Erdan to EU: Make sure your funds don't go to NGOs with terror ties
Among those arrested, were senior officials in the Palestinian NGO Addameer, such as Khalida Jarrar, former vice president of the organization and head of the PFLP in the West Bank.
By LAHAV HARKOVA Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant looks out of a vehicle during a military show marking the 32nd anniversary of the organisation's founding, in the central Gaza Strip October 3, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)
The EU must not give in to Palestinian organizations’ demands that it allow aid to go to groups with ties to designated terrorist groups, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan wrote in a letter to the EU’s new Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.Erdan’s letter, sent on Tuesday, referred to the many ties between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated a terrorist group in the European Union, United States, Canada and Israel, and Palestinian NGOs that call themselves human rights or civil society organizations.The minister pointed to recent media reports that Palestinian NGOs have demanded the EU erase a stipulation that aid must be sent only to organizations with no ties to EU-designated terrorist groups, claiming that the PFLP and others are political parties, according to NGO Monitor.Two weeks ago, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested about 50 members of the PFLP in relation to the August 2019 bombing that took the life of 17-year-old Rina Schnerb and wounded her brother and father.Among those arrested were senior officials in the Palestinian NGO Addameer, such as Khalida Jarrar, former vice president of the organization and head of the PFLP in the West Bank.“Alongside [Addameer’s] ongoing campaign to boycott and delegitimize the State of Israel, [it] calls for the release of PFLP terrorists while providing them with legal representation,” Erdan wrote.Erdan expressed concern that Al-Haq, a Palestinian NGO that receives significant aid from the EU, transferred funds to the PFLP. Al-Haq’s director, Shawan Jabarin, is a convicted PFLP terrorist.“Over the years, Jabarin has employed other PFLP operatives who also have served prison sentences,” Erdan stated. “According to data released by the EU regarding 2018 (data concerning 2019 has not yet been published), the EU has provided Al-Haq substantial financial support. Moreover, there are grounds for concern that, because of the close connections of the two, funds may have been funneled from Al-Haq to the PFLP.”As such, Erdan asked the EU to make sure its funds go only to organizations with no such ties to terrorist groups, and that beneficiaries increase their transparency.“I urge the EU to safeguard the implementation of such criteria and cease funding to Al-Haq and any organization that is affiliated with terrorist groups,” he wrote.
