BY SEMIH IDIZ
MILLIYET- Turkey will host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week. Of course, one of the aims of `Abu Mazen' (as he is also known) will be requesting money, because in the face of the West's financial aid cutoff, the Palestinian administration is in a tight spot. The US and the European Union are punishing the Hamas government for failing to reonounce terrorism and recognize Israel. Estimates say the administration has enough money on hand for a few months. However, 140,000 government officials are waiting for their salaries. If they aren't paid, this might trigger a serious social explosion. As a matter of fact, last week a large number of Palestinian policemen attacked a government building. The situation is so critical that Hamas has asked the people for their help. Those who want to can send money to Hamas' account in Cairo. Abbas will be glad if he returns from Turkey with a lot of money. However, most say this won't happen, because the government is facing the horns of a dilemma. If it gives high-profile help, this would go against the US and the European Union. It doesn't want this while the repercussions of the February visit to Ankara of Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal are still being felt. However, here, the main responsibility belongs to Arab countries, particularly those who are flush from oil revenues, because they are a party in the Arab-Israeli conflict. But while these countries shed crocodile tears for the Palestinian people, it's rare that they dip into their pockets for the cause.
When I was touring the poor Palestinian camps in the Gaza Strip a few years ago, I asked if there was no rich Arab able to establish a sewage system, school or hospital. I heard that most of the help came not from Muslim countries, but from the West. You can't hear a peep from countries in the region reaping $250-300 billion more on top of their already incredible wealth due to rising oil prices. Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on the Islamic world to help Palestinians. We'll see if this works. Meanwhile, certain Arab analysts have started to see Hamas' taking power as a US-Israeli conspiracy. Former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk asked why Washington encouraged Hamas to take part in elections knowing it would win. According to one theory, the aim was to put Hamas in its current situation so as to destroy its public image. If the theory is true, time will show if this aim was reached. However, it's certain today that Hamas is entering a more difficult situation.