Why Obama sent the Palestinians $221 million during his last hours in office
Yahoo
Finance
Alex
Lockie
January
24, 2017
(Then-President
Barack Obama delivering a farewell speech to the US on January 10 in
Chicago.Scott Olson/Getty Images)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-obama-quietly-sent-palestine-222755112.html
On
Monday the Associated Press reported that as one of Barack
Obama's final
actions in office before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, he
released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority.
However,
the payment itself has been
frozen by the State Department under President Trump.
The
money came from federal aid the US provides to the West Bank and Gaza, aid that
totaled about $355
million in 2015. The sum released by Obama during his last hours in
office had been held up by a group in Congress that included Reps. Ed Royce of
California and Kay Granger of Texas.
"The
easiest way to sum it up is that Congress had been looking at various behaviors
from Palestine — unilateral
attempts at statehood, corruption, incitement of violence, and
paying salaries to people in jail for terrorism — and that's why the hold has
been there," Dr. Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies told Business Insider.
Schanzer
characterized the move by Obama as both shocking and "a strange message to
send."
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"I
was tracking President Obama's 11th-hour moves on the Palestinians, and this
issue never came up once ... Most analysts and observers didn't think Obama
would or could do this," Schanzer said.
The
Obama administration had been pressing for the release of the funds for some
time, according to the Associated Press, which reported that a notification
sent to Congress said the money came from the US Agency for International
Development and was set to support humanitarian aid, political and security
reforms, and "rule of law."
The
Palestinian Authority, which
had been had been hurting for cash, used the money for
"salaries unpaid and debts that are owed," Schanzer said.
Schanzer,
however, said the Palestinian Authority had done nothing to warrant this
reversal on Obama's part, characterizing activities such as corruption and
incitement of violence as "ongoing."
(Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 10 at a
rally marking the 12th anniversary of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's
death.Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)
Schanzer
pointed to the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, as an
example of corruption. Abbas entered his 12th year as president this year,
despite being elected to only a four-year term in 2005.
Obama
is "releasing funds to a guy that’s become an autocrat," Schanzer
said.
Obama's
unilateral action came as he closed his presidency with a critical eye toward
Israel. In December, the UN Security Council passed a
resolution demanding that Israel stop building settlements on
Palestinian land. The US refused to vote on the resolution, effectively
allowing it to pass.
Trump
has repeatedly floated the idea of moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem,
which Abbas
has urged against.
Connecting
the Dots:
Palestine (Hamas) is
a member of the United Nations.
Donald F. McHenry was a U.S.
ambassador for the United Nations and is an honorary trustee
at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Joan
E. Spero was a U.S ambassador for economic &
social affairs for the United Nations and an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for
the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Cameron F. Kerry is
a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), John F.
Kerry’s brother and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sidley Austin
LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.
Michelle Obama was
a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was
the president for the Barack Obama administration and a parishioner
at the Trinity United Church of Christ (Chicago).
Trumpeter
Newsmagazine is a publication for the Trinity United Church of
Christ (Chicago).
Louis Farrakhan is
awarded the 2007 Jeremiah Wright Jr. Trumpeter award from the Trumpeter
Newsmagazine, the organizer for the Million Man March and the
acting head for the Nation of Islam.
Oprah Winfrey was
a parishioner at the Trinity United Church of Christ (Chicago) and
a friend of Maya Angelou.
Maya Angelou was
a friend of Oprah Winfrey and a director at the Children's
Defense Fund.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Children's
Defense Fund and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Donald F. McHenry
is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank)
and was a U.S. ambassador for the United Nations.
Palestine (Hamas) is
a member of the United Nations.
Joan E. Spero was
a U.S ambassador for economic & social affairs for the United
Nations and an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Cameron F. Kerry is
a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), John F.
Kerry’s brother and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sidley Austin
LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.
Resources:
Past Research
Grandma
prays for Obama to embrace Islam (Past Research on
Obama & Islam)
SUNDAY,
DECEMBER 28, 2014
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2014/12/grandma-prays-for-obama-to-embrace-islam.html
Obama's
ring: 'There is no god but Allah' (Past Research on
Obama & Islam)
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 28, 2015
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2015/10/obamas-ring-there-is-no-god-but-allah.html
Sources:
Lame Duck Obama to Allow Anti-Israel UN Efforts (Past
Research on Israel)
WEDNESDAY,
DECEMBER 21, 2016
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2016/12/sources-lame-duck-obama-to-allow-anti.html
Smaller
Bites – Connecting the Dots: Palestine (Hamas), The United Nations & Soros
Funding, All Networking (Past Research on Palestine
(Hamas))
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 25, 2023
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2023/10/smaller-bites-connecting-dots-palestine.html
Ann
Williams: An Open Letter to Oprah Winfrey
palestinechronicle.com
June
9, 2007 Articles
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/ann-williams-an-open-letter-to-oprah-winfrey/
Dear Oprah,
An enthusiastic "Thank You" seems an ineffective expression for all
the positive effect your life and work has generated within the culture,
especially on social justice issues of illiteracy, universal health care and
resistance to racism and oppression for people everywhere.
Oprah, you have a unique gift of empathy and Americans have had the sense for
several years that you are open-minded to seek out and process alternative
information in order to understand all sides of an equation. It is in this
spirit that I respectfully ask you to reconsider your position on your pending
trip to Israel.
Imagine this: If you woke up one sunny morning (recall Sept. 11) and saw
armored military tanks of a foreign invader pounding loudly through the streets
of Chicago, you would be stunned. Visualize how horrific that would be. If we
were continually attacked here in our streets and neighborhoods of America, and
forced to suffer under an illegal military occupation for years on end, we
would be resentful, angry, and naturally resist, as is our human right. The
recurrent horror of Sept. 11 takes place on a smaller scale daily in the
Occupied Territories, in Iraq and around the globe at the behest of a
US-sponsored War Machine. Water, jobs, health care and other resources are
intentionally with-held by Zionists, who differ drastically from peace-oriented
Israelis. People in Gaza and the West Bank are beaten, humiliated and/or killed
daily by Israeli soldiers with US-made weapons. Many who do survive are
parlayzed for life. All for no good reason–merely money, power,
"security" and control. Things which are illusions, anyway.
Statistics have shown that for every one Israeli killed, four Palestinians,
including women and children, are killed. The trauma endured by the victims of
apartheid in S. Africa is parallel to the current situation in the Occupied
Territories. Human rights are non-negotiable, no matter what era or location.
Similar atrocities took place in Lebanon during the the summer invasion by
Israel last year. The true origins of the devestation was hidden from the world
by a complicit, corporatized press. Dr. Noam Chomsky of MIT has stated that
"Israel is America’s client state."
Forty years of needless suffering and direct occupational oppression by the
US-sponsored Israeli state armed with US-manufactured weapons– including
countless firearms, F-16 machine guns, Apache helicopters, fighter jets and
Catapiller bulldozers which are shockingly used to violently level Palestinian
homes, infrastructure and olive trees, destroying a formerly viable way of
living.
Since 1948, the Palestinian people people have been terrorized on a daily basis
and intentionally prevented from progressing in a meaningful direction or
having a reasonable quality of life on land that they shared in peace at one
time with those of Hebrew origins. In fact, up until 1948, Palestinians and
Israelis lived side-by-side in relative co-existance. This is something rarely
communicated to the world due to the focus on negative aspects by the
mainstream Western press. With mainstream press often sanitized, distorted and
corrupt, I hope you can review Independent Media sources such as www.democracynow.org (Pacifica radio
network), www.palestinechronicle.com
, www.truthout.org and www.palestinemonitor.org. for the other side of
the story. The US supplies more US aid to one of the smallest countries–Israel–
than any other entity on earth. Billions more. And still, there is no peace, no
"security"??? Because it is impossible to attain under these inhumane
circumstances.
Myself and many others–sincerely hope you will take the time and energy to
visit the Occupied Territories on the same trip to Israel and gain clarity
about the Truth based on allowing both sides of the narrative to be told.
Suffering on all sides must cease if there is to ever be any peace in the
Middle East. It is imperative that you courageously bear witness to that which
has been mostly hidden from the rest of the world.
Sincerely,
Ann V. Williams
-Ann V. Williams is an American peace activist and a member of several US based peace, justice and human rights organizations.
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