In A No-Confidence Vote for Mr. Abbas, The NY Times criticizes Congress for giving away 25% of an $200mm aid package designed to help Palestinians, to Israel to " build terminals for people at checkpoints surrounding Palestinian areas".

They want you to feel that there's some kind of paradox here - checkpoints are built to restrict the freedom of Palestinians - how dare they give what is supposed to be aid to the Palestinians to the evil occupiers!

I guess the Times didn't read the text of the bill, or just didn't try hard enough to understand why money for checkpoints in beneficial to the Palestinans.

As reported by Americans for Peace Now:

"The conference agreement includes a provision providing $50,000,000 for assistance for Israel to help improve the movement of people and goods in and out of Israel, as proposed by the Senate. The conferees are aware that infrastructure will be needed on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides of the separation lines and intend that these funds be used to meet the great need in developing this infrastructure. The resulting flow of goods and people should greatly improve the economic well-being of the Palestinian people while building the revenue base of the Palestinian Authority."

Also, if you recall the various terrorist attacks that have taken place at the important checkpoints/border crossings like this one, this one and this one, they are perpetrated by the very organizations that the current Palestinian leadership refuses to control. Every time the terrorists attack, borders must be closed and Palestinians suffer. More secure (and maybe even more comfortable?) checkpoints will certainly help the Palestinians in the long run. Besides, I don't see how Abbas, once having received the $50mm himself, could tell his people that he is spending their money on checkpoints.

The Times also feels that it's an insult to provide Hadassah with funds to help with Palestinian health and welfare. I won't even go there - the Times editors, being good liberals, must certainly remember the 60 Minutes report (An Island of Sanity) on how Hadassah helps Palestinians despite the fact, or perhaps indeed because, it is a Jewish organization.

Finally, this is the part I like the most about the spending bill:

- Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit a report to the Congress detailing: (1) information regarding the Palestinian security services, including their numbers, accountability, and chains of command, and steps taken to purge from their ranks individuals with ties to terrorist entities; (2) specific steps taken by the Palestinian Authority to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, confiscate unauthorized weapons, arrest and bring terrorists to justice, destroy unauthorized arms factories, thwart and preempt terrorist attacks, and cooperate with Israel's security services; (3) specific actions taken by the Palestinian Authority to stop incitement in Palestinian Authority-controlled electronic and print media and in schools, mosques, and other institutions it controls, and to promote peace and coexistence with Israel; (4) specific steps the Palestinian Authority has taken to further democracy, the rule of law, and an independent judiciary, and transparent and accountable governance; (5) the Palestinian Authority's cooperation with United States officials in investigations into the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's finances; and (6) the amount of assistance pledged and actually provided to the Palestinian Authority by other donors:

- That not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the Congress an update of this report:

- That up to $5,000,000 of the funds made available for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza by this chapter under ``Economic Support Fund'' shall be used for an outside, independent evaluation by an internationally recognized accounting firm of the transparency and accountability of Palestinian Authority accounting procedures and an audit of expenditures by the Palestinian Authority.