US Congress blocks £128m in aid for Palestinians

Guardian

Palestinian Authority accuses Congress of holding back aid to punish Mahmoud Abbas' bid for UN statehood

The Palestinian Authority has accused the US of "collective punishment", after the US Congress blocked $200m (£128m) in aid in response to President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for UN statehood.
The decision to freeze the payments was reportedly made by three congressional committees on 18 August, before Abbas' planned bid for statehood recognition at the UN the following month.

The funds, intended for food aid, health care, and infrastructure projects, were supposed to have been transferred within the US financial year, which ends today. The Obama administration is reportedly negotiating with congressional leaders to unlock the aid.

"It is another kind of collective punishment which is going to harm the needs of the public without making any positive contribution," Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib told the Independent.

"It is ironic to be punished for going to the United Nations."

USAid has already started scaling back its aid operations in the West Bank and Gaza, and there are fears it may be forced to end all humanitarian work and distribution of financial support to the Palestinian Authority by January.

There are also fears the move could lead to a security crisis in the Palestinian territories.
"Security co-operation with the Palestinians is excellent at the moment and we do not want to jeopardise that," a senior Israeli military official official told the Independent.

Republican Gary Ackerman, member of the House sub-committee on the Middle East and South Asia, told a meeting of representatives and leaders of Jewish organisations outside the UN headquarters on Monday that "there may need to be a total cut-off of all aid to the Palestinians for pursuing this course of action which is very dangerous and ill advised."

Former president Bill Clinton recently warned Congress to leave the issue of aid to the Obama administration. He said: "Everybody knows the US Congress is the most pro-Israel parliamentary body in the world. They don't have to demonstrate that."

A UN security council panel on admitting new members to the UN met to discuss the Palestinian bid for the first time on Friday. After the meeting, Lebanese UN ambassador Nawaf Salam said the committee unanimously agreed to hold further meetings next week.

Israel uses terrorism fears to steal money from Palestinians

Russia Today



Tax and customs fees collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority are supposed to be used to pay wages. However, Israel has refused to hand over the cash on several occasions, saying it could be used to fund terrorist attacks.

With Hamas now likely to enter a unity government alongside Fatah, Palestinians are even less likely to see their money.
Alowie Abu Alowie guards the Palestinian Ministry of Finance. His job is to check everything that comes into this building.
But he has no control over what goes out, and least of all his salary, which is paid by this ministry, and is sometimes long overdue.

“If my salary comes late it’s like my life stops,” says Abu Alowie. “I simply cannot do anything. I have a wife and four children to feed and when I don’t get paid on time it makes lots of problems for me and my family.”

Ironically the ministry gets its money from the Israeli government. It comes in the form of customs and tax duties that Tel Aviv has been collecting on goods arriving at Israeli ports and destined for Palestinians.

The arrangement since 1993 is part of the Oslo Accord, giving Tel Aviv control of the international borders between Israel and the Palestinian territories, with the money transferred each month to the Palestinian Ministry of Finance, which uses it to pay wages.
But this arrangement does not work anymore. The issue is about $105 million that this ministry was unable to access to pay the salaries of 170,000 people. Ask any one of them and they will tell you they are afraid the situation will repeat itself.

Now, after arch-rivals Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal, Palestinians fear that Tel Aviv could again choose to withhold tax money like it did last month. Israelis argue they have every right to do so if they suspect the money could be used to buy weapons.

“The salaries to the Hamas terrrorists are paid from the same bank account,” says Dr. Arie Eldad, an Israeli right wing member of parliament. “So I don’t want to finance these terrorists in order to kill me.”

But Palestinians insist the money is for ordinary workers.

“It is a double-edged sword because on the one hand it’s a punishment,” says Ghassan Khatib, a member of Palestinian People’s party. “But on the other hand it’s a collective punishment that would mainly weaken the moderate elements within the Palestinian society and play to the hand of the extremists.”

The relationship between Hamas and Fatah is a turbulent one, but both groups are trying hard to work together ahead of September’s planned declaration of statehood.

No doubt Israel will be working even harder to thwart them, should it feel its interests are threatened.