Tim Blair

D(et)onations?

What? Yasser isn't going to dip into the Old Terrorist Retirement Fund to help out? The man's worth millions from stolen donations but is more willing to kill his "country"men than pay their wages.

If Yasser's really so rich, why can't he afford a decent shave?

Hmmm... maybe all the Arab dictatorship's support for the Palestinian cause has more to do with a burning hatred of Israel then of a real desire to raise human rights and living standards in the region. If any of them had that concern, they could govern their own populations differently, even before they speak out for Palestinian statehood.

Its not entirely stupid. Drag down the living standards of the only democracy in the region, and make them look like the root of all evil before the UN and the international community, and suddenly you don't look so bad.

Why have the Arab states, namely Jordan and Lebanon, kept their beloved Palestinians in refugee camps for decades and not given them citizenship ?

Yasser never helps. The guys a human handbrake.

If we send them money will they do requests?

I'd chuck in a fiver to see a Palestinian detonate in the Telstra boardroom.

"to borrow from banks to pay salaries to its 125,000 employees"

Sheesh, they sure are overstaffed. The Oslo accords (signed by Arafat) placed a limit of 10,000 men in the PA police/security forces, and they could only use small handguns.

Of course Yasser made a simple mistake. You know how hard it is to misread these damn peace accords, with all those negotiators and translators not providing much help.

Its just a misunderstanding when Arafat spent the next few years building up a 'security' force of 40,000 thugs armed with mortars, Kalashnikovs and then formed his Fatah terror gangs.

But forget about that little violation, Israel should go on to sign another peace deal with Arafat, I'm sure THIS time he'll stick to it.

Unsuprising. I remember reading that the Syrian military used to inspect vehicles entering refugee camps in Lebanon to ensure they weren't smuggling building materials. Can't have people living to comfortably when they're supposed to be acting as a PR stick with which to beat the hated Jews.

Fideens
you mean they had 'Roadblocks'
aargh shock horron, wheres the UN?

Things have gotten so bad, that driving around, you see Palestinians holding hand written cardboard signs saying: "Will detonate for food."

Jono --

The Jordanians are relatively good about it. Sure, they still have camps, but four-fifths of the Palestinians in Jordan don't live in them, and they're rather liberal about giving citizenship rights. And much of the problem there isn't what "the government" wants to do for propaganda purposes, but stiff opposition by the Jordanian Bedouins to the Palestinianization of Jordan.

Similarly, if I were a Lebanese Christian or Druze, I'd be opposed to a massive influx of Palestinian citizens too. And nowadays it's a satellite of Syria, so the criticism is best laid at Assad's door.

So my criticism would be mostly of the other Arab states, for not allowing the Palestinians to resettle in their countries. Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, and Morroco have the population to have taken them in long ago without being overwhelmed. And Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the other penninsualr oil states have long had the money to pay for it. They're the ones who have the must culpability, IMO, for refusing to help the Palestinians.

Thanks for your perspective Warmongering Lunatic (read aloud, that sounds a little weird). Can you, or any others, recommend a history of the Palestinian people which is relatively sane and balanced? Cheers.

Can you, or any others, recommend a history of the Palestinian people which is relatively sane and balanced? Cheers.

Where do you start?
Alistair Cooke in one of his
Letters from America suggested that an answer might be:
"How about 135AD when the Romans, then in charge, proclaimed that the land called Judea should henceforth be known as Palestine in honour of the coastal inhabitants, the Jews' long-time enemy, the Philistines?

Sure, they still have camps, but four-fifths of the Palestinians in Jordan don't live in them, and they're rather liberal about giving citizenship rights. And much of the problem there isn't what "the government" wants to do for propaganda purposes, but stiff opposition by the Jordanian Bedouins to the Palestinianization of Jordan.

This is all particularly bizarre when you realize that the people we now call "palestinians" were all Jordanians before Israel was created. Just go through and replace Palestinian with Jordanian, and you will see just how lunatic the Arabs and Pals really are.

Sure, they still have camps, but four-fifths of the Jordanians in Jordan don't live in them, and they're rather liberal about giving [Jordanians]citizenship rights. And much of the problem there isn't what "the government" wants to do for propaganda purposes, but stiff opposition by the Jordanian Bedouins to the Jordanization of Jordan.

How long before Reuters starts using “martyr-seeking operation”?
Too prejudicial? Try "bone fragment donors".

The interesting bit about this female (homicide bomber) murderer is that she was sent by Hamas to this checkpoint to blow up Jews in hope that Israel wd shut down the passage, no longer allowing Arabs in Israel to work, so they can use that to recruit more idiots who want to "martyr" themselves.

It's a fucking death cult.

In the Haaretz news they had this quote:
"A senior Fatah official, taking issue with the bombing, told Israel Radio that the object of the attack was to prompt Israel to declare a closure over the Gaza Strip and cut off access to jobs within Israel, measures that act to boost grass-roots Palestinian support for Hamas and other militant movements. "
So what the EU fought to get (jobs for the citizens of Gaza) Yassin and cronies don't want.

Fatah says the attack is meant to prompt Israel to respond in a way that will aid Hamas and harm Fatah. I say the attack had the usual aim--kill Jews.

Nice to see them skirmishing among themselves, though.

Oh, Death, where is thy Sting.
It lieth in a concealed pack of explosives borne by primitive madmen and madwomen.

What the Israelis need is a "Martyr-seeking missile"