Operation Highway Robbery

The Israelites' cabinet has decided to impose sanctions on the Palestinians for exercising their democratic right to vote for the government of their choice.

"The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved a halt in monthly transfers of tens of millions of dollars to the Palestinians, in the first response to Hamas taking control of the Palestinian parliament," it is reported.

Is the money being "withheld" part of Israelite "support" or "reparation" funding to the Palestinians? Part of a gift that the Israelites had been planning to kindly donate to their cause? Oh no.

"Israel collects and transfers about $50 million in tax money for the Palestinians each month. The money is essential for the Palestinian Authority to meet its monthly payroll for about 140,000 workers."

In other words, the Israelites are taking tax dollars from the Palestians (why is this even being allowed, I wonder - why are Palestinians paying taxes to Israel?) and refusing to give it back - because they chose the "wrong" government.

In any other language and with any other country, this would be called blatant thievery. I am going to go out on a limb and call it highway robbery. But it would appear that this move is yet another which will be sanctioned by the ever-blind, double-standard, hypocritical "international" community. (On another note, why should Hamas "recognise" Israel when Israel has not honoured its obligations with respect to the Oslo Treaty? Surely actions to honour the agreement would be of more importance - why the worldwide insistence, the international hysteria on one matter but not the other?).

How can it be just and fair that a country plunders the taxes of another country in a bid to control the democratically elected government of said country? Is this fair, is this justice for an already beleaguered population? What are these workers to do without salaries?

If the Palestian Authority has any spine then it should immediately issue a notice halting the transmission of any more of its funds to Israel. The Palestinians may have suffered immensely while the rest of the world turned a blind eye to its suffering, but they are not idiots. I am certain that they are more than capable of handling their money themselves. There is no need for the money to make a transit through Israel if this is money is going to be hijacked in bad faith. Ironically, this latest edict will almost certainly go a long way towards cementing the stereotypical image of Jews as money-grubbing individuals.

Religion is a bitch. Atheism has never precipitated such grave problems in the world.