Read Carefully

The U.S. government and a humanitarian organization devoted to helping the Palestinian people have established a mechanism to channel private American donations into programs that benefit the Palestinians.

A memorandum of understanding was signed August 1 in Washington by the administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Henrietta Fore, and Ziad Asali, the founder and chairman of the American Charities for Palestine.

"The arrangement is the first mechanism of its kind, and we are very proud of this historic step. American Charities for Palestine (ACP) will raise American charitable contributions and will work with USAID to direct these funds to support ongoing projects in the field," Fore said.

The USAID-ACP partnership will assure that philanthropic contributions are not diverted into the hands opponents of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

...Asali said[.] "Today is the first step. Our immediate next step is to finalize robust (*) administrative and financial structures to carry our mission forward," he added.

The private donations will be used mainly for health and education projects, according to Fore and Asali.

...Since 1993, Palestinians have received more than $1.7 billion in U.S. economic assistance via USAID projects, more than from any other donor country. The money spent on health and education accounts for 13 percent of the total. Water sanitation and infrastructure have absorbed 42 percent of the spending; economic growth, 15 percent; democracy and governance, 13 percent; other purposes, 17 percent.

ACP is a sister organization to the American Task Force on Palestine, which was founded by Asali in 2003. The task force is a nonpartisan group dedicated to bringing lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians and to the creation of a Palestinian state...

Okay, so, you know me. I'm curious.

I went to their site and checked one item: Jerusalem.

And I found this:

Statement of Principles on Jerusalem

The objective of ATFP is the establishment of a Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel, and an end of the Israeli occupation that began in 1967...

...2) Jerusalem is a central part of the present and futures of both Palestinian and Israeli societies, and is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims around the world. Lasting peace can only be achieved by securing the political aspirations of both peoples and the religious rights of the three religions.

...4) No religion or nationality can be privileged in Jerusalem. The right of access to holy places and the right of worship in the city must be guaranteed for people of all faiths from around the world...

...Selected Jerusalem Facts:

- There are 182,000 Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem living in 15 settlements.

a. Can I then pray on the Temple Mount? Can I dig for ancient Jewish artifacts? Can I stop the Waqf from destroying those same artifacts? Can I rebuild destroyed Jewish synagogues and gravestones?

b. "Settlers"? You mean all the lefties in Ramat Eshkol, French Hill and the Hebrew University are, no, "settlers"? Somebody better tell them quick.