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Wednesday, June 16, 2004
PMW Report: 4 Loopholes in USA Anti Terror Funding Laws

Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin
June 16, 2004
PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH
phone: 972- 2- 625-4140 fax: 972-2- 624-2803
visit our website, click here: www.pmw.org.il
for further information, contact PMW Director, Itamar Marcus
material may be quoted, citing PMW as the source
subscribe free to PMW reports, details below

PMW Special Report:
Four Loopholes in US Anti-Terror Laws
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

The following PMW report, documents 4 loopholes in US law that permit US
money to be used to promote terror. The report has already been sent to
members of US Congress and Senate and some have already called for changes
in US law to prevent this misuse of US money. The report also recommends
six specific changes in US law that would solve the problem.

The report shows that despite stated US policy to cut off funding to
terrorist and their supporters, USAID money continues to be used by those
who champion and glorify terror and terrorists. In a recent example,
nearly $500,000 of USAID money has funded a PA soccer stadium that is named
after the head of Black September terrorists, responsible for the murder of
2 Americans diplomats in Sudan and 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich
Olympics.

After PMW director Itamar Marcus testified in October 2003 at a Hearing of
a US Senate Subcommittee on Appropriations, US officials assured the
senators that USAID money could not be used for terror promotion. However
PMW research has uncovered 4 serious loopholes that allow US money to reach
those who champion terror and terrorists.

The following report documents how US law is undermined and shows how it
can be rectified.

www.pmw.org.il/4%20Loopholes%20in%20US%20Anti-Terror%20Laws.htm
To view the report on the Internet

Special Report - June 16, 2004

Four Loopholes in US Anti-Terror Laws
Flaws in US law enable recipients to support
anti-American activities and promote terror

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

Executive Summary

The Study:

An integral component of the United States' war on international terrorism
is to cut off funding to terrorists and their supporters. This special
report examines the deficiencies in US anti-terror laws. It demonstrates
how US anti-terrorist policy is being undermined in the Palestinian
Authority (PA) areas, and documents examples in which recipients of US
money are involved in anti-American activities and terror promotion.

Findings:

Current US law is severely flawed, with loopholes that allow US money to
end up in the hands of those that promote terror, glorify terrorists, and
sponsor anti- American activities.

At the center of US policy is the requirement that organizations receiving
US funding obligate themselves not to support or promote terror by signing
an anti-terror clause called the Anti-Terrorism Certification (ATC). (See
ATC text: Appendix 1). The Palestinian Authority and its NGOs have
adamantly rejected the US anti terror conditions. (See Appendix 2). This
universal rejection was reiterated in a vote of the PA Legislature this
month:
"The [Palestinian] Legislative [Council] rejects USAID (United States
Agency for International Development) conditions regarding support to local
organizations [NGOs]. [that is signing] a commitment not to support,
finance, or join activities of institutions or individuals of terrorist
nature, by the known American definition." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jun. 2,
2004]
It is paradoxical that in spite of the universal rejection by the PA and
Palestinian NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) of the US anti- terror
requirement, USAID continues to fund numerous projects in PA areas,
totaling more than $174 million in 2003, with similar funding planned for
2004. (www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2005/summary.html ). This flow
of US money continues to PA areas because of loopholes in the current US
law that allow US money to end up benefiting those who refuse to sign the
Anti-Terrorism Certification as well as those who reject its anti-terror
terms. This report examines those loopholes.

For example, US money continues to be used to honor terrorists, including
murderers of Americans. Last month the PA inaugurated the "Martyr Salakh
Khalaf (soccer) Stadium" built by USAID at a cost of $500,000 (Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida, May 9 2004). Salakh Khalaf, better known as Abu Iyad, was head
of the Black September terrorist organization, and was responsible for the
murder of two American diplomats, Cleo Allen Noel, Jr. and George Curtis
Moore in Sudan in 1973, and the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich
Olympics in 1972. The following appeared this week in the PA daily:

"The Shahid [Martyr] Salakh Khalaf [Abu Iyad] Stadium was inaugurated
[Friday]. speeches were made by UNICEF representative in Palestine,
Jonathan Hutchen. [and] in the name of USAID, who financed the project.
Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport, Dr. Jamal Muhaysin, thanked the
sponsoring and supporting agencies and praised the management of the Shahid
(Martyr) Salakh Khalaf Center. which is considered one of the most
important and of the biggest sport centers . Honor shields were presented
by the Ministry of Youth and Sport to Save the Children [and to] USAID."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May, 30, 2004]

Another recent striking example is one in which the same article describing
use of funds by the Gaza City Council to honor terrrorists also cites the
transfer of $380,000 of USAID money to the same Gaza City Council, albeit
for different projects.

