EU ministers suspend aid to Hamas

Supporters of Hamas joined a protest in Gaza against the aid cuts
EU foreign ministers have endorsed a temporary halt to direct aid to the Palestinian government led by Hamas.
The EU says it cannot fund the organisation unless it renounces violence, recognises Israel and commits to past peace agreements.

Hamas, which won elections in January, is described as a terrorist group by the EU and the United States.

The EU, the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians, is expected to maintain some humanitarian aid.

The EU's External Relations Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said she supported the European Commission's proposal which was backed by foreign ministers.

"But at the same time, of course, we will want to stand by the Palestinian people as we always said and we'll want to help them with their basic needs, that means water, electricity, that means maybe education, that means food aid," she said.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has received about $600m (500m euros; £340m) a year in aid from the EU since its foundation in 1994, with another $400m coming from the US.

The US said it would suspend or cancel direct aid, although it would boost humanitarian aid to Palestinians through United Nations aid agencies.

Alternative routes

The European Commission said last week that the suspension of direct aid from the EU would mean $36.9m (30m euros; £21m) was at stake in the immediate future.

Hamas is complaining of international blackmail, and supporters joined protests outside the building where EU representatives are based in Gaza City.

BBC Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says both the EU and the US have been looking into ways to channel money into Palestinian society, possibly through the UN or aid agencies, to keep basic services running.

Otherwise, he says, there is a real risk of more anarchy and chaos in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank - something that no one wants to see happening.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4895068.stm

JPost.com » Middle East » Article


Apr. 11, 2006 2:50 | Updated Apr. 11, 2006 2:59
Palestinians: EU decision is 'unjust'
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH



Talkbacks for this article: 2

Defiant Hamas leaders strongly condemned the European Union's Monday decision to freeze financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, describing the move as an attempt to blackmail the new Hamas cabinet and force it to change its strategy.

"This decision is wrong and unjust," said cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad. "They are punishing the Palestinians for making a democratic choice. This is a severe blow to the democratic parliamentary election."

He claimed that the decision was part of Israel's policy to "starve and besiege" the Palestinians. "We were hoping that the European Union would take a decision to continue financial aid, not suspend it," he added. "We were hoping that the Europeans would denounce the Israeli atrocities against our people. Unfortunately, they have linked aid to the needy and refugees to political considerations."

PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar lashed out at the EU, saying its decision to suspend financial aid would not serve the cause of stability and calm in the region. He too accused the EU of succumbing to Israeli and American pressure to boycott the new Hamas cabinet.

Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razek said that the cabinet was in a "very difficult" situation because Israel and its Western allies were trying to bring it down.

"We're not going to lie to our people," he said after holding an emergency meeting with the top officials in his ministry. "The situation is very difficult, but we're not going to collapse despite the war that is being waged against us by Israel, the US and the EU."

Abdel Razek said the cabinet would pay the salaries of all civil servants after receiving funds from Arab countries, including Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
In response to the EU decision, he said that the European leaders should take into consideration the fact that Hamas came to power through free and democratic elections. "They should ask themselves how they came to power," he said. "They are contradicting their own principles of democracy."

Hamas also accused the former PA cabinet of mishandling funds, holding it responsible for the current economic crisis. "During the transitional period, the previous government took a number of steps to empty the Palestinian treasury," the movement said in a statement. "Its goal was to bring the Palestinian Authority to bankruptcy."

In a related development, both Hamas and the PA attacked Israel's decision to cut off ties with the PA. "This is a declaration of war on the Palestinians," a senior Hamas official said. "We strongly condemn this decision which is aimed at driving a wedge between the Palestinians."

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who met with the US consul- general in Jerusalem, said the Israeli decision was in violation of all agreements signed with the Palestinians and international law. "This attempt to isolate the Palestinians won't work and we will break it, whatever the price," he told reporters in Ramallah.


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This is an american forum, 99% of the forum users do not even know what "EU" is. And as long as its not "Anti-Eu", or "Pro US", they wont touch it.

As you can see by the enormous amount of comments here... erh, None. Oh, and this: "The EU, the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians", probably killed the entire debate/comments thing, as everyone knows, the US is the biggest donor to everything in the world, No one can possible give more then them......

It might surprise you that this topic is not in debate forum. It is in current event. Furthermore, it might elighten you to know that American's do read the news and current events and they know full well the potential of the possisbility of war breaking out because the Palestinian government is now in TROUBLE. When a terrorist group takes over a country, what is happening??? The WORLD Governments are withdrawing its aide!

Lack of funds to operate on, and they are threating nuclear war. Pocket, you need to sit up and take notice...WWWIII is on the horizon!