Britain's The Sun is reporting that the UK has suspending millions of pounds in foreign aid payments to the Palestinian Authority because of 'serious allegations' that the money is being used to fund terrorism.
Britain's International Development Secretary Priti Patel has ordered a freeze pending an investigation, after furious British MPs demanded action following revelations that UK aid supposedly paying for civil servants in Gaza was being transferred to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Aside from funding “salaries” for families of suicide bombers, convicted vehicle terrorists and knife wielding killers attacking Israelis, various 'operations' are being bankrolled.In one instance, a Hamas master bomber was allegedly given £100,000 by the PLO.
The Department for International Development has admitted previously that the PLO makes “social welfare” provisions for terrorist prisoners and their families but at th etime, denied that UK funds are being used this way.
But according to The Sun, the Department has finally conceded that many of the so-called civil servants were actually involved in terrorism,or as the Department put it, ' doing other jobs' while receiving UK taxpayers’ funds.
The decision affects £25 million in cash is being withheld this year – a third of the total aid sent to the Palestinian Authority. While the majority supposedly goes to charities in the region, there have also been repeated instances of these funds being diverted as well since a lot of these charities employ local Arabs as staff members and any real accounting is difficult.
The Palestinian Authority is perpetually asking for more donor aid, claiming to be broke. Yet Mahmoud Abbas continues to spend six percent of the PA’s annual budget to pay $4.5 million a month to jailed terrorists, another $6.5 million to their families, $1.2 million to Sufa Arafat as a 'pension' so she can live a luxurious lifestyle in the ritziest part of Paris and $16 million on a brand new presidential compound. And that doesn't count Abbas's annual salary of $12 million, or the money he and his Fatah cronies siphon off the aid money for themselves.*
Senate Republicans introduced legislation just days ago to cut off all financial aid to 'Palestine' until the Secretary of State certifies that the Palestinian Authority is no longer using aid money to reward and finance terrorists.
Good luck with that, since Abbas has admitted he's repeatedly lied about the matter!
Still these are positive steps, particularly with the UK. Can it be that the world's oldest running con game is finally starting to come to an end?
We'll see.
*Both Mohammed Rashid, Arafat's former finance chief and Mahmoud Dahlan, former PA security chief have publicly accused Abbas of embezzling $3.1 billion U.S.
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