NORWAY WARNS OF PALESTINIAN CIVIL WAR

NEWS CERTAINLY TRAVELS SLOWLY TO NORWAY. THIS "WARNING" COMES A FEW YEARS TOO LATE. PERHAPS THEIR FOREIGN MINISTER SHOULD CHECK MY BLOG NOW AND THEN.

OF COURSE THEIR SOLUTION ISN'T TO HOLD THE PALESTINIANS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS OR SUPPORT FOR A TERRORIST GOVERNMENT. NOPE. THE SOLUTION IS TO SHOWER THEM WITH MORE MONEY, DESPITE THEIR USE OF SUCH "AID" TO BUY WEAPONS TO DESTROY ISRAEL.

Norway warns of risk of Palestinian civil war (Financial Times)
Norway, the country that played a key role in the Arab-Israeli peace process of the 1990s, has warned that the Palestinian territories risk “chaos” and “civil war” unless Europe deepens contacts with the Palestinian government and grants more aid.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian foreign minister, said that, as the Palestinians’ biggest donor, the European Union played a crucial role in the struggle to provide workable institutions for the West Bank and Gaza.

He added that, although the EU and US had partly altered their stance since the formation of a Palestinian unity government on March 17, both needed to provide greater support for the new authority, in which ministers from the radical Hamas movement are in the minority.

“I hope European ministers will seize this opportunity, and I just fear that if we don’t…What is the alternative? The alternative is Hamas government and civil war - chaos,” he said.

“If Palestinian efforts to create something of unity are met by a constant message of ‘It’s not enough, you have to do more’, then I fear that parties on both sides will say: ‘Why should we make the effort?’”

EU officials point out that despite the ban on direct aid to the Palestinian Authority last year the 27 nation bloc delivered €700m in aid to the Palestinians last year – more than ever before. Much of the aid was given through a temporary mechanism intended to keep vital services going while circumventing government mechanisms.

Mr Gahr Støre said that while 15 per cent of the money going to the Palestinian territories in 2005 was for humanitarian purposes, by 2006 the proportion had climbed to 55 per cent. “You cannot run an economy where more than half of the income is for humanitarian purposes,” he said.

He added that Norway’s decision to normalise relations with the PA after the formation of a government of national unity meant only that Oslo was “engaging” with the new administration rather than moving closer to Hamas.