With his relativizing words about the murder of millions of Jews, Palestinian President Abbas also triggered a debate about financial aid for his compatriots.
After the Holocaust scandal by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the discussion about the financial consequences continues. There are different opinions in the traffic light government: while there are calls from the FDP for a cut in aid money for the Palestinians, the SPD and the Greens in the Bundestag disagree.
The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, called for a review of support in the “Welt”. The federal government has made pledges of more than 340 million euros to the Palestinians for humanitarian aid and development for 2021 and 2022. This was announced by a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin at the request of the German Press Agency for both the Foreign Ministry and the development department. There is no direct funding of the Palestinian Authority by the Federal Foreign Office or the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation.
Germany is one of the largest donors
Immediately after Abbas’ Holocaust scandal, during a joint press conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Tuesday, calls for consequences for German aid payments were made. Germany is one of the largest donors. Abbas had accused Israel of multiple “Holocausts” against the Palestinians, triggering outrage. He later qualified his statements.
The FDP foreign policy expert Frank Müller-Rosentritt told the “Welt” that after Abbas’ statements “we should reconsider the use of federal funds”. There should be no direct or indirect promotion of terror rents and hatred and hate speech in Palestinian school books. “As an immediate measure, there should be a temporary cut in funds.” Abbas should also no longer be received in Germany.
“Israel baiting is being financed with German money”
The foreign policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Nils Schmid, warned in the “Welt” that Abbas’ statements harmed Palestinian concerns. “Nevertheless, these must not lead to a worsening of the humanitarian situation of the Palestinians.” Schmid’s colleague from the Greens, Jürgen Trittin, made a similar statement.
The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, told the “Welt” that it was no secret that German taxpayers’ money in the Palestinian territories financed hate speech and terror propaganda, including in school books. He hopes “that the federal government will take this scandal as an opportunity to review the support of the local structures”.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) first visited Israel in mid-February and then the Palestinian territories. She had also met Abbas in Ramallah. Now the AA spokesman told the dpa that no further visits to Germany are currently planned by the Palestinians. “The same applies to high-level trips to the Palestinian Territories.” However, working contacts with the Palestinian authorities remain unchanged.
72 million euros for population in Palestinian territories
According to the information provided, the Federal Foreign Office is expected to make 72 million euros available for the population in the Palestinian territories in the current year. Of this, 65 million euros are earmarked for humanitarian aid. In 2021 it was therefore a total of around 94 million euros.
According to the latest information, the German Development Ministry (BMZ) committed a total of 100 million euros for bilateral development cooperation projects in September 2021. These commitments for projects lasting several years cover a period of two years, i.e. 2021 and 2022. The projects would be implemented via German implementing organizations. Political partners for the individual projects are the respective specialist ministries of the Palestinian Authority.
The BMZ has also pledged 57 million euros for multi-year projects in the Palestinian territories for non-governmental development cooperation in 2021 via structural transitional aid. In addition, in 2021 projects within the framework of municipal town partnerships, churches, political foundations and non-governmental organizations were supported in the amount of around 20 million euros, the spokesman said.
Source: Stern
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