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Will foreign aid help or harm the Palestinians?

Secretary of State John Kerry has announced  $212 million in immediate assistance to the Palestinian people imperiled by the recent fighting in Gaza.  Those funds, combined with dollars previously committed in 2014, add up to over $400 million this year alone.

All those taxpayer monies may not bring peace and stability to the region, or a true mitigation of the suffering of the Palestinian people who have been victimized not by war or Israel, but by the corruption and brutality of corrupt forces within their own ranks.

It is instructive to look at the aid given to North Korea. According to the Congressional Research Service, (CRS)  between 1995 and 2008, the United States provided North Korea with over $1.3 billion in assistance: slightly more than 50% for food aid and about 40% for energy assistance. The problem was not solved. According to CRS,

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In the areas populated by Palestinians, the influence of Hamas will diminish the value and effectiveness of any foreign assistance. Its charter goal is not the safety and prosperity of the Palestinian people; it is the destruction of Israel. Historically, international assistance funds directed towards the Palestinian people have been diverted to inappropriate purposes. Former PLO leader Yasser Arafat stole well over a billion dollars despite the dire needs of his people.

In the Palestinian territories, as well as in North Korea, the provision of foreign assistance without direct control of the use of those funds serves more to keep illegitimate interests in power than in helping the people.