On Planet Trumble...

On Planet Trumble, where up is down and right is wrong, the more Palestinians Israel murders and maims, the more the Palestinians must be punished:

"Australia has ceased providing direct aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop saying the donations could increase the self-governing body's capacity to pay Palestinians convicted of politically motivated violence. Ms Bishop said funding was cut to the World Bank's Multi-Donor Trust Fund for the Palestinian Recovery and Development Program after writing to the Palestinian Authority in late May seeking assurance that Australian funding was not going to Palestinian criminals. Australia sends about $10 million in aid to Palestine territories [?]. It will now direct its funds through the United Nations." (Australia ends direct aid to Palestinian Authority, abc.net.au/news, 3/7/18)

On Planet Trumble, Israel pulls its parliamentary strings:

"Concerns have been raised by some Coalition politicians, including backbencher Eric Abetz,* that the money sent through the World Bank had gone towards funding violence in the region."

 On Planet Trumble, foreign minister Bishop can see no valid reason for not funding the PA directly, but cuts it anyway:

"Ms Bishop said she was confident no Australian funds had been used inappropriately. 'I am confident that previous Australian funding to the PA through the World Bank has been used as intended,' she said in a statement. 'However, I am concerned that in providing funds for this aspect of the PA's operations, there is an opportunity for it to use its own budget to [fund] activities that Australia would never support. Any assistance provided by the Palestine Liberation Organisation to those convicted of politically motivated violence is an affront to Australian values and undermines the prospect of a meaningful peace between Israel and the Palestinians'."

On Planet Trumble, Australia takes its cues from the US, which takes its cues from Israel:

"In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the US Government for passing a law that suspended some financial aid to the Palestinians over the stipends paid to families of Palestinians killed or jailed in fighting with Israel. Mr Netanyahu said the Taylor Force Act, named after an American killed in Israel by a Palestinian in 2016, a 'powerful signal by the US that changes the rules' by cutting 'hundreds of millions of dollars for the Palestinian Authority that they invest in encouraging terrorism'."

On Planet Trumble, USraeli perpetrators are the victims and Palestinian victims are the perpetrators:

"The Palestinians say the families are victims of violence."

Strange place, Planet Trumble.

[*See my 2/6/18 post Australia's Senate Hard at Work.]