Friday, February 18, 2011

The Brits Say But Do They Do?

First, the British claim, made in Parliament, Extract from International Development questions - Palestine, Wednesday, 16 February 2011 17:42:

Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con): What development support his Department provides to the Palestinian Authority and to Israeli non-governmental organisations working in the west bank.

The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan):




We provide financial and technical assistance to the Palestinian Authority. In this financial year, our support will total £31.1 million. DFID also co-funds the UK conflict pool, which supports five Israeli human rights NGOs operating in the west bank.

Mr Walker: I recently took part in a delegation to Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories of the west bank...we met many Israeli human rights organisations and NGOs involved in the peace process...All of them were concerned at moves by elements of the nationalist right to crack down on and embarrass organisations in receipt of overseas funding, no matter how legitimate—

...Mr Duncan: ...We do not want such investigations to impede the legitimate work of NGOs in the west bank and elsewhere in the Palestinian territories...We are very careful how we spend our money in the occupied Palestinian territories and have done our utmost to support the legitimate government of Salam Fayyad with, I think, great success. We would abhor any money falling into the hands of extremists, and we do everything possible to ensure that such an accusation can never be verified [?] or proved valid...

...Halfon (Harlow) (Con): Is the Minister aware that an increasing amount of aid to the Palestinian territories ends up in the hands of extremists and is used for extremist purposes? Will he take steps to stop that and ensure that aid gets to the Palestinians who need it most?

Mr Duncan: I do not share my hon. Friend’s conclusion. We are very careful
how we spend our money in the occupied Palestinian territories and have done our utmost to support the legitimate government of Salam Fayyad with, I think, great success. We would abhor any money falling into the hands of extremists, and we do everything possible to ensure that such an accusation can never be verified or proved valid.


Well, MH suggested I refer to this:

According to Palestinian banking officials, an average of $2 billion per year has been transferred into Gaza via the Palestinian banking system since Hamas's June 2007 military takeover. The PA alone wires an estimated $1.2 billion per year into Gaza banks, much of it as pensions and salaries for the 77,000 employees kept on the payroll even though they are not working. In fact, this estimate may be conservative; according to PA prime minister Salam Fayad, 54 percent of the PA's $3.17 billion 2010 budget went to Gaza. Most of that figure appears to be salaries

Nu, how many of those salaries are Hamas officials, a group outlawed by the UK?

What does Dunkin' Duncan say to that?

^

No comments: