Following another incident in which Hamas stole UN relief supplies the UNRWA has announced that it will suspend further supplies into Gaza.

It is Hamas’ aim to distribute food and provisions only to its supporters and pretend that they, Hamas, are the benefactors. It sells these on to the population and uses food as a bribe. This, of course, is no different from using human shields and murdering anyone who objects to their rule in Gaza.

Let’s face it, Hamas is at war, not only with Israel, but also with Fatah and so any Palestinian who does not support Hamas will be excluded from receiving vital supplies. That is why the UN wants to be in charge of distribution. It doesn’t trust Hamas.

Hamas has described this theft as a “mistake.” A MISTAKE! Now there’s an understatement! But only because they were finally caught doing it. Israel has been claiming for quite a while that Hamas was selling relief provisions which had been donated by the rest of the world and the UN to be distributed for free. And now, at last, Hamas, “the big saviour of the Palestinians” has been found out once again for being cruel to its own people.

So now, even the UN is temporarily fed up with Hamas. It would be interesting to ask Christopher Gunnes, who heads the UN relief agency in Gaza and usually accepts Hamas propaganda, what he thinks of this “mistake”.

I have just listened to the Australian TV news broadcasts and there is no mention of Hamas’ deplorable action. Can you imagine what would have happened had the Israelis stolen those vital UN provisions? It would have made headline news in every broadcast! On the other hand, the media expects this kind of reprehensible behaviour by Hamas and that’s why it’s not headline worthy.

It won’t happen, but I would like to see the Reserve Bank leave interest rates as they are. Cutting them only makes people lose more confidence in the economy and what we need now is a boost to confidence. That is why leaving interest rates as they are would create a positive effect on our psyches.

All this talk of gloom and doom may make Rudd and Swan feel better because they can blame someone else for the economic woes we are experiencing. And to be honest, it is not the fault of this government. But in the end what will save the economy is not a stimulus package which so far has done little.

In my opinion, our economic woes are greatly influenced by our perception of how well we are doing.

We should not ignore the impact of negative messages on our psyche.

First, we were told that China’s economy will protect us, so we will be fine. Now we are told that even China is experiencing less growth and that we cannot rely on it. So when we hear that twenty million Chinese are losing their jobs we cannot remain upbeat.

It’s only logical that people will be afraid to employ new staff if the prognosis is so gloomy. It’s also logical that people are reluctant about spending more when their incomes are at risk. Tell us that we do not need a drop in interest rates and that will give everyone a boost.

Even if the interest rates were lowered by Two Hundred points it would not help matters and, in fact, it would aggravate the problem.