Palestinians blast Trump’s aid cut as political blackmail

Palestinian officials denounced the Trump administration's cancellation of more than $US200 ($280 million) million in aid, accusing Washington of "weaponising" humanitarian assistance by using it as a tool to coerce political concessions.

کد خبر: ۸۲۸۲۳۳

تاریخ: ۰۴ شهريور ۱۳۹۷ - ۰۸:۵۲

The aid cut, announced on Friday, was the latest in a series of measures apparently aimed at forcing the Palestinian leadership to return to the negotiating table with Israel while US officials work on a long-awaited peace proposal, the details of which remain opaque.

An earlier freeze by Washington of tens of millions of dollars of funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency, which assists Palestinian refugees, and the move in May of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv, Israel, to the contested city of Jerusalem, had already infuriated the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state, expressed defiance this weekend, blaming the Trump administration for forsaking the role its predecessors had long sought as an honest broker in the dispute with Israel.

"This administration is dismantling decades of US vision and engagement in Palestine," Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's general delegation to the United States, said in a statement.

"This is another confirmation of abandoning the two-state solution and fully embracing Netanyahu's anti-peace agenda," he added, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. "Weaponizing humanitarian and developmental aid as political blackmail does not work."

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, said, "The Palestinian people and leadership will not be intimidated and will not succumb to coercion."

"The rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale," Ashrawi added. "There is no glory in constantly bullying and punishing a people under occupation."

The withdrawal of the assistance comes as the Trump administration considers canceling nearly $US3 billion in foreign aid projects around the world. The State Department says it intends to redirect funds that were meant for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to higher-priority projects elsewhere.

During a visit to Israel last week, John Bolton, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, said there were no decisions yet about the details of the US peace plan or when it would be unveiled.

Referring to the US plan, Netanyahu, who heads a right-wing government, many of whose ministers oppose a Palestinian state, said during a visit to Lithuania on Friday, "It may come, even though I don't see any urgency on the matter."

Palestinian officials said the aid withdrawal could affect many programs of the US Agency for International Development, the principal body administering US foreign assistance in the West Bank and Gaza. The agency oversees support for a wide range of issues in the Palestinian territories, including debt relief, economic growth, water and sanitation, education, health and governance.

Washington provided about $US290 million to the Palestinians in 2016 through the agency and has provided about $US5.2 billion in total since 1994.

The United States also supplies funds for security assistance, public diplomacy and mine clearance operations.

The US Consulate General in Jerusalem recently announced that more than 1000 Palestinian students had graduated in July from an 18-month program to improve their English and community leadership skills. That program costs more than $US2 million a year.

European Union support to the Palestinians amounted to nearly €359 million, or about $560 million, in 2017. As well as humanitarian assistance, that money helps fund the salaries of Palestinian Authority employees.

Omar Shaban, a Gaza-based analyst on political economy and director of PalThink for Strategic Studies, an independent group, said the aid cut would affect US bodies that have partnerships with tens of local Palestinian nongovernmental organizations. He said it will lead to layoffs and deal a "devastating blow" to local and international groups working on infrastructure projects like road-building.