A U.S. government agency is about to release a study showing nearly one-third of young Palestinian children are chronically malnourished.
That’s more than four times as many as were malnourished before fighting erupted with Israel. So says the U.S. Agency for International Development.
At first blush, it sounds as if Israel is doing great harm to poor Palestinian kids. Palestinians will say Israel’s curfews in West Bank towns are overly oppressive and prevent the besieged population from getting food and medical care.
But anyone who takes a few steps back to analyze the situation will realize Palestinians leaders bear a large responsibility for the suffering that their people, and particularly their kids, are enduring.
Yasser Arafat and his henchmen have squandered monies they’ve received aimed at helping the Palestinian population.
In fact, that’s one reason why Hamas has become so popular in Gaza. Hamas gives money to feed and educate needy Palestinians.
As far as the curfews are concerned, Israel desperately wants to bring its reserve soldiers back home so they can return to their families and their civilian jobs. But that can’t happen until suicide bombings end.
Nevertheless, Israel on Monday lifted curfews on several Palestinian cities in the West Bank and prepared to transfer some $15 million in frozen tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority — without any guarantee that money will be funneled down to malnourished children.
Israel also has said it will remove its troops altogether from the territories as soon as the Palestinian security forces resume their policing duties.
Palestinian leaders have the power to end the conflict and begin eradicating the malnutrition problem. But that won’t happen until they care more about preserving their own people than destroying Israel.