Aid rose in 2006 despite embargo Palestinians get help directly

from The Boston Globe

By Steven Erlanger, New York Times News Service

JERUSALEM -- Despite the international embargo on aid to the Palestinian Authority since Hamas came to power a year ago, significantly more aid was delivered to the Palestinians in 2006 than in 2005, according to official figures from the United Nations, United States, European Union, and International Monetary Fund.

Instead of going to the Palestinian Authority, most of the money was given directly to individuals or through independent agencies like the World Food Program.

The IMF and the UN say that the Palestinians received $1.2 billion in aid and budgetary support in 2006, about $300 per capita, compared with $1 billion in 2005.

While the United States and the EU have led the boycott, they too provided more aid to the Palestinians in 2006 than 2005. Washington increased its aid to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians to $468 million in 2006, from $400 million in 2005.

The EU and its member states alone are subsidizing 1 million people in the West Bank and Gaza, a quarter of the population, as part of their effort to avoid creating a catastrophe from the embargo.

One side effect of the redirected aid, some officials said, is that while starvation has been avoided, institutions are withering and a culture of dependence is expanding.

"These numbers are quite stunning, given the relatively small size of the population of the Palestinian territory," said Alexander Costy, head of coordination for Alvaro de Soto, the UN special Middle East envoy.

He added: "What we do know for sure is that Palestinians, and their economy and society, are becoming increasingly dependent on humanitarian handouts, and this dependency is growing fast. For a state in the making, I think this was a step backwards in 2006 and a cause for alarm."

The United States, Europe, and Israel imposed their boycott because Hamas supports terrorism and refuses to recognize Israel, renounce violence, or honor existing Palestinian-Israeli agreements. The unstated aim has been to build enough disaffection among Palestinians that they would drive Hamas from power and replace it with Fatah.

Despite all the aid, the economy, hampered by security restrictions put on Palestinian travel and exports and fierce Palestinian infighting between Hamas and Fatah, continued to show signs of collapse. The Palestinian gross domestic product dropped by 6.6 percent in 2006, poverty rose by 30 percent, and unemployment was over 30 percent.

Numerous aid officials think that the current aid structure for the Palestinians is highly inefficient and undesirable since it is not going to development or training.