Reason Writers Around Town: Shikha Dalmia on How American Aid is Ruining the Middle East

The Obama administration threatened two weeks ago to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority if it proceeds with its plans to forge a unity deal with Hamas, a terrorist outfit in America's book. The Palestinian Authority should get that promise in writing, counsels Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia in her latest column at The Daily.

Foreign aid is a curse that has ruined the Palestinians. Indeed, if the administration is seriously interested in Mid-East peace, it should also stop the massive amounts of military assistance it gives Israel. As Dalmia writes:

Contrary to half a century of conventional wisdom, foreign aid has fanned the forces of extremism on both sides, making the prospects for peace less, not more, likely. If money could buy peace, Israelis and Palestinians would now be holding hands and singing "Kumbaya," instead of directing weapons at each other.

 Read the whole thing here.