The Palestinian Charity Trap A willful ignorance of the facts on the ground makes aid groups ripe for corruption and the misdirection of funds to terrorist groups. By Gerald M. Steinberg

Posted By on August 12th, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-palestinian-charity-trap-1470944784

World Vision officials have professed to be “shocked” by the arrest in Israel last week of Mohammed El-Halabi, the head of the megacharity’s Gaza operations. Mr. Halabi is accused of repurposing over the course of 10 years up to $7.2 million a year, in cash and materials, to Hamas. That’s approximately 60% of World Vision’s total aid to Gaza. In addition to money allegedly used for deadly weapons and the construction of terror tunnels, the charge sheet includes diverting unemployment payments, “2,500 food packages worth $100 each” and “3,300 packages of cleaning supplies and personal hygiene products worth $80 each . . . to Hamas units.”

According to the Israeli security agency that conducted the investigation into World Vision, Mr. Halabi admitted his role as a Hamas agent during interrogation, though his lawyer has since rejected this account and denied the allegations. World Vision has also denied the charges, claiming that the budget for its Gaza operations was smaller than the amount of the funds allegedly diverted. However, the annual reports of the Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza (JWG) branch of World Vision fail to specify a separate budget for operations in Gaza alone, making it impossible to independently verify these assertions.

But it is impossible not to see in Gaza the massive construction of terrorist infrastructure everywhere, with humanitarian aid as the primary source of funds and materials. Terror is the territory’s only major industry, and if Hamas wasn’t stealing the aid, where were the sacks of cement, beams, pipes and other materials, as well as the cash to pay for the work, coming from?

Instead, World Vision leaders such as Tim Costello of the charity’s Australian branch, which provided a significant portion of World Vision JWG’s 2014 budget of more than $20 million, took refuge in distant accounting firms. “We have PricewaterhouseCoopers that audit us each year,” Mr. Costello said. CONTINUE AT SITE

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