U.N. to ask for $450M in Palestinian aid

[oberliner]

JERUSALEM - The United Nations will ask donor countries to contribute a record $450 million in aid to the Palestinians, whose economy has been devastated by international economic sanctions on the Hamas-led government, U.N. officials said Wednesday.

The huge aid request comes as poverty and unemployment have exploded throughout Gaza and the
West Bank, and the Palestinian health and education systems have been badly weakened by the shortage of funds, the U.N. said.

About three-quarters of the $453 million being requested is earmarked for job creation, cash assistance and food aid, said David Shearer, head of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The U.N., which plans to officially launch its appeal Thursday, is also asking for money to support the Palestinian's health and education system.

Much of the damage to the Palestinian economy has come from the international economic boycott that
Israel and Western nations imposed on the
Palestinian Authority after the radical Hamas group won parliamentary elections in January. The boycott has left the Palestinian government unable to pay full salaries to its 165,000 workers, who make up the backbone of the Palestinian economy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061206/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_palestinians