4-2-2014 House warns Palestinian aid may be cut - Julian Pecquet Al-Monitor

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/palestine-un-aid-cuts-peace-talks-abbas.html#

US lawmakers are threatening to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if President Mahmoud Abbas goes through with his stated intention to sign on to 15 UN treaties.

 

Congress sought to tie funding for the PA to preservation of the status quo at the UN in this year's omnibus spending bill.

While it's not clear Abbas' decision violates the letter of the law, appropriators have made it clear they think its spirit has been trampled on....

Maen Areikat, their ambassador to Washington, said the PA agreed to put its UN applications on hold in exchange for Israel releasing 104 Palestinian prisoners, some of them accused of deadly attacks against Israelis, as called for under Kerry's peace talks framework. When Israel reneged on releasing the last batch of 26 prisoners over the weekend, he said, the PA was relieved of its obligation — even as it continues to participate in the peace talks….

Areikat went on to say that cutting aid would only hurt common Palestinians….

His office is circulating a Q&A from Palestine Liberation Organization's Negotiations Affairs Department on Capitol Hill that spells out which treaties Abbas plans to sign and makes the case that the peace talks aren't undermined by the move…

 

Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

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