else slowly backing off before they go numb...

[Fragony]

If we could make Idaho and Jag the leaders of Israel and Palestine.

Indeed I love a good catfight.

// runs away

[Adrian II]

Wow! That's what the US gives to Israel every... about seven days.

LOL! Like the man said: piss it away, George!