December 2001 – Kislev 5762
The United States has been very generous to Israel, and its assistance had
been used for absorption of immigrants. building infrastructure, and maintaining
defenses. Since the Oslo Accords, the United States has also given grants
of hundreds of millions of dollars to the PLO/PA (Palestine Liberation Organization/Palestinian
Authority).
The U.S. taxpayers and their representatives in Congress have a natural
interest in knowing whether these contributions to the PLO fill legitimate
needs and are used for some good purpose. They are indeed entitled to know,
under the terms of the MEPFA (Middle East Peace Facilitation Act).
In 1995, the House of Representatives International Relations Committee
requested a report from the GAO (General Accounting Office), the auditing
bureau for Congress, on PLO financial assets. British Intelligence had already
estimated that those assets ran over $10 billion dollars.
When the congressional committee convened to receive the report, the director
of the GAO said that the bureau had the figures. but the CIA had declared
the information classified, and the GAO was forbidden to reveal it to Congress.
When a Representative asked why the information was classified, that answer
was: The CIA also declared the reason for classifying to be classified. The
U.S. State Department had successfully persuaded the Washington the press
corps not even to attend this meeting, lest it overhear such "sensitive testimony."
Deprived of necessary information, Congress approved the grants to the PLO,
but on condition that it comply with its obligations under the Oslo Accords.
Furthermore, under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1986, the PLO is eligible for
funds only with certification that it is not engaged in terrorism.
The President has the power to waive this proviso if he deems it "important
to national security interests", and former President Clinton regularly and
consistently proclaimed such waivers. It was not explained just how U.S. "national
security interests" would be damaged if Congress and the U.S. public knew
the truth about the PLO that they were subsidizing.
Some information did get past the barriers. In November 1994, Rachel Ehrenfeld,
Director of the Center for the Study of Corruption and the Rule of Law (New
York), published an article entitled "Poor, Wealthy Yasser". Among the points
made, is that both the Rabin-Peres government in Israel and the Clinton Administration
tried to suppress congressional inquiry into PLO finances. As to those finances:
Neither [Arafat] nor his organization had to account to anyone for the hundreds
of millions of dollars they extorted, were given, or otherwise acquired, legally
or illegally, throughout the years; nor did they share their fortune with
their poverty-ridden Palestinian brothers in the refugee camps . . . .
In its efforts to reveal the worldwide assets of the PLO, the GAO contacted
Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Services (NCIS), whose report just
over a year ago estimated the assets of the PLO at $10 billion, in addition
to an annual income of $1.5-$2 billion, mainly from illegal activities. The
NCIS concluded that the PLO was a
national security threat.
Following the GAO's initial contact, the NCIS's response was favorable,
and they urged the investigators to meet them in London. After notifying
the State Department of their impending trip, the GAO team arrived in London
to learn that the British response now was: 'We cannot provide any details
because we don't want to reveal our sources.'"
Since then, many millions of U.S. taxpayers' dollars have gone to Arafat
and the PLO. How the money has been used is reviewed by Rachel Ehrenfeld in
"The Extent of Arafat's Corruption,"
The Jerusalem Post
, 27 June 2001:
It is evident that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat holds the
key to the funds that keep the PA and himself in business . . . . American
tax dollars continued to flow into Arafat's private coffers to the tune of
at least $75 million, which has happened annually since 1994, according to
the Congressional Research Service Report to Congress on April 17, 2001.
Arafat . . . . has systematically skimmed off portions of these funds, as
he has with monies given to him on behalf of refugees in the camps . . . .
The personal wealth of Arafat and his inner circle has not gone unnoticed
by the Palestinian masses. Rapidly growing, highly visible social disparity
in the territories under Arafat's rule - rows of ostentatious villas and late-model
Mercedes-Benz automobiles for Arafat's cronies, while most Palestinians live
in dismal conditions -began to threaten his leadership. Igniting the latest
intifada has enabled Arafat to portray the economic decline in the territories,
as 'sacrifices' needed to mobilize against the 'Zionist enemy.' . . . .
Long before the Oslo accord, in 1990 the CIA estimated that the PLO had
between $8 billion and $14 billion worth of assets generated from a 5 percent
tax on every Palestinian working in Arab countries. However, according to
a 1993 British National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) report . . .
. most of the PLO's assets originated from 'donations, extortion, payoffs,
illegal arms dealing, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, etc.' A
[GAO] investigation of Arafat in November 1995 was kept secret due to CIA
'national security interest.' Only now, efforts to release the report are
underway in the Senate.
