“The head of the German–Israel Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag, Volker Beck, launched an inquiry into the misuse of German aid for Palestinian terrorism.”
Beck also asks:
“What information is available to the Federal government about payments by the PA, possibly through intermediaries, to the families of dead Palestinian terrorists (so-called martyrs) who were involved in terrorist activities against Israel or its citizens?…..How does the Federal government intend to rule out that the PA is directly or indirectly financing terrorists or the relatives of terrorists with money from the Federal Republic of Germany or the EU?”
Finally, the politics of the Palestinian aid fiasco is on the table. Kudos to this German lawmaker for speaking out.
The Wall Street Journal did a report about “all that aid for Palestinians” and found:
“This support for terrorism doesn’t end with hate speech. The Palestinian regime in Ramallah pays monthly stipends of between $400 and $3,500 to terrorists and their families, the latter of which is more than five times the average monthly salary of a Palestinian worker.
According to data from its budgetary reports, compiled in June 2014 by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the PA’s annual budget for supporting Palestinian terrorists was then roughly $75 million. That amounted to some 16% of the foreign donations the PA received annually. Overall in 2012 foreign aid made up about a quarter of the PA’s $3.1 billion budget.”
“German lawmaker investigates aid for Palestinian terrorism”, by Benjamin Weinthal, The Jerusalem Post, August 31, 2016:
BERLIN – The head of the German–Israel Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag, Volker Beck, launched an inquiry into the misuse of German aid for Palestinian terrorism.
The inquiry appears to be the first legislative investigation in Germany into the possible misappropriation of Palestinian humanitarian aid.
According to letters obtained by The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, Beck, a Green Party deputy, wrote in July to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier that “the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in Washington, DC, recently presented to Congress and subsequently published the interesting report ‘Palestinian Authority Support For Imprisoned, Released, And Wounded Terrorists And Families Of Martyrs.’”
Beck asked, “What information is available to the Federal government about payments by the PA, possibly through intermediaries, to Palestinian prisoners involved in terrorist activities against Israel or its citizens?”
He continued, “What information is available to the Federal government about payments by the PA, possibly through intermediaries, to the families of dead Palestinian terrorists (so-called martyrs) who were involved in terrorist activities against Israel or its citizens?”
He then asked, “How does the Federal government intend to rule out that the PA is directly or indirectly financing terrorists or the relatives of terrorists with money from the Federal Republic of Germany or the EU?”
The Federal government responded earlier last month, stating, “In 2015, bilateral support by the Federal government for the people of Palestine and in UNRWA camps outside of Palestine (in other words in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria) totaled around €162 million. These funds financed specific projects, primarily in the areas of development cooperation, culture and education, along with humanitarian aid and civilian crisis prevention.
Payments were made directly to service providers, only for ear-marked projects, according to their progress and in return for services, such as construction work. The Federal government does not provide any budgetary support to the Palestinian Authority.”
The German government suspended funds to the US Christian charity World Vision in August because of allegations that its funds were funneled to Hamas and used for terrorist activities.
According to the Merkel administration, “The Palestinian Authority itself stopped payments to prisoners following the dissolution of the Ministry for Prisoners Affairs in 2014. The PLO Commission for Prisoners Affairs provides financial support to the families of Palestinians detained in Israel.
The Palestinian side justifies this by pointing out the need to prevent a descent into poverty by these families, whom the Palestinians see as frequent victims of collective penalties such as demolition of housing and revoking of work permits…