Following Hamas’ attack on Israel, the European Commission, through the Hungarian Oliver Varhelyi, announced that EU funds for Palestine were stopped. This announcement first sparked protests from some bloc governments and was then harshly rejected by EU Council President Charles Michel. This is not Varhelyi’s first obstacle to Palestinian financing: It already happened between 2021 and 2022, when the controversy around an Islamic textbook considered fundamentalist prompted the commissioner to freeze around 200 million euros sent to the West. Bank. Political forces such as Varhelyi and the League now appear to be concerned about EU funds going to Hamas through programs for the Gaza Strip. According to the Northern League, the EU is indirectly financing the terrorist organization. So how are things?
Aid to Palestine
The EU has allocated approximately 1.5 billion euros to Palestine since 2014. The vast majority of the funds (about $1.3 billion) went to the Palestinian National Authority (PA), which controls the West Bank and competes with Hamas. The fund effectively increased social and health spending in Palestine. For example, in 2022, 55 million will be provided to PNA to pay the salaries and pensions of its administrative staff. While 40 million went to social assistance payments to the public, 20 million were used for vaccines against Covid-19. In recent years, other resources have been used to help hospitals and schools and, in less frequent cases, local businesses.
Funds for Gaza
Of the remaining 200 million euros that the EU has allocated to Palestine since 2014, just over 10 million belongs to Gaza-based organizations. These are NGOs mainly concerned with human rights and support to the population, especially children and women. Many of these are independently recognized internationally, such as the Palestinian Bar Association (an organization of lawyers that provides legal assistance to citizens and received an allowance of around 1 million euros in 2019) or the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which is a beneficiary. Approximately 700 thousand euros for three projects since 2018.
Accused NGO
However, the history of funding provided to NGOs in Gaza has also been the scene of fierce debate. Israel has repeatedly accused some EU-funded NGOs of being close to terrorist groups. For example, in October 2021, the Tel Aviv Ministry of Defense included six NGOs on the list of terrorist organizations (al-Haq, Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Addameer Institute, Bisan Research and Development Center, Committees of Defense Organization “For Children International” and Agricultural Workers Union Some of these were financed or received funds from the EU. Brussels’ decision to block the funds, through the Hungarian Commissioner for Neighborhoods, Oliver Varhelyi, led to criticism from some MEPs, such as Giuliano Pisapia, who called the accusations against NGOs unfounded.
Islamic University
The last debate that the Union has raised at these hours is about the funds allocated by the EU to the Gaza Islamic University. This university, the fourth largest university in Palestine, is frequently accused by Israeli sources of having links to Hamas. However, the accusations were not supported by reliable evidence. On the contrary, this university is supported internationally by prestigious academic institutions and also receives funding from the World Bank. Brussels allocated approximately 1.7 million euros to this university between 2014 and 2019. No other funds appear in the European Commission’s financial transparency system any time soon.
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Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