A little-noticed report by the
London Daily Telegraph
on December 6, 1999, revealed that computer hackers had broken the security
code of the PLO's computer system. The paper listed holdings of about $50
billion for the year 2000 (up from $32 billion in 1998). Yet, Arafat and the
leadership of the PA continue to claim poverty.
The subject is also covered in "Investigating Terror Money Trail", by Joseph
Farah, WorldNetDaily, 25 October 2001:
The United States says it is determined to follow the terrorist money trail,
shutting down front groups, seizing assets, hammering financial institutions
that aid them. That's a nice agenda, a necessary one, a vital step in conducting
this war on the terrorists.
And, while we're at it, we ought to take a serious look at the way Yasser
Arafat, the modern-day inventor of terrorism, has squandered away billions
of dollars in foreign bank accounts and investments – especially since the
U.S. funds him with taxpayer dollars.
Back in 1999, Palestine Liberation Organization hackers, apparently concerned
about the deepening economic hardship of Arafat's constituents in Gaza and
within other parts of the Palestinian Authority, first disclosed the hidden
wealth accumulating in European and U.S. banks and stock portfolios.
The dissidents broke into computers at the PLO Tunis headquarters to discover
Arafat had been concealing a vast fortune – billions of dollars in numbered
bank accounts in Zurich, Geneva and New York. The PLO, it turns out, owns
shares in the Frankfurt, Paris and Tokyo stock exchanges, including holdings
in Mercedes Benz and property in prestigious areas of European capitals, including
Mayfair in London. In an ironic twist, the organization that once specialized
in airliner hijackings controls shares in several airlines, including the
national carriers of the Maldives and Guinea Bissau.
. . . .
The PLO levies taxes on Palestinians working in Kuwait and other Persian
Gulf states, as well as accepting large-scale donations from wealthy states
such as Saudi Arabia. Arafat himself controls this fortune. Still, he constantly
has his hand out for more aid – including direct foreign aid from Washington
and governments in Europe. . . .
.
At the very least, it's time for Americans to demand that Washington suspend
all funding of Arafat. It's simple arithmetic. The man is socking away money
in Swiss accounts. What justification can there be for sending him more U.S.
taxpayer dollars? . . . . [And] while we're investigating the terrorist money
trail, how about taking a look inside those Swiss and New York bank accounts
and demanding to know why and how that money is being misused and misallocated?"
* * * * * * * *
The Euro in PLO-land:
In discreditable contrast to the United States, Europe has a history of
many centuries of persecution and massacre of Jews. Today, it is not inhibited
in its largesse to those driven by a familiar malice.
The EU (European Union) and its member states are major donors to the PLO.
Theoretically, there are supposed to be accountings of how the $60-$80 million
annual allowance are used, but in practice the accountings are neither made
nor seriously sought.
Among the beneficiaries of EU largesse, is the PLO school system that educates
and trains its pupils in lust for killing Jews, and the techniques for doing
it. The curriculum and textbooks inculcate these ideals, and assure the young
charges of the inevitable demise of Israel. [See Issue No. 5]. Some EU personalities
argue that their donations for PLO education do not directly pay for the textbooks.
However, when those funds cover other school expenses, that leaves money
free to pay for the textbooks and other material to corrupt young minds.
The PLO television/radio broadcasting authority also focus on incitement
to hatred and murder, for all ages, and the glorification of terrorists as
"holy martyrs". It also regularly broadcasts sermons preaching the killing
of Jews and Americans, and calling for the destruction not only of Israel
but also of the United States. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer
, 7th September, 1997: "The network was nurtured with about $500,000 in
equipment and training from the U.S. Agency for International Development
and with more than $6 million in aid from the European Union . . . ."
The EU also donates millions of dollars for the PLO "security services",
knowing well enough that these contributions provide training and weapons
for PLO-Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorism.
The Euro in Israel:
The EU does not limit its generosity to the PLO. It is also a donor to carefully
selected Israeli beneficiaries, Within Israeli democracy, parties, organizations
and individuals have the right to choose their views and try to persuade others
to agree with them. They may at times receive private encouragement and even
financial support from outside the country.
However, EU intrusion into the internal affairs of Israel is not private,
it is official government action. It is not democratic, it is a subversion
of democracy. The EU, to suit its own tastes and purposes, has an agenda that
it is determined to force upon Israel and subsidizes groups within Israel
that it expects to forward that agenda.
The EU professes that it "has always held a policy of supporting non-governmental
organizations that work for peace, democracy, and human rights in the civil
societies around the Mediterranean . . . . We don't support projects under
the EU People to People program that do not support the peace process."
