The News from Ramallah

Just a quick update, for anyone who’s reading the newspapers or watching CNN today, and has started to worry. First things first, I’m fine, as is everyone I know over here. Now, on with the news.
Background: Since Hamas was elected, everyone in the West Bank and Gaza who works for the government has not been paid (apart from a cash transaction by Haniyeh earlier this summer), because the vast majority of government salaries are paid out of a combination of donor money and VAT revenues. The donor funding has been curtailed, and Israel has not made any VAT transfer payments, and the workers have not been paid.

Current situation: Yesterday, the deteriorating wage and labor situation, coupled with tension in the government, led to an armed clash in Gaza between the security forces of the two main political parties, Hamas and Fatah. Dozens of people were injured, and nine killed. In Gaza, this continues today. In the West Bank, where I am, there have been isolated incidents of violence, but nothing like the scale in Gaza. There is a general strike today, so we left work early, and are working from home to stay safe and out of the way.

I think that’s the bulk of the news from Lake Woebegon – I’ll keep you updated if anything new happens. For more info about what’s going on, and background, Al-Jazeera has the most coverage, and their English-language website is:
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

An interesting mental exercise for everyone who needs something to ponder today... Picture this situation, but in Washington, DC. There are thousands of government workers, none of whom has been paid since early Spring. The Bush administration has been on strike, as have transportation and health care workers (you can't, therefore, use the metro or go to the hospital). Imagine, then, how long it would take before people decided that they were fed up, and you'd be surprised how much restraint everyone here has shown.