Auditors Tell Europe to Stop Paying Phantom Bureaucrats in Gaza
Dec. 19, 2013 9:00am
Paul Chambres
Paul Chambres
Paul Chambres is a European Union Affairs Advisor based principally out of Paris, France. For the past two decades, he has helped North American businesses develop and implement strategies for investing and expanding operations in Europe. After growing up in North Carolina, Paul completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in the United Kingdom. As a consultant, he worked extensively in Eastern Europe as the region transitioned to free market economies, before shifting focus to Western European markets. Paul is also a husband, father and die-hard conservative. He enjoys writing and blogging and has contributed to major publications in the United Kingdom and United States.
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A European Court of Auditors report made public last week implored the European Union, which provides $1.3 billion annually to the Palestinian Authority, to stop paying Palestinian civil servants that don’t show up to work. The report also underlined corruption concerns and warned that the aid could be illicitly supporting terrorists. Amid continued economic woes, Europeans are increasingly questioning the lavish aid.
The European Union is the world’s largest official donor to the Palestinians, with a large portion going to the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. The institution has provided assistance to Palestine since 1971 and, since 1994 alone, has provided more than $7.6 billion in aid.
EU aid to Palestine has long been the target of controversy, including accusations of large-scale waste, corruption and claims that the money has been used to fund terrorism. According to research conducted by Palestinian Media Watch, Palestinian terrorists who spend more than five years in Israeli prisons continue receiving money after their release, much of which comes from aid funds provided by the EU.
While saying that European aid does help to relieve suffering, the report criticizes Europe for not using its financial leverage over the Palestinian Authority to push for more economic and political reforms and failing to crack down on corruption and misuse of funds. In one instance, auditors say that it was unclear what had happened to $124 million earmarked to keep Gaza’s only power plant running, which shut down last month after running out of fuel.