Every year, the European Union channels millions of dollars to Palestinian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), many of which are connected to, or simply branches of, terrorist groups. The EU has at last instituted new regulations to ensure that its funds cease going to such groups, but, writes Khaled Abu Toameh, these regulations are unlikely to accomplish much:
This opaque language [of the new funding guidelines] means that even if a Palestinian NGO applying for EU grants is an affiliate of terrorist groups, or employs individuals from these groups, the EU will [nonetheless] provide it with taxpayer funding—whether designated for emergency responses to COVID-19 or for regular programs.
But even these small steps have aroused Palestinian ire:
In a nutshell, the Palestinian attitude regarding Western funding has always been: “You Westerners owe us this money because you contributed to the establishment of Israel after World War II. Thus, you have no right to set any conditions for the funding. Just give us the money and shut up. Any refusal to comply with our demands will result in our rage, and possibly terrorism and other forms of violence, not only against Israel, but also against you [non-Muslims] in the West.”
The EU “anti-terror” clause thus has drawn sharp criticism from . . . dozens of NGOs based in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Their main complaint is that they cannot accept “politically conditioned funding” from any party, including EU donors. . . . It remains to be seen whether the Europeans will cave to Palestinian threats of retaliation and drop their demand that EU money actually feed hungry people rather than feed Palestinian terrorists’ hunger for Jewish blood.
Read more on Gatestone: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16177/eu-funding-palestinian-terror