Dutch political parties want to stop PA funding following PMW report
Dutch political parties want to stop funding the PA following PMW report about PA salaries to terrorists
Headline: “[Dutch] Opposition: Stop payments to (Palestinian) terrorists”
“A large part of [Dutch] Parliament wants the Netherlands and the European Union to no longer help pay funds to the Palestinian Authority’s salary payments to Palestinian terrorists. A recently published [PMW] report says that Palestinian leader Abbas himself admits that these payments are still being made. The Christian Union wants the government to make every effort to deduct 4 million euros from the donations to the Palestinian Authority. The Christian Union has submitted questions about this issue together with CDA [Christian Democratic Appeal], PVV [Party for Freedom], SGP [Reformed Political Party] and D66 [Democrats 66].
Joel Voordewind (Christian Union): ‘European and Dutch money is still used for salary payments to terrorists in Israeli prisons. Earlier, it was agreed that the Palestinian Authority - whose income largely consists of donations from EU member states - would stop this [paying salaries to prisoners]. Now, however, the Palestinian Authority transfers the money to the PLO, which still pays the salaries. Thus, the Palestinian Authority is deceiving the EU and the Netherlands, rewarding terrorists, and it is still using European funds to target innocent victims. [Dutch] Minister [of Foreign Affairs] Koenders must intervene and the part that is now used for this perverse reward to terrorists - € 4 million a year - constitute our contribution."
The following are the questions put by the MPs to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
“Voordewind (Christian Union), Knops (CDA), De Roon (PVV), Van der Staaij (SGP) and Sjoerdsma (D66)
1. Did you receive the following article from the Times of Israel, "Abbas CONFIRMS PA still paying terrorists 'salaries' ( link) and the report by Palestinian Media Watch ?
2. What is your reaction to the accusation [by PMW] that the change in the payment of salaries to Palestinian terrorists, from the PA to the PLO, is only cosmetic and is still paid with PA funds that the EU and the Netherlands are paying?
3. Do you agree with us that these salaries should not be paid for with funds from the PA since the PA gets its funds largely from international donors, including the EU and the Netherlands?
4. Are you prepared, like your Norwegian colleagues, to oppose this cosmetic change and to insist on the cessation of payments by the PA to the PLO for these payments, which also repeats previous motions passed by Van der Staaij and Voordewind?”
[Christian Union Party’s website, May 13, 2016
https://www.christenunie.nl/k/en/n8447/news/view/980864/59042/oppositie-stop-betalingen-aan-(palestijnse)-terroristen.html#.V1a-R2h96hd]