Self Inflicted Crisis

The UN is warning of an economic crisis if the Palestinians don't get money quick. Sorry, but this is an economic crisis of their own making and they're going to have to live with the repercussions of their actions.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs cautioned that an Israeli decision to cut off taxes and customs duties collected on behalf of the Palestinians could bring the Palestinian government to the brink of collapse by limiting its ability to provide basic services such as health, education, utilities, sanitation and policing.

The flow of money has been jeopardized by the Islamic militant group Hamas' landslide victory in Jan. 25 Palestinian elections. With the Palestinian Authority already strapped for cash, experts warn a cutoff could trigger a quick collapse.

Israel's Cabinet decided this month to stop sending the Palestinian Authority roughly $55 million in taxes and customs duties it collects on its behalf each month on imports and from Palestinian merchants and laborers working in Israel. The Jewish state considers Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction, a terrorist organization.

Would it be such a bad thing if the Palestinian 'government' collapses? After all, its comprised of terrorist groups who want nothing more than to destroy Israel, spread its militant Islamist worldview, and will not waiver on any of its goals. A collapse would be a shock to the Palestinian society, and show that elections have consequences - their overwhelming choice to back a terrorist group as their voice was the worst possible outcome, and any bailout would only delay the lesson that they sorely must learn.

Refusing to bail out the Palestinians at this juncture may be precisely what the Palestinians need in order to purge itself of the radical militancy that has dominated their leadership for more than 40 years; first in the guise of Arafat and the PLO and now Hamas.

However, the UN will likely try to do everything within its power to see that money ends up in the Palestinian Authority's hands, despite the fact that who knows how many billions have been siphoned off through the years in corruption or for the running Intifada. There are no checks against more siphoning of monies except the word of the UN (which has its own accounting - and accountability - problems) or Hamas.

While I feel sorry for most of the Palestinians who do not deserve this kind of leadership, that feeling is tempered by the fact that many do support terrorism, support violence in the face of dissenting opinions, and do not take responsibility for their own actions, instead blaming the Zionists or the West for their predicament.