Donors Find $940 Million for Lebanon, $500 for Palestine

The international community met last week in Stockholm and pledged $940 million in aid for Lebanon and $500 for the Palestinians. The UN had set targets of $500 million and $330 million respectively. Now, the donors just have to pay up. If they satisfy their pledges in full, the political issues won’t go away, but they have literally bought some time to address these problems, not that anyone will.

In the case of Lebanon, the country’s prime minister, Fouad Siniora, has put the total damage to his nation as a result of the 34-day Israeli-Hezbollah conflict at $3.6 billion. He’s got about 25% of the money needed out of the Stockholm crew. He graciously said, “Lots of work has been done during the past week in order to preserve the dignity of the Lebanese, and in order to stop the aggression that was made against them.” However, so long as Israel continues its blockade of Lebanon (which is contrary to international law), there will be no trade along the Mediterranean. Such trade has been vital to the Levant since before Alexander the Great conquered Tyre.

To the south, the Palestinians are getting half a billion to replace, in part, what they lost from the US and others for electing Hamas. UN aid boss Jan Egelund said, “I hope that this conference here could represent some kind of a rock bottom for how deep we could sink in despair for the Palestinian territories and that we now move forward.” With 80% of the population living in poverty, and with garbage piling up in the streets because the trash men aren’t being paid, rock bottom is pretty close.

If the aid does nothing more than get the household garbage moved in Gaza and build a few roads in Lebanon, it will be a start. People with jobs don’t spend quite as much time plotting suicide bomb attacks as those with an entire day lacking in appointments. Yet, what happens when this money is spent? There is no next step because the aid is a short-term move, and the problems of the Middle East are extremely long term.

What is intensely annoying is the people who caused the damage to Lebanon are not the ones currently stuck with the bill. Since Israel, Syria, Iran and the US all contributed to the pointless war in Lebanon, Mr. Siniora should embarrass them all into reparations -- and he should use that word. As General Colin Powell said of Iraq, “you break it, you own it.” Mr. Siniora may as well try for punitive damages as well; he won’t get them either because at the end of the day, the Middle East isn’t about right and wrong, justice or injustice; it’s about blind hatred and power.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Home