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| November 15, 2004 |
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| U.S., Allies Drawing Up Plans to Aid Palestinians |
WASHINGTON - November 15, 2004. The Bush administration is preparing with European allies to help the
Palestinian Authority organize January elections and improve its security
forces to crack down on terrorism, US officials and diplomats said on
Sunday, The New York Times (11/14) reports.
The immediate priority, they said, is getting funding, monitors and
technical assistance to the Palestinians for the January 9 presidential elections to choose a successor to Yassir Arafat, who died last week. President Bush is reconsidering redirecting millions of dollars in US funding to nongovernmental organizations to help prepare for the elections and provide other support. As much as $75 million already is in the pipeline for Palestinian programs, and a portion of that could be used for the elections, congressional aides said. Bush could also waive existing congressional restrictions and provide US aid directly to the Palestinians.
The United States also is pressing Israel for steps that would make the
elections easier to hold elections, such as pulling Israeli security
forces back from certain Palestinian population centers, officials said.
The presence of Israeli forces, and whether Israel will allow Palestinian
voting in East Jerusalem, could dominate talks in Washington on Monday
between Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Secretary of State
Colin Powell.
Besides election preparations, plans being drawn up by the Bush
administration and its European allies are expected to include a new
assessment of how to help Palestinians' reconstruction and development. The cash-strapped Palestinian Authority could receive money from a World Bank trust fund -- and from some countries directly -- as reforms are implemented. Officials said the effort would be spearheaded through the Middle East mediation “Quartet,” which is made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. The group could meet as
early as November 22-23.
La Tribune (France, 11/15) meanwhile writes that the next Palestinian
leaders will be confronted with the impatience of an economically bled
population. More than four years of violence and an embargo imposed by
Israel have devastated the Palestinian territories: a third of the
population is unemployed and half of the Palestinians live under the
poverty line, fixed at $2 per day per capita. The World Bank estimates
that an additional $1 billion are necessary to maintain next year’s budget afloat. Conscious of the danger of a bankruptcy, Ariel Sharon, the Israeli the Prime Minister, refunded $40 million in customs duties and VAT taken by the Israel on imported Palestinian goods. But this will not be enough, writes the daily. The World Bank, the Europeans and the Americans hope that Israel will facilitate the circulation of goods and people in the
Palestinian Territories.
Source: The World Bank |
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