>Arafat and his buddies have received literally BILLIONS in aid over the years. Where is the evidence that they've tried to put this to good use? Als, PM Barak offered to Mr. Arafat everything the Palestinians wanted except control of the Temple Mount and Arafat refused. Why? Why not take that and then start negotiating for the remaining 5%?? That's either a VERY STUPID move or a decision that reflects UTTER STUPIDITY on the part of the PLO leadership or they are utterly cynical and really don't want to help their people.

That's what Barak said, and what I've heard times over. But I've found from different sources (lost the bookmarks when I changed the disk, sorry) that what was offered was pretty much the same as the "equal replacement land" which was given to Native Americans to have reservations on. Most of it is just wasteland or city dumps.