This criterion places peace, democracy and human rights all at one far end
of the social-political spectrum. All other points on the spectrum are disdained
as "anti-peace". The EU's purpose of promoting "peace" or "peace education"
or "the peace movement" applies only to "peace" on the terms it dictates.
All those who believe that that are better terms for peace are objects for
condemnation and/or conversion. The largesse goes exclusively to a small
movement whose programs many if not most Israelis view as dangerous appeasement
and/or surrender of legitimate national rights.
These are controversial issues for the citizens and government of Israel
to debate and decide, without interference from foreign and largely unfriendly
countries. When the EU funds one side of the debate, it is meddling in the
internal affairs of a sovereign state to suit its own ends. The EU thereby
shows out-and-out contempt for the independence and sovereignty of Israel.
Examples of the EU pulling strings are uncovered in "How the European Union
Meddles in Israeli Politics", by Yoav Yitzchak, Ma'ariv, 22
June 2001:
European governments, in general, are breathing down Israel's neck. In the
political-military struggle against the Palestinians, they support the Palestinians.
[. . . .] Our story here relates to deep involvement by European states,
apparently even gross intervention, in the internal affairs of the State of
Israel, involving relatively large sums of money. The involvement is seemingly
carried out in the open, through non-profit Israeli organizations and public
institutions.
However, things are not as they seem: the actual activities are hidden from
the public eye. The decisions are made in the European Union headquarters
in Brussels. The decision makers are not Israelis; therefore, their activities
- deep inside Israel – are not sufficiently monitored. Furthermore, the entities
receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars of financial support from those
decision-makers are reticent to reveal it to the public, for various reasons.
[. . . .] a portion of the support and donations transferred as assistance,
is given -at least according to working papers of the EU itself - in order
to further political goals. At times, it is accomplished with the active cooperation
of the recipient of the aid, happy to receive the funds and to act towards
the furthering of the goals of the EU.
. . . .
[It is] clearly apparent that the European Union interferes in the internal
affairs of Israel. The question is, who is responsible for oversight of the
flow of funds in Israel to the various bodies, and why would a democratic
state open its gates to meddling by foreign states, even if they are considered
friendly?
Among the EU Subsidies and/or Pledges:
1] A grant of 400,000 Euros (= $365,000) to an Israeli political party that
addresses itself primarily to immigrants from Russia. This party follows
the line favored by the EU, and seeks to win over Russian voters in elections
to the Knesset. This constitutes an EU effort to influence the outcome of
elections in Israel.
2] A pledge of 250,000 Euros (= $222,500) to The Four Mothers, a group of
women who agitated for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces
from the security zone on the Lebanese border. The money was supposed to
finance person-to-person contacts between Israeli and Lebanese women, but
when the Israeli flight from Lebanon was achieved, the EU dropped this project
and never paid the pledge.
3] A pledge of 400,000 Euros (= $365,000) to Peace Now, a group that consistently
and vociferously agitates for an platform almost indistinguishable from that
of the PLO. The EU pays it to "educate for peace" those who "hold anti-peace
views" – the latter category being all Israelis who do not support the Peace
Now agenda. Peace Now has used the EU contributions for political campaigning,
another intrusion into Israeli domestic affairs and elections.
4] A pledge of 500,000 Euros (= $451,000) to the Committee Against House
Demolition and Ir Shalem, that interlock with Peace Now, to oppose construction
in the parts of Jerusalem that the EU believes should be Judenrein.
All of these are controversial issues within Israel that have no bearing
on legitimate national interests of the EU states that presume to settle them.
* * * * * * *
Yossi Beilin, political protégé of Shimon Peres and designer-of the Oslo
Accords, was Assistant Foreign Minister in the Rabin-Peres Government and
Minister of Justice in the Barak Government. He has had an additional career
as go-between for EU contributions to Palestinian causes:
"The Economic Cooperation Foundation and Dr. Yossi Beilin",
by Adriana Marin Grez,
Israel Resource Review
, 23 August 2001:
The ECF was founded ten years ago by Yossi Beilin, and initially registered
at the address of Dr. Yair Hirschberg [one of the authors of the Oslo text].
The ECF charter states that its purpose is to facilitate the intervention
of the EU in any future peace process between Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians.
Not assistance. Intervention.
The ECF, working with the funding of the EU, was the initiator of the Oslo
peace talks, as well as the informal understanding that was reached between
Yossi Beilin and Abu Mazen.
