(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - During the past 20 years, the U.S. has invested $4.5 billion in promoting democracy among the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian economic analysts estimate that the PA has received a total of $25 billion in financial aid during the past two decades, but this has not created democracy for the Palestinians. On the contrary, what the Palestinians got from the start was a mini-dictatorship run by Yasser Arafat and his PLO and Fatah cronies. The refusal of the international community to hold Arafat accountable was the main reason a majority of Palestinians were driven into the open arms of Hamas. Palestinians lost faith in the PA and its leaders, mainly as a result of the PA's corruption. Hamas promised them change, reform and an end to financial corruption. The $4.5 billion the Americans invested in promoting Palestinian democracy went down the drain or ended up in secret Swiss bank accounts. The Palestinians do not have a functioning parliament or a free media in the West Bank or Gaza. And for Palestinians, presidential and parliamentary elections remain a remote dream.
2015-08-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive