From today’s Local:
Sweden pledges $209m to Palestinians- - - - - - - - -Sweden will increase its aid to the Palestinians this year and in 2008 to more than $200 million dollars, the government said on Monday as a large donors’ conference opened in Paris.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said the Scandinavian country would increase its planned aid to the Palestinian people over the next two years by 90 million kronor ($13.7 million) to 1.37 billion ($209 million).
“Sweden is currently one of the single largest donors to the Palestinian people and our ambition is to continue as such in the future as well,” Bildt said in a statement from the conference.
Ninety international delegations gathered in the French capital for the one-day conference to agree on an aid package to stabilize the Palestinian economy and shore up the peace process with Israel — jumpstarted at a US-sponsored meeting in Annapolis last month.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at the conference urged the international community to step up support to the Palestinians or risk a “catastrophe”, as he appealed for $5.6 billion in aid.
If it were almost any other country, I’d assume that the money was being shoveled into the PA to try to prevent a Hamas takeover. But that can’t be the Swedish motivation — the elites in Sweden think that Hamas is just fine. And, if France is any indication, there’s no point in paying protection money.
The Swedes must believe that it’s important to “give till it hurts.”
Hat tip: TB.
Update: Dr. Evil typo corrected. Thanks, JMR.
19 comments:
lavishing another $209 billion
Dr. Evil typo alert there - should be $209 Million
This is at a time when the tax bite in Sweden is nearly 55% of GNP. No wonder the swedes are continuing to import criminals (correction) voters from Muslime countries who can be counted on to vote Social Democrat.
"The Swedes must believe that it’s important to “give till it hurts.”"
Probably true. It's their mentality.
We should, at the very least, demand that the PA uproots anti-Semitism everywhere in its territory, including maps not showing Israel, copies of Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Mein Kampf etc.
And correct the schoolbooks in a similar fashion, like adjust them to include information about the Holocaust, busting anti-Semitic myths etc.
This is part of the confidence building measures of the Oslo Accords from 1993. Still unimplemented by the Palestinian side.
Demanding something in return for our cash is the least we can do. And it has two possible consequences:
Either anti-Semitism is drastically reduced, improving future peace prospects.
Or we save the money and can use it for better purposes.
The Chamberlin Left is a cause or perpetuator of much of the world's problems. Even George W. Bush's failings can be attributed to his being an incomplete conservative (and certainly someone practicing real politik) and having certain leftist tendencies. Bush was a failure because he was not a real conservative and indeed played the field, pushing a number of pointless leftist policies that just empowers the enemies of the West.
The Chamberlin Left is a cause or perpetuator of much of the world's problems. Even George W. Bush's failings can be attributed to his being an incomplete conservative (and certainly someone practicing real politik) and having certain leftist tendencies. Bush was a failure because he was not a real conservative and indeed played the field, pushing a number of pointless leftist policies that just empowers the enemies of the West.
WW,
I've made that exact same statement about Bush not being a real Conservative. He is a Liberal when it comes to cultural relativism and Condi Rice has been a disaster to equal Sweden when it comes to the PA.
What's that old saying..."the rope to hang you with"?
Denmark forked out $118 mil plus we're chipping in on the $650 million the EU has pledged.
More money down the drain. When are we ever going to learn?
Meanwhile the Muslim Brotherhood have promised an additional 10,000 Jihadis for Palestine..... http://voiceoftheshire.blogspot.com/2007/12/while-west-prepare-to-donate-74-bln.html
I' Swedish and I have now contacted immigration lawyers. I cannot live in this paradise of fools. I refuse to have my tax money go to terrorists.
May Sweden's political elite burn in Hell.
OT
The New Miss Belgium Can't Speak Dutch
And, predictably, the loonies over at LGF who are aiding and abetting the culutural Balkanization of the Western World think that's just fantastic!
Talk about people you do not want in your foxhole.
- Sodra
Soon, they will have enough money to start their nuclear plans.(via united states,GWB,Condi)
Sodra, wonder why those people keep talking about foxholes? No such thing anymore and even if there were, those people wouldn't be in one. They would be where they are now.
henrik: We should, at the very least, demand that the PA uproots anti-Semitism everywhere in its territory, including maps not showing Israel, copies of Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Mein Kampf etc.
While I understand your sentiment, what you propose is an utter impossibility. Genocide and anti-Semitism are the PA and Hamas' raison d�etre. The Palestinians are mere pawns, used by the Arab world as proxies in their continued extermination of the Jews.
Peace of any sort is simply not an option for Islam. Reconciliation would mean that Jews are actual human beings instead of the pigs and monkeys they are commonly portrayed as. This would fly in the face of Islamic dictates that Jews and Infidels are a religiously sanctioned underclass. Recognizing Israel's mere existence would be to disavow Muslim entitlement to their proposed regional caliphate. Peace would be regarded as nothing less than the renunciation of jihad, a cornerstone of shari'a law and bedrock foundation of the Koran.
