Volker Beck says that no one knows how much German aid money flows to Hamas supporters. The President of the German-Israeli Society is calling on the federal government to come clean now.
Volker Beck looks upset. The Green politician already advocated for Israel’s interests as a member of the Bundestag (1994-2017) and chaired the German-Israeli parliamentary group. Beck is now president of the German-Israeli Society. In conversation with the star He criticizes the politics of his party friend Annalena Baerbock and talks about German aid money that is seeping away in the breeding ground of Hamas terror.
Mr. Beck, German aid funds to the Palestinians have been suspended and are currently under review. They’ve been demanding this for a long time. Now Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, your Green Party colleague, affirms in a ZDF interview: “Of course we don’t finance terror.” Is she wrong about that?
These are straw man arguments. Nobody said we were directly funding terror. Hamas’ rockets, knives and rifles were certainly not paid for with German tax money. But how much money goes to Hamas supporters? To what extent do we strengthen organizations that are part of Hamas or other terrorist organizations? It has long been known that terror is flourishing there and that we don’t pay close attention when paying. This is a thorn in my side.
“Everything has to be on the table now. What should we pay to whom and for what?”
Don’t look closely – what do you mean?
Everything has to be on the table now! What do we pay to whom and for what? What do we pay to the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, what to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, what to which NGOs? There is no overview at all. My conversations in the federal government gave me the impression that even there, there is hardly anything that can be said about the funding practices of the other departments. To put it kindly.
The federal government emphasizes that, for example, there is no direct budget support to the Palestinian Authority.
This is a Jesuit argument. In the past, for example, we have funded police training in the Palestinian territories, such as a police school in Jericho. It was built with German tax money and, as far as I know, money also went into its maintenance.
But how does someone who builds a police academy or a hospital indirectly finance terror?
An administration only has one budget. If we pay for medicine or hospital beds, for example, because it is innocent, then we have of course relieved the burden on the budget of the autonomous authority as a whole and created scope for other things.
“If captured terrorists get out after 20 years, they’ll be millionaires”
What are you referring to?
The autonomous authority or Abbas’ organization, the PLO, has a fund that finances the survivors of assassins and supports captured terrorists in Israeli prisons. When they come out after 20 years, they’ll be millionaires. This is direct sponsorship of terrorism by the autonomous authority.
The practice of this so-called martyr’s pension has been known for a long time. Nothing has changed after years of financial support from the West?
Nothing. And unlike in Germany, this is a regular topic in the US Congress. When asked about this, Abbas replied that he would rather give up all outside money than cut these benefits.
“You dump money into the top and they decide what to do with it. Every tenth euro comes from Berlin.”
A significant portion of the aid money goes to the United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA. He is repeatedly accused of being close to Hamas.
The UN has around 13,000 employees in the Gaza Strip. In the past there have also been people with Hamas party membership there. When I was still a member of the Bundestag, the UNRWA employees told me that they couldn’t help but integrate people from the Hamas environment because otherwise they wouldn’t be allowed to work at all. Since then, there has clearly been no change in the political situation in Gaza. So why should the composition of UNRWA have changed? The problem with this organization is that you cannot finance it on a project-related basis. You dump money in there and they decide what to do with it. Every tenth euro comes from Berlin. At schools run by UNRWA and the autonomous authority, there were repeated complaints about problematic teaching staff or textbooks in which, for example, the Palestinian attackers at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich were celebrated as heroes.
Even project-related funding from Germany is suspected. Israel has classified eight NGOs that once received German and European aid money as terrorist organizations.
So much for supposedly looking closely. There is a report from open sources – no intelligence, no whispers – that shows these organizations are riddled from top to bottom with members of the PLFP. This is a Marxist-Leninist organization, absolutely secular, not Islamist, but still completely terrorist. The Federal Ministry of the Interior is convinced by the Israelis’ arguments, but the Foreign Office is not. It would ideally like to finance the NGOs again. In Jerusalem, the re-promotion of these organizations would have to be seen as an attack on Israel’s national security.
“If Germany gives money, then there are prerequisites: rejection of anti-Semitism, no connection to terrorism.”
But what is the solution then? Cancel all humanitarian aid measures?
No. But we need to look more carefully. And my suspicion is that we misspent a significant amount locally. It must be clear: If Germany gives money, then there are prerequisites: rejection of anti-Semitism, no connection to terrorism and acceptance of the Jewish and democratic state of Israel. If this is violated, no payment will be made.And: Humanitarian aid for Gaza and the West Bank cannot be provided without a “go” from Jerusalem.
Is now the time for a lengthy examination? The situation in Gaza is becoming increasingly dramatic. Israel has cut off water and electricity to the people there, is increasing bombing attacks and is preparing a ground offensive. The civilians need help. And immediately.
Aid supplies are practically not getting in there at the moment anyway. But of course, it needs help. Two million people live there, most of them probably not friends of Israel, but not necessarily Hamas supporters or terrorists either. Many of them would thank heaven if they got out of there. Anyone who wants to do something humanitarian now must support US President Joe Biden’s initiative for a humanitarian corridor, get the Egyptians to open the border to Gaza and the UNHCR (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, editor’s note). call to build refugee camps in the Sinai Peninsula. In order to protect its population, Israel must permanently render Hamas incapable of terrorist action in Gaza.
Will it ever be possible to send money to Palestinian areas without any of it seeping into the breeding ground of terror?
A new era is also needed when it comes to help: if necessary, you have to do it yourself. Or give to works and organizations that have a German, European or American background. We have to rethink and, if necessary, help people directly. Without a Palestinian intermediary with terrorist connections.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
