MidnightCall Magazine
In this issue:
- Hear theWord of the Lord — By Thomas Lieth
- FirstThessalonians 3 and the Rapture — By Dr. Ron J. Bigalke Jr.
- Popular Prophecy:CheckingDogmaTwice — By Wilfred Hahn
News From Israel MagazineIn this issue:
- Why Jerusalem is Jewish — By Arno Froese
- ON THE HORIZON:
- Analysis: Birthright Needs to Transform on Larger Scale
- Israel Praises Turkish Authority for Preventing Hezbollah Attack
- Relationship with American Jews Is Changing
- A Festival of Discrimination—Funded by the EU
- The Cyrus Cylinder
EU to Pay Palestinian Authority Wages
The European Union has announced it will boost its financial aid to the Palestinian Authority by €40 million in a bid to secure salaries for government workers.
“This extra package is a clear indication that we are continuing and reinforcing our commitment to the Palestinian people,” EU’s external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner said in a statement.
The financial injection comes on top of €256 million provided so far by the EU this year by other instruments. It follows an international conference last December, where various donors pledged €5.2 billion in aid to the Palestinians over three years.
But most of the package was earmarked for long-term projects while many Arab donors have not met their commitments, leaving the Palestinian government struggling to pay public employees over recent months.
The Palestinian Authority employs some 160,000 public servants and their salaries cost €82 million monthly – covered by foreign aid.
While part of the EU cash should be spent on salaries, pensions, social aid to the poorest families and fuel for Gaza’s electricity power plant, part of it has already been earmarked for priority projects such as the construction of new security forces headquarters in Nablus.
The EU, as the biggest donor to the Palestinians, pledged €440 million at last year’s conference and extra cash comes on top of that sum.
-euobserver.com, 21 August 2008
The difference between Israel and Arab Palestinians becomes clearer day-by-day. Israel has received large amounts of aid from Europe and the United States, but has used the funds to develop a vibrant economy—a model for many countries, particularly developing ones. Aid to the Palestinians Authority in contrast seems to be falling into a bottomless pit. What is the reason, we may ask? The Arab Palestinians, although many have resided in the land of Israel for hundreds of years, are nevertheless guests of the land and not the owners. The Bible insists on the covenant of God with Abraham: “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18).
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