Yossi Beilin, who has left the Israeli government and Knesset, now introduces
himself as a senior researcher within
the ECF. That is despite the fact that ECF records show that Beilin resigned
from the ECF back in 1995. Perhaps that is why Beilin opened a second ECF
office, not far from the registered ECF office. It may soon be the job of
the Israel Register of Non-Profit Organizations to determine if Beilin is
keeping a system of double-book keeping.
The ECF coordinates a forum for about forty NGO's that are involved with
any and all aspects of the negotiating process with the PLO. ECF provides
these 35 to 40 NGO's with technical support and fund-raising services, according
to Aviv Is-Am, the Project Director of the ECF.
Under Beilin's direction and guidance, these NGO's have been meeting all
through the current intifada and to work with Palestinian counterparts. Rabbi
Jeremy Milgrom, field director for "Rabbis for Human Rights" and liaison between
the "Rabbis for Human Rights" and the ECF, stated that that these meetings
have provided a "moral boost for the peace activists."
Beilin uses this forum as a way to consolidate EU funding for NGO's. From
documents that we have examined, we learn that the EU uses Beilin as a referent
for funding. . . . . According to Avivit Ish-Am, the ECF is supported by donations
world wide, With donations coming in from Belgium, Denmark, Britain, Holland
and Italy. One of the groups supporting the ECF is the "Christian foundation
of Holland", which also sponsors "LAW", the virulent lobby of the PLO. Avivit
Ish-Am reports that foundations often give money to the ECF destined for
Palestinian causes, because they trust that the ECF to hand over the money
to the right people.
This is a transparent move designed to prevent money from winding up in
questionable P.A. accounts. In this respect, Beilin actually plays a role
that the P.A. was supposed to play for the areas under P.A. control.
The ECF also receives money from foundations in Europe, the United States
and Canada . . .
While ECF is registered as an Israeli organization and doesn't have offices
outside of Israel, the ECF works closely with the Israel office of the Ebert
Foundation, the political foundation of the SPD leftwing political party in
Germany.
As reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 26, 2001:
A Canadian government agency financed a 56-page brochure entitled "Witness
to History: The Plight and Promise of Palestinian Refugees." The brochure
calls for Arabs who left Israel in 1948 to exercise a "right of return"
to Israel, and reclaim the homes they or their parents or grandparents left
behind. This would swamp tiny Israel with millions of residents hostile to
its very existence, and is a virtual formula for its suicide.
This brochure was produced under the auspices of the PLO's TV-starlet Hanan
Ashrawi.
* * * * * * *
Arabs who left Israel in 1948 left property behind. The government of Israel
appointed a Custodian of Abandoned Property to look after these assets, until
the time when the former owners or their heirs are ready to accept fair compensation.
Jews who left Arab states after 1948 left property behind. This property
was commonly confiscated by the governments of the states, including Iraq
and Egypt, whose Jewish communities go back to antiquity, long before Islam
and Arab conquests.
Arab property claims receive considerable public notice. Jewish property
claims receive scant notice. Among those who make it even scantier is the
same Yossi Beilin who is so diligent as a conduit of EU funds to PLO coffers:
"Government Hit for Neglecting Jewish Property in Arab Lands", by Greer
Faye Cashman,
The Jerusalem Post
, 20 November 2001:
Iraqi-born Israel Prize laureate Mordechai Ben-Porat lambasted the governments
of Israel for their failure to concern themselves with recovering or receiving
compensation for the property of Jews from Arab lands.
A succession of Israeli governments has paid so little attention to the
legitimate rights of Jews who fled from Arab lands," said Ben-Porat, "that
Yossi Beilin, during his term as justice minister, closed down the department
in the Justice Ministry dealing with Jewish property claims in Arab lands.
Ben-Porat was speaking at Bet Hatefutsot, at the launch of Itamar Levin's
book,
Locked Doors: The Seizure of Jewish Property
. Levin said that a country cannot take away the basic rights of its citizens
and call it national policy.
"It's a crime," he said. "If Palestinian refugees are to be compensated
for their property losses, Jews from Arab lands are entitled to no less .
. . ."
Another EU Middle East Economic Activity -- Reuters Report, 14 December
2001 :
German Foreign Minister Joschke Fischer, in a meeting with Secretary of
State Colin Powell, asked the United States to cut aid to Israel. The German
Embassy in Washington said that Fischer's meaning had been distorted, but
the report does not include any alternative undistorted meaning. Herr Fischer's
resume of past activities includes agitating for the destruction of Israel
and hurling firebombs at United States targets.
END