The Dutch are finally taking a stand against the Palestinian penchant for glorifying jihad, and they want to do that by cutting off the proverbial purse strings. Palestine's economic existence is primarily dependent upon the enormous amount of generous aid it receives from around the world. The Dutch, however, are fed up with how the Palestinian Authority continues to encourage terrorism by honoring past suicide bombers, and naming public thoroughfares and venues with names of terrorists, and they want that to change.
Sponsored by the Christian Union and the SGP (the oldest Dutch political party), a proposition to cut aid to the PA if it doesn't curtail its continuous glorification of jihad garnered support from a majority of MPs in the parliament. Along with several other political parties (including the VVD, Christian Democrats and the Freedom Party), they also want to petition the European Union to do the same if they get no results. That, of course, is the more likely scenario. There's a long history of glorifying martyrdom in Palestine, which starts from birth and ends with death. The fires of hatred are stoked in schools, on children's television shows, and continues on through adulthood. Everywhere you look in Palestine, “Istishhad” (martyrdom) is something to aspire to.
The Dutch parties involved claim that in Palestine "there is a climate in which terrorist acts are encouraged rather than prevented". And so it is. So, in essence, foreign subsidies are enabling and supporting this continued call to violence. However, not all the MPs are on board with cutting the subsidies- Uri Rosenthal, the Foreign Minister, claims that although the subject of ending violence is always broached when dealing with the PA, he feels this proposal is too extreme.
What the Netherlands and the EU donate to the PA isn't chump change either. Christian Union MP Joël Voordewind, claims that the EU contributes 200 million euros annually, and the Dutch give 50 million. Voordewind is also not very happy about an impending "official visit" by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Netherlands, which he wants postponed. This issue is where the Christian Union, SGP and Freedom Party parties part ways with the VVD. According to Voordewind, the VVD and the Christian Democrats have no problem with entertaining Mahmoud Abbas in spite of the fact that Fatah (Abbas' political party) still wants to decimate Israel.
It will be interesting to see if they have the courage to go through with it, but you can rest assured that the Palestinians aren't going to change. At least not in the near future.
Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide
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