INN: The U.S. will be giving Gaza Arabs a second chance, providing them with new greenhouses to replace the Gush Katif originals they demolished.
In 2005, as Israel withdrew its troops from Gaza and forcibly removed the Jewish residents of the area, a group of Jewish American donors came together to ensure that the famed Israeli greenhouses that produced $200 million of produce per year would not go to waste. The greenhouses were purchased for $14 million – much of it provided by the Gates Foundation – and turned over to Gaza Arabs.
But within hours of the withdrawal, many of the buildings had been damaged beyond repair. Terrorists and looters stripped them of their piping and electronic equipment and tore down their walls. Some greenhouses remained, several of which were destroyed in a second round of looting in 2006.
Now Gaza Arabs are going to get a second chance to try to recreate the thriving greenhouses of Gush Katif. The United States Agency for International Development is to sponsor a project termed Family Agricultural Greenhouses, which will construct three new greenhouses.
NOTE: At least when the dufuses gave the Hamas the green houses the first time around, they were doing so from private funds, the Obama administration is doing so from public funds, funds that they don’t have by the way, which makes this all the more stupid and galling.