Rice: aid to Palestinians, but not to Hamas
Palestine-Israel-USA, Politics, 2/21/2006

The US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice made contacts with her peers in the so-called Quartet committee over the formation of a Palestinian government led by the Islamic resistance movement (Hamas) which won the Palestinian elections.

The spokesman for the US State Department said that Rice who will start today a round on three Arab states made contacts with her peers in the Quartet ( the EU, Russia, and the UN) adding that the discussions pertain to supporting the Palestinian people.

The spokesman added that the "Quartet official were notified on the statement of the Israeli government, especially the Quartet's intention to discus continued humanitarian aid with the donor countries," adding that Washington will continue its consultations on the "immediate financial status of the Interim Palestinian government."

The United States cannot and will not give direct financial assistance to a Hamas-led government so long as it is committed to terror and the destruction of Israel, but at the same time will not abandon Palestinians in desperate need of help, Rice said.

Rice made the comments in a roundtable discussion with journalists from Arab states February 17, just days ahead of her planned visit to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

While a Palestinian government "that is not committed to peace and the international consensus" simply will not receive the sort of direct fund transfers that have been given to the Palestinian Authority, Rice raised the prospect of continued humanitarian aid through other mechanisms.

She cited "programs in support of refugee policies that the UN runs" and "policies that relate to food assistance through the World Food Programme," as well as other projects carried out through nongovernmental organizations.

"The United States of America is not going to stop giving money for the immunization of Palestinian children," Rice pledged. "It would be against our values to do that. So, for the most vulnerable and innocent populations, you know, we will find a way to respond to those humanitarian needs."

But, she said again, "assistance that might help a government that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, that's just not going to happen."

Rice stressed the US view that, by "making the right choice" in shifting its policies, Hamas could pave the way for peace and prosperity in the region. "You can't have one foot in violence and terrorism and another foot in the political process," she said.

"Nothing would be better than to have Hamas make the right choice, because if you had all of the entities of the Palestinian people united in the renunciation of violence, disarming of militias, the acceptance of Israel's right to exist, I believe you could move the peace process along really very rapidly" toward the two-state solution the United States supports, she said.

During her upcoming trip to the region, Rice said, she will urge "those who are committed to an international consensus behind the roadmap and behind the peace process...(to) be demanding of any Palestinian entity that it also be committed to the peace process and to the roadmap."

Rice said she was "pleased for the Palestinian people that they finally got an opportunity to express themselves in free and open elections."

Worthy mentioning that Israel said on Monday the Palestinian authority is "a terrorist entity" after Hamas leaders assumed the leadership of the Palestinian parliament and Israel decided to halt the transfer of the monthly taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian authority, estimated at 50 million dollars.

In the same context the spokesman for the UN, Stefan De Jarick, said that the foreign ministers of the Quartet "agreed to continue support for the Interim Palestinian government."

The higher coordinator of the policy and security at the European Union, Javier Solana, said that the European Union will continue to provide financial aid for the Palestinian Authority until a new government is formed.

Previous Stories:
  Palestinian authority returns $50 million to Washington   (2/18/2006)
  Bush calls on Hamas to recognize Israel, drop the gun   (2/1/2006)
  US, EU hold Palestinian aid hostage; Hamas rejects it as blackmail   (1/31/2006)

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