In the West Bank, a hold on US funding shuts down Sesame Street

[Little Tich]

Source: king5.com / AP

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- It's quiet time on Palestinian Sesame Street.

The iconic children's program, known as "Sharaa Simsim" in Arabic, has been put on hold for the 2012 season because of a funding freeze by the U.S. Congress.

Sharaa Simsim is one of many U.S.-funded Palestinian programs suffering after Congress froze the transfer of nearly $200 million to the U.S. Agency for International Development in October. The suspension aimed to punish the Palestinians for appealing to the United Nations for statehood.

The funding suspension - affecting hospitals, education, and government ministries that all rely on American aid - is breeding resentment and frustration in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, even among the most progressive organizations.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_PALESTINIANS_STRUGGLING_SESAME_STREET?SITE=KING&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I usually ignore sob stories, but I've got to make an exception for Sesame Street...

[Violet_Crumble]

1. Great to see US Congress is really hitting where it hurts...

How dare those pesky Palestinians apply to the UN for statehood. Next time they try asserting their independence, Congress should ensure that there's no more South Park or Family Guy either!!

[shira]

2. Maybe the PA should stop rewarding and paying out convicted terrorists....

Last edited Sat Jan 7, 2012, 10:32 AM - Edit history (1)

They'd have the money for Sesame Street if they weren't giving away thousands of dollars for each terrorist.

Just saying...

[Little Tich]

3. The PA has nothing to do with terrorism.

Besides, it's the cutting of the American funding that I'm against. Why does the Congress hate the Palestinians so much?

[shira]

4. Once again you're wrong....

'New PA law to grant all convicted terrorists monthly pay'

A new Palestinian Authority law grants a monthly salary to all Palestinians and Israeli-Arabs imprisoned in Israel for terrorism, a media watchdog says in a report being released on Friday.

While Palestinian car thieves in Israeli prisons will not receive a salary, Hamas and Fatah terrorist killers will, the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) report says.

more...
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=221422

=====================================================

Related:

'US paying salaries for jailed Palestinian terrorists'

The Palestinian Authority spends more than $5 million a month paying salaries to terrorists sitting in Israeli prisons, according to a Palestinian Media Watch report presented to congressmen in Washington on Tuesday.

more...
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=231103

[Little Tich]

5. It's customary for any government et al

to try to assist their nationals in foreign prisons, as well as their families. This is something that every country does, including Israel, and the nature of their crimes is of no importance in this regard. This is not something new or even newsworthy. If it would have been offensive to the international community, there wouldn't have been any funds for it. There is even an international treaty, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, that among other things outlines the rights of foreign prisoners to have visits from their embassy. Now, strangely enough I don't know if Israel and the PA have diplomatic relations, but they ought to, being neighbours and subject to the two-state solution.

Now for the source of these alarming tidings. Apparently the whistleblower is the organisation Palestinian Media Watch, a self appointed media watchdog that is described on Wikipedia as being called a “well-known right-wing propaganda site". Now to make things even worse, the report is co authored by Itamar Marcus, a very offensive guy who has made it into his life's work to spread hate against Arabs and Palestinians. I wouldn't take anything from PMV or Itamar Marcus on face value.

Palestinian Media Watch
Source: Wikipedia (edit for clarity)

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) is an Israel-based media watchdog organization. Established by Itamar Marcus in 1996, PMW monitors Palestinian Arabic media and schoolbooks.

Palestinian Media Watch documents the "contradictions between the image the Palestinians present to the world in English and the messages to their own people in Arabic." It documents incitement to anti-Jewish and anti-Israel violence on Palestinian media, distributing translations of Palestinian programs into English. The Palestinian broadcasts have been described as "deeply shocking in their medieval-style bigotry towards, and open incitement to violence and murder of, Israelis and Jews." Since Palestinian television is "heavily" funded by the European Union, PMW translates and disseminates the broadcasts to make the European public aware of what kind of programs they are funding.

PMW is credited with bringing the Hamas children's television program Tomorrow's Pioneers in which a Mickey Mouse-like character urges children to murder Jews to world attention. On the other hand, PMW has been described by critics as "a well-known right-wing propaganda site".

Itamar Marcus is director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Previously, "Marcus was a member of the Israeli delegation to the Tri-lateral [American, Israeli and Palestinian] Committee to Monitor Incitement, established under the Wye Accords.".

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Media_Watch

For balance, you can check their site and their Youtube channel, they are only provided to show what PMW stands for, and I don't endorse their views.

