Tehran offers £30m for Palestinian crisis

guardian: Iran has offered to donate more than £30m to the Palestinian Authority to help it deal with a budget crisis caused by the withdrawal of aid by western nations.

It is the first solid promise of cash for the new Hamas government, which has not been able to pay about 130,000 workers, raising the risk of a complete collapse in the aid-dependent economy.

Russia has also offered to provide aid, although it has not stipulated what it is offering and how it will be paid.

Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, said he was honoured to help the Palestinian nation and called on other Muslim nations to follow suit. However, Muslim countries have been reluctant publicly to go against the US-supported policy of isolating Hamas.

Iran's donation of £31.2m, announced after an anti-Zionism conference in Tehran, is less than half of the £75m the Palestinian Authority requires to pay its workers for a month. The US, European Union and Canada withdrew their donations because Hamas refused to recognise Israel and renounce violence. Israel also did not transfer £31.2m it owes the Palestinian Authority in customs duties. Read more

On the topic of the EU withdrawal of funding, Mideastwire.com has the following translation from Al Gomhuriya, an Egyptian daily

Europe is losing its independence

In its April 13 edition, Al Gomhuriya, a pro-government daily, published an opinion article under the Al Gomhuriya Takoul section [Al Gomhuriya Says]. The article read: "By issuing their decision to cut aid payments to the Palestinian people, the European Union member states have dropped the fig leaf with which they were hiding their blatant submissiveness to the pro-Israel American policy, despite the harm that this submissiveness could engender in the European relations and interests in the Arab and Islamic world.

"For Arabs and Muslims, and until recently, Europe was a flexible power and authority with which they could communicate in order to create equilibrium in the twisted balance of power between the Arab and Islamic world on one hand, and the American-Israeli coalition that is holding on to its policy of aggression, occupation and expansion on the other. In exchange, Arabs and Muslims gave Europe a privileged status in terms of bonds, relations and interests, in [a] support [of] the free will of the EU, hadn't this will fallen like a ripe fruit in the lap of the US administration.

"Through its decision to cut aid payments to the Palestinian people, the EU has confirmed the loss of its autonomy in making its decisions. It has jeopardized its interests and bonds with the Arab and Islamic worlds for the sake of the US that wants to control and dominate the whole world and [for the sake of] Israel, that only has one dream: for Europe to become the follower of Washington, just like it is!!"

That seems like a reasonable assessment. But where is the Arab cash?