Biden administration continues to fund Palestinian groups that are openly supporting jihad terrorists
BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
NGO Monitor has released its 2022 report: USAID 2022 West Bank and Gaza Grantees: Vetting Gaps Remain. The report highlights the U.S. government’s failure to properly vet Palestinian beneficiaries of aid. But maybe it isn’t really isn’t about vetting at all. Enough is known about the Palestinian Authority and its support for jihad terror groups, which is precisely what prompted Donald Trump to withhold American funding. The record of the Biden administration and its palpable sympathy for the Palestinians raises justifiable doubts about its reasons for lax vetting.
In 2018, the Trump administration withheld an additional $45 million from the jihad terror-linked United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). That’s what due diligence looks like. And while complaining that Palestinians would “starve” because of Trump’s cuts, the Palestinian Authority (PA) purchased a $50,000,000 private jet for Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. The “State of Palestine” also built 100 embassies globally and funded jihad terror prisoners, even while constantly begging the world for cash.
In 2018, Trump signed the Taylor Force Act to end American aid to the PA until the PA stopped paying money through the Palestinian Authority Martyr’s Fund to the families of Palestinian jihadist prisoners and suicide bombers. Nonetheless, the Biden administration resumed shoveling aid to the PA, ignoring the Taylor Force Act. The implications of the payment of American dollars to the PA are obvious. In 2021, the Muslim Brotherhood praised the Democrats for siding with jihad terrorists against “Zionist attacks.”
Less than two months ago, Tom Nides, Biden’s ambassador to Israel, stated: “I spend 60% of my time trying to help the Palestinian people.” He boasted: “I was the first person out there when Ben Gvir went up to the Temple Mount to stir up trouble.”
NGO Monitor’s communications director, Itai Reuveni, stated: “USAID grantees should align with US goals and values.” But that would depend on whose values one is talking about. For the first time, Gallup has found that “Democrats’ sympathies in Middle East shift to Palestinians.”
“Biden Admin Continues To Fund Palestinian Groups Supporting Terrorists, Watchdog Says,” by Kate Anderson, Daily Caller, May 1, 2023:
The Biden administration is funding several Palestinian organizations despite their leaders’ support for and glorification of terrorism, according to a report released Monday by NGO Monitor, an Israeli research and watchdog group.
NGO Monitor released its 2022 report Monday calling out the U.S. government for failing to thoroughly vet Palestinian applicants to its foreign aid programs. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a U.S. federal agency that administers civilian foreign aid and development assistance, approved thousands of dollars in 2022 to fund several Palestinian organizations which have members or leaders with concerning views on terrorism, according to the report.
“NGO Monitor’s findings demonstrate that there remain blindspots in USAID vetting, allowing NGOs led by individuals who glorify violence to receive US taxpayer funds,” NGO Monitor’s communications director Itai Reuveni told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “USAID grantees should align with US goals and values.”
The Palestinian Charity for Youth Economic Empowerment (CYEE) was given $76,000 in 2022 by USAID for “60 emerging female leaders,” according to NGO Monitor’s report. For instance, CYEE Project Coordinator Haneen Al-Qawasm celebrated Ghassan Kanafani, a spokesperson for the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S. designated terrorist group since 1997, as a “revolutionary” and martyr in a Facebook post, according to the report.
CYEE Executive Director Sahar Othman has also cheered for Palestinian terrorists on her social media after several were killed in fights with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), according to the report.
Community Development and Continuing Education Institute (CDCE-I) received $78,000 from USAID for a project that “encourages youth participation and accountability in local governance.” The organization’s board members, however, have expressed sympathy and even glorified Palestinian terrorism against Israel on multiple occasions, according to the report……