One might think that opportunities for young students to study overseas are good things. They get to experience another culture, improve their foreign language skills, and make plenty of friends.

But when 16-year-old Ayah Tafesh left Gaza for America through Egypt, the Hamas security official checking her paperwork apparently misunderstood what the high school student said.

This turned out to be a very fortunate mistake for the young student.
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The U.S. State Department’s chief spokesman said Obama’s administration will spend the majority of some $900 million in aid promised to the Palestinian Authority for use in the West Bank.


Robert Wood, the State Department spokesman, said that Palestinians in the Hamas-led Gaza will not see the aid, according to a new report in the Los Angeles Times.

“We cannot funnel money through Hamas,” Wood said over the weekend.