US Aid Cut

From the BBC:

"US holds back $65m aid to Palestinians"

The US is withholding more than half of the $125m (£90m) it gives to the UN relief agency for the Palestinians, American officials say. It will provide $60 million in aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency but will hold back a further $65 million "for future consideration". President Donald Trump said earlier the US could cut aid if Palestinians rejected peace efforts with Israel. The US funds almost 30% of the UN agency's work overall. In 2016, the second-largest donor, the EU, gave less than half as much as the US. On Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sharply attacked Mr Trump's Middle East peace efforts, saying he would not accept any peace plan from the US after it recognised Jerusalem last year as Israel's capital. He accused Israel of putting an end to the 1994 Oslo Accords, which began the peace process.

Why is the aid being suspended? The US appears to be acting on President Trump's complaint that America receives "no appreciation or respect" in return for its aid. Speaking to Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, a US official said the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) needed to be fundamentally re-evaluated "in the way it operates and the way it is funded". "It is time other countries, some of them quite wealthy, step in and do their part to advance regional security and stability," the official added.

How much aid does the US send to Palestinians? Last year the US donated almost $370m (£270m) to UNWRA, which runs educational, health and social programmes.  It also donated $260m in bilateral aid, with much of it going towards projects administered by the US Agency for International Development (USAid).  Those projects are run by non-governmental organisations involved in humanitarian assistance, economic development, democratic reform, improving water access and other infrastructure, healthcare, education, and vocational training.By contrast, Israel receives more than $3bn in military aid per year from the US.  

^  If the Palestinians want to return to the "old" days of not recognizing Israel and supporting terrorism then the US (and the rest of the world) has an obligation to not support them. Anyone who supports a terrorist (with words, money, action, etc.) is just as guilty of the crimes committed as the terrorist themselves. I hope the Palestinians finally wake-up and see that their actions in the past 70 years have not worked and so they should try changing them to non-violence and political means to achieve their goals. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42711985