PA official accusef of corruption claims Israel and US behind accusations
Headline: “Hussein Al-Sheikh in an interview with PNN…”
“Regarding the accusations that were raised regarding the corruption of the PA and senior Palestinian officials, [Fatah Central Committee member and Head of Civil Affairs in the PA] Hussein [Al-Sheikh] said that these are funded and dubious attacks whose goal is to harm the status of the Palestinian leadership. He added that if [the leadership] would agree to the Deal of the Century (refers to US President Donald Trump’s as yet unpublished Middle East peace plan –Ed.), the senior Palestinian officials would receive international peace prizes and it would turn into an incorrupt leadership according to all of the American standards, and therefore the Palestinian leadership knows who is behind the attack: the same one who stopped his funding and support for the PA because he wants to acquire political positions in exchange for this support (apparently refers to Trump cutting aid to the PA in the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018; see note below –Ed.).
Hussein emphasized that the Americans, and behind them Israel, have attempted to accuse the PLO and the Palestinian leadership, people, and struggle of terrorism, but the wise policy and the diplomatic approach that [PA] President [Mahmoud] Abbas has taken – which has included signing 83 international counter-terror treaties – have thwarted the American-Israeli efforts, and therefore they have changed direction and are now attempting to stain the leadership, the [PA] government, and the senior Palestinian officials with corruption.”
Head of Civil Affairs in the PA Hussein Al-Sheikh’s statements came following the publication of an allegedly fake report purportedly sent by the Anti-Corruption Authority to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas detailing the findings of an investigation into corruption by Head of Civil Affairs in the PA Hussein Al-Sheikh.
Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018 - Among other things, this law gives US courts the jurisdiction to seize assets from any body that receives foreign aid from the US government, viewing their acceptance of US foreign aid as consent to US jurisdiction. This enables past and present victims of terror to successfully pursue lawsuits in US courts against such bodies that were connected in any way to the acts of terror. In the past many such cases have been thrown out due to lack of US jurisdiction. The law took effect on Feb. 1, 2019. In response to the law, the PA requested that the US end all of its foreign aid to the PA, which it did.