"The Gaza City Council decided, in a recent meeting, to name a street after
the distinguished Shahid (Martyr) Sheik, Ahmad Yassin [leader of the Hamas
terror organization that killed hundreds through suicide bombings] as
memorial and honor to his sacrifice and struggle. The city spokesman,
Nasser Al-Sawir. said that the City Council, since the beginning of its
tenure 10 years ago - has named more than 300 city streets after
Palestinian and Arab Martyrs .
The City Council reported that the USAID decided to grant the city $380,000
in the framework of the "Cash Transfer" project. to cover part of the
expenses of repairing the damage to the water and sewage systems ..."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May, 24, 2004]

Clearly, there are serious flaws in the American law.

Four flaws in the Anti-Terrorism
Certification requirement:

1. Exempted Recipients
The law exempts numerous categories of recipients and services; thus
bypassing the ATC is relatively simple.

2. Ignoring the Money Chain
US law does not place sufficient restrictions on the way primary
recipients, including international organizations receiving US money such
as the World Bank and the United Nations (UN), give out money originating
in the US.

3. Ignoring Fungibility of Budgets
US funding agencies routinely ignore terror promotion and anti-American
activities of recipients when these activities are not directly funded by
US money.

4. Defining and Renouncing Terror
The PA and its NGOs disagree with the US definition of terror.

Analysis in Depth:

1. Exempted Recipients

i. Governments and Municipalities

Governments and municipalities are exempt from signing the ATC. This is a
significant loophole, because both the PA and PA municipalities have
received substantial US funding, and both continue to be involved in terror
glorification and promotion.

The PA and its municipalities honor terrorists and make them into role
models for society - especially for children - and initiate hateful
anti-American activities. PA summer camps are routinely named for suicide
terrorists, and PA-owned and controlled television has repeatedly broadcast
calls for terror and for killing Jews and Americans.

Municipalities regularly have events to honor the terrorists from their
cities, and name streets for terrorists. For example, the Municipalities of
Jenin and Gaza are among the regular recipients of USAID funding in recent
years. But the Gaza municipality recently named a street for the late Hamas
terror leader Ahmad Yassin, while the mayor of Jenin participated in an
anti-American rally in Jenin just days after the horrific lynching of four
US soldiers in Fallujah, Iraq. The speakers at the Jenin event blessed the
"resistance of the residents of Fallujah". [Al Hayat al Jadida, March 28,
2004 and April 4, 2004]

The Gaza Municipality published a paid eulogy for Yassin on the front page
of the PA daily, in which it used the common anti-Semitic language
referring to Jews as the "monkeys and pigs . murderers of prophets and
messengers. ," and promising that "Jihad and Martyrdom will continue until
resurrection." [Al Ayyam, March 23, 2004]

These municipalities receive regular grants from USAID for various projects
amounting to millions of dollars each year, while they continue with their
anti-American and terror promotion activities.

In a letter to Palestinian Media Watch, USAID explained this US policy:

"Regarding your questions about the Anti-Terrorism Certification (ATC). the
ATC requirement does not apply to contracts and government institutions.
This would therefore include Palestinian municipalities."
[Gayle Schwartz, Program Development Officer, USAID West Bank and Gaza,
Dec. 25, 2003]

Is it the intention of US policy to fund projects of municipalities that
champion the murder of Americans and Jews?

Recommendation #1:

All US conditions meant to eradicate funding of terror must apply to every
recipient, whether private, NGO or governmental.

ii. Contractors and Suppliers

Contractors and suppliers are exempt from signing the ATC. PMW received
this letter from USAID:

"Contracts are used when the USG purchases goods or services for its
benefit. For example, we have a contract with a U.S. firm to build roads.
The ATC (Anti-Terrorism Certification) applies to grant agreements only."
[Gayle Schwartz, Program Development Officer, USAID West Bank and Gaza Dec.
30, 2003]

With this significant oversight in the law, USAID can give money to any
NGO, municipality or school that refuses to sign the anti-terror clause by
hiring a contractor to do the work. Since the beneficiary has not
technically received a grant, it can use US money while still glorifying or
supporting terror and anti-US activities.

