PA Money has “Disappeared”

June 13, 2007

The report even quoted Fayed pleading with the reporter to “please write this: no one can give donors assurance [that their money is not going to finance Hamas terrorism]. Why? Because the system is in a state of total disrepair.” Though Hamas has faced a supposed international boycott since it trounced PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s [Abu Mazen’s] Fatah group in PA parliamentary elections, the report says the PA actually experienced an increase in foreign aid since the Islamist victory. “Ironically, foreign aid to Palestinians increased, either carried across the border into Gaza in cash-stuffed briefcases by Hamas officials or through a special financial channel to the office of President Mahmoud Abbas,” the report states.

A World Bank report says that the PA’s number of government jobs has risen by a whopping 11% a year. Under Hamas, government jobs include the establishment of several semi-official armed groups made up of terrorists from the faction.

Fayed, who is being appointed Finance Minister as part of a Hamas–Fatah power-sharing deal designed to renew the flow of international aid, is far from optimistic about his ability to reform the system. “This will be extremely difficult,” he said, his house surrounded by armed Fatah men assigned to protect him from Hamas factions demanding various funds and perks. “It’s virtually impossible.”

Analyst Michael Freund says Fayed’s admission proves what many have been calling upon the international community to understand for a long time. “Sending aid to the Palestinian Authority is a recipe for disaster,” he writes. “Instead of benefiting those it is intended to help, much of the money, as Mr. Fayed pretty much admits, ends up lining the pockets of corrupt Palestinian officials. Just another reason for Israel and the West to stop aiding the PA now. There is no reason to continue propping up the corrupt Palestinian regime.”

By Ezra HaLevi, Arutz Sheva

Photo Credit: Salam Fayed

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