SAUDIS CONTINUE TO PLAY GAMES

In a fresh turn of events, Saudi Arabia, one of the least charitable nations on the planet has announced it will siphon off a billion dollars of its oil treasure to rebuild Gaza. But Gaza was a thriving stretch of land when the Jews were living there. Enter the Arabs. Well, you know the sad unchanging story.

KUWAIT CITY—The Saudi king says his country will donate $1 billion to help rebuild the Gaza Strip after Israel's devastating three-week offensive in the Palestinian territory.

King Abdullah criticizes Israel for using excessive force in Gaza and says "one drop of Palestinian blood" is more valuable than all the money in the world.

Congress eliminated aid to Saudi Arabia in 2006 when the House of Representatives voted to forbid US aid to Saudi Arabia, a statement of far more symbolic importance than economic. The 312-97 vote was to eliminate $420,000 from the $21.3 billion Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. The money has financed $20,000 in military training and education and a $400,000 anti-terrorism program.

President George W. Bush considered Saudi Arabia a vital ally in his campaign against terror, which he began after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The Bush administration praised the Saudis for cracking down on terror operations within their borders but has complained about women's rights and other aspects of Saudi domestic policies.

For its part, Saudi Arabia has wanted a more active US role in mediating the Arab-Israeli problem. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal complained about the Bush administration's decision to shut off direct aid to the elected Hamas-led Palestinian government.

"American taxpayer dollars should not be supporting Saudi hate and terror," Congressman Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat who sponsored the amendment, said in a statement. "The Saudis have not cooperated with American investigations, they continue to provide financial support to terrorists, and they continue to nurture fanatical Wahhabism."

Wahhabism is the fundamentalist branch of Islam followed by Saudi Muslims. Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida mastermind whose Saudi nationality has been revoked because of his terrorist activities, advocates a particularly austere version of Wahhabism.

In his statement, Weiner said the Saudis have violated assurances that they would stop financing terror organizations that have attacked the United States and Israel, adding that Saudi schools "continue to cultivate hate and intolerance despite claims of a `modernized' education system."