For example, USAID money was used for road works in Jenin, despite the fact
that Jenin has a square named for a suicide terrorist who killed four
American soldiers. When the contract is with the developer and not the
recipient, USAID can bypass the anti-terror law.

Recommendation #2:

Contractors may be hired with US money only if both the contractor and the
beneficiary of the work have fulfilled all US anti-terror conditions,
including the signing of the ATC.

iii. Universities

PA universities are in a unique terror category because all have official
student branches of Hamas (called Al-Kutlah Al-Islamiyah) and Islamic Jihad
(called Al-Jama'ah Al-Islamiyah), both terrorist organizations outlawed by
the US and the European Union. PA universities are centers of anti-American
activities, and calls for attacks on Americans as part of university
activities are commonplace.

For example, at a recent event at the Islamic University in Gaza,
then-Hamas head Abdul Aziz Rantisi attacked the US, saying that "Bush is an
enemy of God and an enemy of Islam and Muslims, and America has declared
war on God." [Al Ayyam, March 29, 2004]

Last year USAID funded a convention at the Islamic University in Gaza.
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 22, 2003]

The Arab American University in Jenin, for example, was a center of anti-US
activity in 2003, while receiving USAID money. At one gathering, a
university lecturer "blessed the Iraqi resistance for its firm stand
against the American- British occupation and called on the Arab and Islamic
people to give every aid and support to the Iraqi people in order to oust
the new occupation." [Al-Ayyam, Nov. 4, 2003]

Hamas and Islamic Jihad student branches at the PA universities have
historically been breeding grounds for terrorists. Campuses are used to
promote terror and to recruit and plan terrorist activities.
For example, it was Al-Kutlah Al-Islamiyyah (Hamas) at the Al-Najah
University that created the horrific celebration of the 2001 Sbarro Pizza
bombing by building a mock pizza parlor and decorating the walls and tables
with images of pizza and body parts of the 14 murdered Israelis.
Terrorists who have come directly from PA university activities include:
Mahmud Shuraytakh: Chairman of Al-Kutlah Al-Islamiyyah (Hamas) and of the
Student Council at Bir Zeit University. Planned a suicide attack on a bus
in Tel Aviv Sept. 19, 2002, in which six Israelis were murdered and 71
injured.

Ihab Abdul-Qadir Mahmud Abu Salim: Arab Language student and a member of
Al-Kutlah Al-Islamiyyah (Hamas) at Bir Zeit University. Carried out a
suicide attack at Zerifin Sept. 9, 2003, in which eight Israelis were
murdered and about 20 injured.
Daya Muhammad Hussein Al-Tawil: Engineering student at Bir Zeit University
and a member of Al-Kutlah Al-Islamiyyah (Hamas). Carried out a suicide
attack at the French Hill junction in Jerusalem March 27, 2001, in which 29
Israelis were injured.
Ramiz Ubaid: Student and a member of Al-Jama'ah Al-Islamiyyah (Islamic
Jihad) at Bir Zeit University. Carried out a suicide attack at Dizengoff
Center in Tel Aviv March 3, 1996, in which 13 Israelis were murdered and
118 injured.
Hamid Abu Hajlah: Engineering student and a member of Al-Kutlah
Al-Islamiyyah (Hamas) at Al-Najah University. Carried out a suicide attack
in Netanya on Jan. 1, 2001, in which three Israelis were injured.
Ramiz Abu Salim: Hamas activist and a student at Al-Quds Open University
branch in Al-Birah. Carried out a suicide attack at Cafe Hillel in
Jerusalem Sept. 9, 2003, in which seven Israelis were murdered and about 20
injured.
Muhammad Al-Rul: Hamas activist and a student at Al-Najah University.
Carried out a suicide attack in Jerusalem June 18, 2002, in which 19
Israelis were murdered and 42 injured.
USAID had budgeted millions of dollars this year to PA higher education
without making this aid conditional on the closing of the campus terror
branches. They can fund universities easily without the university signing
the Anti-Terror Certification by bypassing US law, as USAID explained in
the following letter to PMW:

"Whether the ATC applies to universities depends on the relationship it has
with USAID. If it receives a grant, it must sign the ATC.If the
relationship is contractual, it does not have to sign."
[Gayle Schwartz, Program Development Officer, USAID West Bank and Gaza,
Dec. 30 2003]

Another way USAID - and, thus, the US Government - indirectly supports
terror is by giving scholarships to students who use the money for tuition.
The tuition money goes to the universities even though they have terror
branches.

