Palestine to refuse US aid money under threat of lawsuits

BETHLEHEM - The Palestinian government will refuse all US government aid for fear of lawsuits, officials said Tuesday, throwing the future of security coordination and projects already under way into doubt.

Senior official Saeb Erekat confirmed US media reports that the Palestinians had demanded all funding stop at the end of January for fear they would expose themselves to costly law suits under the US Anti Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) which is about to come into force.

"The government sent an official letter to the US administration requesting it stop all aid to the Palestinian Authority, including assistance to the Palestinian security services," Erekat said.

He said the main reason for the move was the ATCA legislation, under which the financial aid provided by the US could be used as a means "for various groups to file lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority."

Potential lawsuits

US President Donald Trump's decision last year to cut more than $200m in development aid to the Palestinians amid a dispute with president Mahmoud Abbas had already led to the gradual phasing out of development projects, forcing NGOs to slash programmes and lay off staff.

Following the latest development the planned expansion of a school near Bethlehem will now not be completed, while infrastructure projects in Jericho and other towns will also stop.

The US government's development agency, USAID, has provided more than $5.5 billion to the Palestinians since 1994 for infrastructure, health, education, governance and humanitarian aid programs, all intended to underpin the eventual creation of an independent state.

Much of that aid is channeled through international NGOs, which were abruptly informed of the cuts last summer and have been scrambling to keep their programs alive.

The US also provides roughly $50 million in annual support for Palestinian security services, including to support security coordination with Israel that Israeli officials say is crucial for maintaining calm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. This funding was not cut off by the US government despite the humanitarian aid cuts, but will now also be stopped following the PA decision to refuse all US funding.

The ATCA legislation passed by Congress last year provides for any government that receives US funding to be subject to US counterterrorism laws.

The Palestinian Authority faces potential lawsuits from families of American victims of violent attacks carried out by Palestinians.

Security impact

Israeli and US officials regularly accuse the PA of encouraging violence by providing funds to the families of prisoners or those killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis.

The PA says the payments are a form of welfare to the families who have lost their main breadwinner and denies it is seeking to encourage violence.

Many Palestinians also view prisoners and those killed while carrying out attacks as heroes in their conflict with Israel, which they view as a product of European colonialism. Palestinian leaders often venerate them as revolutionaries and martyrs.

The US consulate in Jerusalem confirmed Tuesday it was "working through" the potential impact of ATCA and had "taken steps to wind down certain projects and programmes in the West Bank and Gaza."

Erekat played down the ending of US funding saying it would "not impact on the role of the security services."

However, a senior Palestinian security official said the impact could be significant. The search is on for new sources of funding in Europe and elsewhere, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A handful of US contractors working to support the security services have already left the Palestinian territories ahead of the end of the month, he added.

Palestinian aid groups and international NGOs - many of which have little connection to the Palestinian Authority - say the funding cuts mostly target infrastructure projects that will hurt the most vulnerable Palestinians and those most committed to reaching a peace deal with Israel.

The half-built school

The West Bank village of Al-Jabaa village close to Bethlehem received a USAID grant last year to expand its school, partly to increase the space for girls to study.

Construction began late last year but will now halt this week, with only about a quarter of the work done and the entire school unusable.

"The students cannot go back to school now," Diab Mashaala, mayor of the village, said.

"If it was as it was before (the work began), it would be better than now."

Malak, a teacher at the school, said they had planned a major expansion including a science laboratory and a library.

"The decision to stop construction upset us a lot."

Sean Carroll, president of the Anera organisation that was working with USAID to build the school and implement other projects, said it was likely to remain unfinished unless new funds were found.

"This school has been caught in the middle," he said.

"You would hope that reasonable minds would find a way to finish the school to allow the kids to learn."

'It won't work'

The ATCA legislation could prevent the US funding any aid projects in the future, even if relations between Palestinian and US governments improve.

The Trump administration has also cut off funding for peace-building initiatives involving Palestinians — even residents of east Jerusalem, which Israel considers to be part of its capital. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and annexed in a move not recognized internationally, to be the capital of their future state.

Critics of the policy say that cutting off aid will further diminish Washington's influence with Palestinians, who accuse the Trump administration of working exclusively on behalf of Israel's interests. 

Palestinian officials say the move has further poisoned relations after the US recognised occupied Jerusalem as Israel's capital last year and accuse Trump of seeking to blackmail them into accepting the terms of a peace plan his administration has been working on. Most Palestinians believe the 'deal of the century', as Trump has previously called it, will be blatantly biased in favour of Israel.

But Palestinian leaders insist they won't bow to the pressure.

"We don't want their money, we don't want anything to do with America," said Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "If (Trump) thinks he can put pressure on us through his money, it won't work."