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 has not supplied, and will not supply in the future, any material or other form of aid to any individual or other body that is known or has any reason to be considered as a person or a body that incites, plans, supports, or is involved in any terrorist activities of any kind.” [Trans from Arabic, Al Ayyam Aug. 25, 2003.]
“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.

PMW Background Info
As background it should be noted that USAID policy in the past has had confusing components when in came to demanding PA compliance to US anti terror policy. PMW reported in August 2002 that a PA school receiving USAID funding was named after the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who had participated in the murder of 36, including an American. USAID response at the time was to cut off aid. However, the very next day the aid was reinstated, following a PA promise to change the name. [Jerusalem Post, Aug. 11, 2002] However a week later PMW reported that the PA was still using the terrorist’s name, referring to a ceremony in the Dalal Mughrabi school. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 16, 2002]

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 has not supplied, and will not supply in the future, any material or other form of aid to any individual or other body that is known or has any reason to be considered as a person or a body that incites, plans, supports, or is involved in any terrorist activities of any kind.” [**Translated from the Arabic]

“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] (pmw.org.il 09/03/03)