Recommendation #3:

No US money may fund a university -directly or indirectly - or any student
in a university that has a branch of a terrorist organization, permits
activities of a terrorist organization, has events honoring terrorism or
terrorists, facilitates anti- American activities, or has not fulfilled any
of the other US anti-terror conditions.

2. Ignoring the Money Chain:

Many US-supported institutions are not strict with the use of their money.
As a result, US taxpayer money ends up in the hands of terrorists and
supports anti-American activities.

a. Universities

The World Bank is in the process of making a major investment in building
"PA university infrastructure." [Al Hayat-Al Jadida, March 25, 2004]. By so
doing the World Bank is ignoring the fact that the PA universities all have
official student branches of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, terrorist
organizations outlawed by the US and EU. The World Bank will be building
university infrastructures that will be used by student terrorist
organizations to form the backbone of suicide terrorism in coming years.

It is unclear why the World Bank has not made its funding conditional on
closing the branches of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

b. United Nations

The UN does not carefully supervise the use of money in PA areas. One
example: last year UNICEF funded the summer camp for young girls named
after Wafa Idris, the first woman suicide bomber [Al-Ayyam, July 18, 2003]
as well as other camps named for "Martyrs".

Recommendation #4:

Any non-US funding body (e.g. World Bank or UN) muyst use the same
anti-terror criteria as the US to be eligible to receive US money.

3. Ignoring Fungiblity of Budgets

Many recipients of US funding use other parts of their budgets to support
terror and anti-US activities, such as, the examples above of the
municipalities and universities.

Recommendation #5:

No recipient of US funding may facilitate or use any portion of its budget,
whatever the source, for anti-American activities or to honor, support or
glorify terror.

4. Defining and Renouncing Terror

A major disagreement between the US and PA recipients, including NGOs and
individuals, is the definition of terror. While all PA groups and NGOs
openly purport to "renounce terrorism," they refuse to accept the US list
of terror organizations, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They define
killing Israelis -- and Americans in Iraq -- as "resistance."

For example, in the following official protest letter from PA NGOs
rejecting the US State Department anti-terror clause, the NGO umbrella
organizations argued:
"While NGOs are against any form of terrorism. It is not clear on what
basis and upon which criteria the definition of "terror acts" has been
set." - Signed by: Palestinian NGO Network and others [July 12, 2003]

Recommendation #6:
The language of the US Anti-Terrorism Certification must include the
renouncing of terrorism, as specified by the US definition and listing of
terrorist organizations.

Summary of Recommendations:

All recipients of US funding, including those directly receiving grants,
benefiting from US money, or contracting with US money for the benefit of
another party -- whether private, public or governmental -- must renounce
terrorism and accept the US definition of terror and terror groups. They
must not use US grant money or any other portion of their budget, whatever
the source, to aid, honor or promote, in any way, any terrorist or
terrorist organization, or to facilitate its activities. Any intermediary
funding body using US money, including international institutions such as
the UN and the World Bank, must require all its recipients to sign the same
ATC and adhere to all the US definitions of terror.

Appendix 1:

Anti-Terror Certification

The following is the text of the Anti-Terror Certification that the
Palestinian recipients are obligated to sign as it appears on the USAID Web
Site:
www.usaid.gov/wbg/misc/2004.Certification_Regarding_Terrorist_Financing.pdf

Certification Regarding Terrorist Financing Implementing E.O. 13224
By signing and submitting this application, the prospective recipient
provides the certification set out below:
1. The Recipient has not provided, and will take all reasonable steps to
ensure that it does not and will not knowingly provide, material support or
resources to any individual or entity that commits, attempts to commit,
advocates, facilitates, or participates in terrorist acts, or has
committed, attempted to commit, facilitated, or participated in terrorist
acts.
2. Specifically, in order to comply with its obligations under paragraph 1,
the Recipient
will take the following steps:
a.
Before providing any material support or resources to an individual or
entity, the Recipient will verify that the individual or entity does not
appear (i) on the master list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked
Persons, which list is maintained by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC) and is available online at OFAC's website :
www.treas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/sdn/t11sdn.pdf , or (ii) on any
supplementary list of prohibited individuals or entities that may be
provided by USAID to the Recipient. The Recipient also will verify that the
individual or entity has not been designated by the United Nations Security
(UNSC) sanctions committee established under UNSC Resolution 1267 (1999)
(the "1267 Committee") [individuals and entities linked to the Taliban,
Usama bin Laden, or the Al Qaida Organization]. To determine whether there
has been a published designation of an individual or entity by the 1267
Committee, the Recipient should refer to the consolidated list available
online at the Committee's website:
www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1267/1267ListEng.htm .
b.
Before providing any material support or resources to an individual or
entity, the Recipient will consider all information about that individual
or entity of which it is aware or that is available to the public.
c.
The Recipient will implement reasonable monitoring and oversight procedures
to safeguard against assistance being diverted to support terrorist
activity. 3. For purposes of this Certification-
a.
"Material support and resources" means currency or monetary instruments or
financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice
or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification,
communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances,
explosives,
personnel, transportation, and other physical assets, except medicine or
religious materials.