All of the foregoing would represent the most humiliating outcome imaginable for Islam. Furthermore, resolution of the Palestinian conflict is the very last thing that Arab rulers want. Many of them have made ending the conflict a precondition of even minor reforms to their despotic governments. Their grip on power literally depends upon extending this wretched bloodshed forever. Moreover, Muslims are skinless people living in a sandpaper world. It is only by being perpetually aggrieved that they can maintain their sense of entitlement. Were they to concede that their wishes had been fulfilled, it would then be their responsibility to show progress on other important fronts like human rights, industrialization, representational government and other such niceties.
These are the absolute last things that Islam wants. Democracy is seen as utter blasphemy, as manmade laws cannot possibly be allowed to supplant the rule of Allah. Prosperity is regarded as totally inimical to jihad because affluent people are difficult to agitate against a perceived foe. Equality would undermine the Koranic doctrine of women as second-class citizens. More so in light of how reliant the entire Islamic world is upon its institutionalized misogyny.
As can be seen, resolving the Palestinian conflict would put in motion a set of wholly undesirable outcomes that both the Arab world at large and Islam in particular utterly abhor. This is why no regional governments have ever offered to absorb the Palestinians. Far better to twist the blade another turn and re-infect the wound yet again so that this perpetually festering sore can continue to distract the world's attention from Islam's intentional deprivation of its followers.
We are loosing the anti-Jihad war.
Today I spent my time by browsing major European publications dealing with the subject Islamisation — loosely connected to the Mark Steyn Affair. I am more interested in the posters opinion than the editorial writer's so I went on and read the forums.
The publication in question is the spectator.co.uk and the article is by Melanie Phillips "The Blood Runs Cold" (December 17.2007)in which she deplores Canada's judicial panel legal proceedings against Mark Steyn for his writings: his contempt for muslims is against the law in Canada!
You would be surprise how many posters express admiration for muslims, disgust for Mark Steyn's stand, and sympathetic to Britain islamisation.
If Britain turns Islamist what do we expect from the rest of EU?
"While I understand your sentiment, what you propose is an utter impossibility. Genocide and anti-Semitism are the PA and Hamas' raison d�etre."
I am fully aware of this. And this, indeed, is the very reason I propose this. Our governments are supporting open racism and anti-Semitism. Either they should stop that - which would be fine - or the anti-Semitism, which is directly derived from Nazism, will be stopped.
It's a win-win proposal, if we can get our politicians to adopt it. Since they're all strongly 'anti-racism', it should be a slam dunk.
It isn't, of course - our politicians will make all kinds of stupid excuses and embarrass themselves on this. Which, in turn, will leave space for better politicians.
See why it's useful to raise this particular demand?
henrik: See why it's useful to raise this particular demand?
Fear not, we are in violent agreement. It's just that the cognitive dissonance of Western politicians is only slightly exceeded by that of the Muslims.
Neither side is determined to obtain actual peace. For both of them the price would be far too dear. Islam absolutely refuses to coexist and Western politicians steadfastly refuse to admit that Islam wants us all dead. These two agendas intersect exactly nowhere save in the death of even more Jews.
"It's just that the cognitive dissonance of Western politicians is only slightly exceeded by that of the Muslims."
While exaggerated, we agree on this.
My tactical approach on this - and I've used it with success to sabotage the EU-Turkey negotiations - is to catch our politicians in a sensitive moment, help them make some seemingly benign demands from our opponents, and watch the fireworks when something seemingly obvious is rejected.
Like, it's obvious to uproot the virulent antisemitism before even thinking of peace agreements. We can request our politicians to do that. They'll have to either agree or look like racists.
Later we'll invent more fun things to do - eh, suggest more reasonable demands, I mean. This one is good to start with - I've already written to the newspapers about it, and will do more. Someone's gonna pick it up and use it, somewhere.
henrik: watch the fireworks when something seemingly obvious is rejected
I believe your strategy is something akin to pointing out the trout in the milk pail. As in highlighting something that can neither be denied nor easily explained away.
While I like your approach, how is it that Western politicians will suddenly come to admit that the PA, Hamas et al are truly genocidal when they've so successfully denied this glaring fact for some decades now? I fear your obvious tactic may be met with the same intentionally oblivious attitude that has worked so well for them in the past. Not that it isn't worth a try ...
zenster, sortof. What I'm really thinking is to make people stand for the principles they're supposed to - then get one hell of a surprise when in turns out that their counterpart doesn't. It worked well against Turkey.
Making seemingly benign demands from our opponents can work wonders. The Oslo Accords from 1993 has a condition that anti-Semitism (and that's the nasty Hitler-style anti-Semitism) should be removed from schoolbooks etc. in the PA territories. A very sensible demand, since we really detest racism and know how much evil it has brought upon us.
Now, the Palestinians ignored what they had signed up to do, quoting Muhammad that treaties with infidels have no value.
What one would do in commercial business is to say: "Not a dime until you fulfill the conditions of the contract you signed last time!" This would work, one way or another.
Businessmen are usually more responsible than politicians...
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