FROM ONE GULF TO ANOTHER. There's been some talk on the blogs about how Arab and Muslim support for the cash-strapped Hamas-led Palestinian Authority is quite low in the grand scheme of things, but just how low it is comparatively speaking is really driven home when you look at the incredible generosity of a number of Arab states towards the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. All told, Arab states plegded $700 million in one-time aid to private entities to assist victims of the natural disaster in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, including housing and medical donations. Close to $126 million of that has already been contributed to the U.S., including $60 million from Qatar. Kuwait's pledge of $400 million is still awaiting parliamentary approval there, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have each pledged $100 million in U.S. post-Katrina aid.
Meanwhile, the Arab League in March managed to secure promises of $55 million per month for the Palestinian Authority, which was already $240 million in debt by the end of April, and looking at a shortfall of more than $1.5 billion over the coming year. Arab state donations would, at best, make up for the withheld tax receipts Israel used to transfer over to the P.A. on a monthly basis, but are far too low to prevent the sort of infrastructure deterioration now emerging in Gaza or stave off what the World Bank has called an "unprecedented" liquidity crisis (PDF) with the following results by the end of this year: "average personal income would decrease by 30 percent in real terms, unemployment would increase from the pre-election figure of c. 23 percent to about 40 percent, and poverty levels would climb from 44 percent last year to 67 percent."
--Garance Franke-Ruta