b. "Terrorist act" means-
(i)
an act prohibited pursuant to one of the 12 United Nations Conventions and
Protocols related to terrorism (see UN terrorism conventions Internet site:
untreaty.un.org/English/Terrorism.asp ); or
(ii)
an act of premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against
noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents; or
(iii) any other act intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to a
civilian, or to any other person not taking an active part in hostilities
in a situation of armed conflict, when the purpose of such act, by its
nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a government
or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.
c. "Entity" means a partnership, association, corporation, or other
organization,
group or subgroup.
This Certification is an express term and condition of any agreement issued
as a result of this application, and any violation of it shall be grounds
for unilateral termination of the agreement by USAID prior to the end of
its term.
APPLICANT:
Name: _____________________ Signature: ____________________
Title: ____________________ Date: ____________________

Appendix 2:
Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin - Sept. 3, 2003

PA NGOs Defy US -
Refuse to Sign Anti Terror Document

Introduction
The Palestinian Authority [PA] NGOs have defied the US, by refusing to sign
a declaration that they will not use USAID grant money for terrorist
purposes. This is a major challenge to the US administration, which sees
the elimination of Palestinian terror and terrorist organizations as an
integral component of US policy. The US has conditioned new funding
agreements with PA NGOs, upon their signing an Appendix declaring the
funding will not be passed on to terrorists. The PA NGOs are refusing to
sign.

The Palestinian NGO opposition is universal, following a meeting of
representatives of many NGOs who unanimously agreed they would not sign,
and called for disciplinary measures to be taken against any Palestinian
organization that signs. The Palestinians called the US anti terror
Appendix "provocative" and called on the NGOs to refuse USAID, as was done
during the Jenin battle, rather than sign.

In spite of the significant sums of money given to the Palestinian through
USAID, the organization was maligned at the event, one speaker calling
USAID a "destructive" organization, whose purpose it to "damage" or
"corrupt" Palestinian organizations.

The following is the declaration that the Palestinian NGOs refuse to sign:
"The beneficiary institution further certifies that it will not provide
material support or resources to any individual or entity that it knows, or
has reason to know, is acting as an agent for any individual or entity that
advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in, terrorist
activity, or that has been so designated, or will immediately cease such
support if an entity is so designated after the date of the referenced
agreement."
"Another appendix . includes the names of Palestinian individuals and
bodies that the United States considers to be terrorists, and therefore
prohibits any cooperation with them such as the Hamas, the [Islamic] Jihad,
the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front,
etc." [Al Ayyam Aug. 25, 2003.]

Organizations refusing to sign include the "Mizan" Center for Human Rights,
"The Red Crescent" and the "Federation of Sanitation Activities" The
refusal is based on the PA policy that refuses to see murder of Israelis
including suicide bombings as terrorism. The current opposition to suicide
bombings, as it is often stressed within the PA, is because of the negative
political conditions that make suicide bombings politically detrimental,
and not because suicide bombings are terror. Suicide bombings are defined
as "legitimate resistance" [See article below].

The organizations say they do not want to be "captive to the funding
conditions" set by the US.

The following are texts from articles that have appeared in recent days
showing the uniform rejection by PA NGO's of the American terms.
"Relations between the American Agency for International Development
[USAID] and the Palestinian civic organizations are undergoing a true
crisis. The American Agency has announced that its signature [granting aid]
is conditioned on agreements with Palestinian organizations receiving
grants [from USAID], and from [other] [American] non-governmental Private
Voluntary Organizations, upon the inclusion of the following Appendix:
"The beneficiary institution further certifies that it will not provide
material support or resources to any individual or entity that it knows, or
has reason to know, is acting as an agent for any individual or entity that
advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in, terrorist
activity, or that has been so designated, or will immediately cease such
support if an entity is so designated after the date of the referenced
agreement."

