The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
March 2, 2009

US Pledges $900 Million in Palestinian Aid
------------------------------------------



Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Egypt in her first
trip to the Middle East since taking office. Clinton is attending an
international conference in Sharm El-Sheikh to raise money for the Gaza
Strip. The US plans to pledge $300 million in humanitarian relief for
the people of Gaza in addition to $600 million for the Palestinian
Authority. The additional money not aimed at Gaza comprises $200 million
in budget support to pay wages, much of which was previously announced,
and $400 million to support reform and development in the West Bank.
Secretary of State Clinton praised the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas in
the West Bank.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “Through his commitment to
negotiations with neighbors, President Abbas has shown the hallmarks of
leadership, as has Prime Minister Fayyad, who has bolstered the
credibility of his government by instituting a national budget process
that is transparent and serves the needs of the Palestinian people. They
are offering their people the option of a peaceful, independent and more
prosperous future, not the violence and false choices of extremists
whose tactics, including rocket attacks that continue to this day, only
will lead to more hardship and suffering. These attacks must stop.”

The Washington Post reports the US aid package underscores how little
the Obama administration’s policy toward the Palestinian issue has thus
far differed from the Bush administration’s approach.



.