Their site: http://www.palwatch.org/

Their Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/palwatch?feature=watch

[shira]

12. The PA is paying convicted terrorists, not thieves....

They're also paying terrorists who did more heinous crimes and are serving longer sentences more than terrorists who are in for shorter periods of time.

Which goes to show they're rewarding terror and not merely paying all prisoners.

The PA has confirmed the PMW report...
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=221422

[Little Tich]

17. If it's true, I don't like it at all.

It's the kind nationalist bovine manure that inevitably leads to trouble later on. However, the sheer number of “terrorists” in Israeli jails raises some questions about whether all of them really are terrorists. According to Wikipedia (slightly out of date) there are 4,772 security prisoners in Israeli jails. For comparison, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp holds about 250 detainees.

Unforunately, the source for this information is Palestinian Media Watch, and they are not above lying. I wouldn't worry too much about what they say.

Here's a Wikipedia article on Palestinian prisoners in Israel for info on the issue:

Palestinian prisoners in Israel
Source: Wikipedia (edit for clarity)

Palestinian prisoners in Israel refers to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel in the wake of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The future of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel is considered central to progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Most of the prisoners have been tried in Israeli courts, but some are being held in administrative detention. On October 18th, 2011, 477 of an agreed 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released as part of an exchange for a captive Israeli soldier.

In December 2011, 4,772 security prisoners were serving terms in Israeli jails. Of these, 552 were sentenced to life terms.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_prisoners_in_Israel

[oberliner]

6. If Ron Paul had his way...

This would be happening in the US as well.

By the way, have you seen Sesame Street (or its Palestinian or Israeli equivalent) lately?

[Little Tich]

7. Frankly, I don't watch Sesame Street anymore,

but I know they have a lot of regional content. For example we've got Ollie, the beach bum muppet here in Australia. Of the little I've seen lately the show seems to be very good; a mix of teaching as well as a display of interactions and identities.

But why would Ron Paul want to suppress Sesame Street?

[oberliner]

8. Ron Paul does not believe in Public Television

He would nix the entire enterprise, Sesame Street included.

[Violet_Crumble]

9. Ollie Ollie Ollie! Oi Oi Oi!

I've lost touch with kids telly since my kidlet grew out of them. But ask me anything about Bananas In Pyjamas or Johnson And Friends and I'm all over it when it comes to pointless trivia...

btw, couldn't help but notice you reside in Australia. If yr inclined, there's two or three of us residing in the Australia group, which while quiet, is by far the most important bit of real estate at DU...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1086

[Little Tich]

10. Ok , I'll have a look.

[vminfla]

11. They are one of the largest recipients of foreign aid per capita in the world

The arab population receives around $2.3 billion in annual aid.


To keep the show going, they need to find $1.6million. Over $51 million per year is spent on stipends to terrorists and their families. This works out to abour $4.3 million per month. In other words, drop the stipends to terrorists by about 3% to keep Sharaa Simsim on the air. Is the PA stating that providing homes for terrorists is more important than providing a peaceful education to the next generation?

[azurnoir]

13. Doesn't the bulk of that money go to the families?

but I know the families of terrorists deserve to go hungry don't they, especially the children nothing but welfare queens right? I can understand why Congress cut them off just as they want to cut off those like them in the US

[vminfla]

14. Most civilized nations have laws against these payments

the PA and terrorist organizations recruit would be martyrs by offering a lifetime stipend to surviving members of their family as an incentive to take part in terrorism. In the US, such money would be seized and paid to the victims of terrorism. Nearly every state has laws on the books that prevent criminals from being financially remunerated for their criminal activity.

[azurnoir]

15. In the US the families are allowed to receive welfare benefits whether you like or not

and that is also what is going on here for the most part, so it would seem you believe in punishing children for their fathers or mothers crimes?

[vminfla]

16. The PA already receives US$2.3 billion in aid

Many arbs already receive welfare benefits. Are the brothers and sisters. mothers and fathers of terrorists entitled to "bonus" cash? AFter all, it is not just the offspring of terrorists, but their parents who receive stipends in the form.

And, yes, OJ Simpson's kids are not getting any money from an OJ book deal. He did the crime, he does the time, his children can apply for welfare on an even basis with children who's parents were not killers. After all, paying stipends to killers to remunerate their activities would only encourage greater amounts of killings. And this is exactly why such laws exist in civilized nations - to discourage killing, not promote it.