International donors should send Gaza reconstruction money directly to property owners, the Palestinian prime minister said Wednesday, offering a plan that effectively bypasses the territory's Hamas rulers — his political rivals.
The Islamic militants want a say over how the money is given out. However, the international community is unlikely to hand hundreds of millions of dollars to the militants, still shunned by most of the world. The United States and the European Union consider Hamas to be a terrorist group.
Great plan. The most imporatant thing is getting the money to the people in Gaza who need it. Right? Nobody's gonna argue against that. If bypassing Hamas is a way of achieving that goal, all the better. Why should Hamas be seen in any way as contributing to reconstruction when they in effect are the cause of the destruction. They picked the fight afterall. Let the people of Gaza understand that the money's coming from Fayyad. The money's coming from the west and west leaning Arab countries so Hamas can squeal till they're blue in the face but they shouldn't get their mitts on that recostruction money. Too bad. And yes, I'm happy that people will be getting this money. Happy that they'll rebuild, and happy that PM Fayyad , who I've supported from the beginning is engineering that plan.
PM Fayyad's of the opinion that Palestinians need to get their own house in order - grow their economy, retrain their security forces, and state build now. These actions done now will lay the groundwork for a future peace. He knows it.
Hamas, on the other hand, has done nothing in Gaza but grow their military forces, smuggle in weapons, spew anti-Israel propaganda, kill political opposition and launch rockets into Israel. It baffles me how anyone can think that strategy will ever lead to a state. It won't period.
The centerpiece of Fayyad's plan is to send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid directly to owners of thousands of homes that were damaged or destroyed in the Israeli offensive.
Donors would either send the money through Fayyad's government or deal directly with Gaza's banks. Homeowners would apply for reconstruction money, get it through the banks and work under the supervision of independent inspectors.
Fayyad said he expects to sign a memorandum of understanding with Gaza banks Thursday. He said he has also briefed donors, who he said like the idea.
Under Fayyad's plan, even roads would be fixed by private contractors.
http://www.google.com/...
Here's the latest news:
Ramallah - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad signed a finance agreement for reconstruction in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
The deal would allow the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to partner with banks operating in Gaza, according to statements made in Ramallah on Thursday.
At a news conference, Prime Minister Fayyad said the PA seeks to "accomplish a comprehensive mechanism to present to international donors," officials he hopes to meet at a summit on 2 March in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm Al-Sheikh.
http://www.turkishweekly.net/...
So anyway, one hopes Fayyad's plans reach fruition in Gaza. One hopes that a cease fire deal gets sealed and Gazans can rebuild. And one hopes Gazans have seen the light wrt Hamas. The question remains however that even if Gazans at some point want to be rid of Hamas what would they be able to do about it? Hamas has shown their willingness to violently oppress any political dissidents. Any opposition.
So many questions remain.
moon