"Additionally, this appendix is connected to another appendix . that
includes the names of Palestinian individuals and bodies that the United
States considers to be terrorists, and therefore prohibits any cooperation
with them such as the Hamas, the [Islamic] Jihad, the Al-Aksa Martyrs'
Brigades, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front, etc. [Al-Ayyam
supplement, "Local Activities," August 25, 2003]

"Many experts and representatives of private institutions are warning
against signing the document, which includes the conditions imposed by the
American Development Agency, USAID, on funding Palestinian institutions.
They explained that the civic organizations are not political institutions,
and therefore the United States' demand lacks any legal validity, because
it is of a political nature. They also emphasized that it is important to
stand with the Network of Private Organizations which reject this document
and to prepare a memo that will be signed by the private institutions and
published in the press, and to take disciplinary steps against members of
the Network of Private Organizations who violate the accepted policy [by
signing]...

"Senior officials and representatives of many institutions were present at
the conference that was held at the hall of the Red Crescent Organization
in Gaza. The director of the Red Crescent Organization, Dr. Chaider Abd
Al-Shaffi, stated: "The objective behind the message that was received from
this American institution regarding financing and aid is well known. The
basis of the rejection of the United States' request, is that our
institutions are not political..."

"[Abdul Aziz Abu Qaraya, said] the position against this document that is
emerging in the [West] Bank and in the [Gaza] Strip should be solidified,
because it relates to all of the civic institutions, including [political]
parties. The goal is to contend with this US provocation and its
provocative conditions. This provocation indicates a pro-Israel political
position."

"The representative of the Federation of Sanitation Activities, Dr. Rabah
Mohana, stated: "From the experience with the [US] Agency for Development,
it emerges that we are talking about a destructive institution, because it
creates a link with salary and administration in order to turn the
organization captive to the funding conditions. The Agency for Development
is subordinated to the U.S. State Department, and it executes its policies.
In addition, it has no connection with private institutions, but in actual
fact the agency executes American policy in order to damage civic
institutions..."

"The director of the "Mizan" Center for Human Rights, attorney Issam Yunes,
stated:
"There is no legal basis for this document. This document should be
boycotted, including the local authorities, political parties and
universities. These institutions should reject this document completely, as
it puts them in great danger. We should publicize a list of any
institutions that agree to the conditions in the document."

"Amar Sheban, the economist, called for the adoption of the position that
was taken while the events took place in the Jenin refugee camp, when
American aid was rejected." [Al-Hayat Al Jadida, August 28, 2003]

"Yesterday the network of local Palestinian organizations conducted a
meeting of civic institutions. The subject was the problem of the
conditions imposed by the American Agency for Development USAID...
following the rejection by Palestinian civic organizations of this step,
since it imposes conditions upon funding of the Palestinian developmental
institutions.

"The network and the committee emphasized the refusal of the institutions
[to accept] this appendix. They considered its content to be a clear
violation of the Law of Charitable Organizations and Palestinian Local
Staffs, section 1 of the year 2000, in which the institutions declared
their absolute obligation to implement all of its clauses. They stated that
the appendix in the joint agreement [with USAID] is a breach of the
sovereignty of the local Palestinian activities, which could diminish the
ability of this important sector to continue and participate in the
development and growth of Palestinian society.

"The committee and the network have made clear that the Palestinians have
declared, on several occasions, their sweeping opposition to terror - and
therefore the linkage between legitimate resistance and terror is
considered non-suitable to the Palestinian reality." [Al-Quds, 28th August
2003] [Ed. note - All Palestinian terrorism, including suicide bombings,
are included under the umbrella of "legitimate resistance".]

"Needless to say, the signature of the Palestinian civic organizations on
this appendix will place them in a great principal and practical dilemma...
It is clear that the Palestinian civic organizations and the United States
disagree fundamentally in their definition of terror and terrorist
activities. The civic organizations distinguish between actions and
activities for national liberation and terrorist acts as the latter are
expressed through actions carried out by the forces of the Israeli
occupation, which are definitely a type of state terror against an unarmed
people.

"We believe that the American Agency for International Development needs to
reassess its decision regarding the signing of the appendix mentioned
above, especially while the appendix and its content create a precedent to
perpetuate the principle of conditional funding which contradicts the
principle of independent local action." [Al-Ayyam supplement, "Local
Activities," August 25, 2003]

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