Interesting article

There is an excellent article in The Washington Post. It doesn't say much by itself except that most Arab nations, including a lot of oil-wealthy ones, are paying only fractions of their commitments to support the PLO. Who is contributing a lot? "European governments, the World Bank and the United States have provided more than three times as much money as Arab countries this year to keep the government afloat..."

While the article (properly) withholds from most editorializing, I think reading between the lines tells more. Contributions spiked when Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's existence and calls for its obliteration, controlled the PLO. A recurring theme of Middle East relations is that the Palestinians are pawns for both sides. They are probably pawns more for the Arabs, in fact, because the Israelis actually have to deal with the Palestinians, whereas the Arabs sit at home, stir the hornet's nest every once in a while, and (sometimes) cut a check. What happens when the Arabs have to deal with the Palestinians? Last time the border between Gaza and Egypt was forced open, the Egyptians rushed to plug the hole and keep the Palestinians in Gaza.

I don't mean to cast equal aspersions on all Arab countries or imply that the Israelis are perfect, but it's healthy to view Arab nations' statements of solidarity with Palestine with some skepticism.