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What Do Palestinians Do with Humanitarian-Aid Money?

(Miami Herald) Ike Seamans - The Bush administration has waived the 10-year ban prohibiting direct aid to the Palestinian Authority and is sending $20 million for humanitarian and infrastructure programs. The PA, a cesspool of corruption to most Palestinians, receives abundant cash from many sources: * $375 million in U.S. funds contributed in the past two years to the UN and relief agencies. * $1 billion from the Arab League since 2000. * $1.3 billion in private donations last year, the largest per-capita contribution to any group since World War II, according to the World Bank. * $1.5 billion from the European Union since 1993. In January, Israel seized records revealing that since 1996, PA officials have sold food and medicine donated by the UN, yet its aid continues unabated. EU auditors found that $20 million meant for low-income housing in Gaza was diverted to build a luxury apartment complex for government officials. Last year, the Los Angeles Times reported that millions, if not billions, given for ''peaceful purposes'' have been spent to arm militias and security forces. Yasser Abbas, the prime minister's son, has joined the gravy train and gained control of the electronics industry, even though he's a Canadian citizen who lives in Ramallah only a few months a year. The PA is not broke. Abdel Salaam Abu Eissa, the director of the International Bank of Palestine, said three years ago that there was $2 billion in local banks and $30 billion in foreign accounts. Last year, the EU asked the IMF to audit the books. Nothing was amiss. Then it was discovered that Salaam Fayyad, a close Arafat associate and currently PA minister of finance, conducted the audit. An embarrassed EU immediately sent its own inspectors, who have already determined that $250 million may have been funneled to terrorist organizations since 2000.
2003-07-28 00:00:00
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