The Biden administration will announce today the resumption of assistance to UNRWA. The support will also include assistance to the Palestinian security services and an additional amount for various projects in the West Bank. @BarakRavid
— Joe Truzman (@Jtruzmah) April 7, 2021
US to send $150 million to UNRWA, formally restoring aid to the Palestinians
[IsraelTimes] Biden quietly ramping up funding to Paleostinians; has long said he would reverse freeze put in place by Trump.
The United States government announced on Wednesday afternoon that it was formally resuming $150 million in economic aid to the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
Relief and Works Agency, the UN body tasked with supporting Paleostinian refugees, amidst a broader push to restore its aid to the Paleostinians.
"The United States is pleased to announce that, working with Congress, we plan to restart US economic, development and humanitarian assistance for the Paleostinian people," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Under the administration of previous US president Donald Trump
...Oh, noze! Not him!...
, Washington largely ended funding for the Paleostinian Authority and for UNRWA, which runs a network of educational and medical programs for Paleostinian refugees around the Middle East.
In addition to resuming UNRWA funding, the planned aid package includes $75 million in economic and development assistance in the West Bank and Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
, $10 million for peacebuilding programs through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and $40 million in security assistance.
In a statement, Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....
welcomed the resumption of aid, as well as Biden’s "commitment to the two-state solution as a basis for resolving the Paleostinian-Israeli conflict."
PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said he hoped the renewal of aid was just one step toward thawing the Paleostinians’ relations with the United States.
"We look forward not only to the resumption of American financial aid despite its importance, but also to the return of political relations with the United States in a way that realizes our people’s legitimate rights," Shtayyeh said in a statement.
Some of the American aid had begun to flow quietly over the past week, with the State Department notifying Congress of its decision to do so without much public fanfare. The aid immediately provoked criticism from Republicans and some Democrats who support stricter conditions on aid to the Paleostinians.
Before Wednesday, the Biden White House had notified Congress that it would give the Paleostinians $40 million for law enforcement and security costs, on top of $75 million in assistance for infrastructure and $15 million in coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...assistance.
A handful of Republicans are already preparing to challenge the aid, maintaining that it violates the Taylor Force and the Anti-Terrorism Clarification acts. Both laws — which passed with wide bipartisan support — block most aid that directly benefits the Paleostinian Authority so long as it continues to pay stipends to security prisoners, including those convicted of terrorism.
But the legislation carved out exceptions for exactly the type of aid that the Biden administration has been resuming in recent weeks. And the recently announced financial assistance was already allocated during the previous administration — based on legislation signed into law by Trump himself.
"Congress earmarked $150 million for economic support and security assistance, split evenly, in the appropriations bill for fiscal year 2020. This means the Biden administration has no choice but to spend this money or be in breach of congressional law," Abraham Center managing director Joel Braunold, who closely follows US aid to the Paleostinians, told The Times of Israel.
The State Department will have to disburse its economic support funding — which is subject to the Taylor Force Act’s restrictions — with enormous care. But the United States could still fund civil society programs, rule of law initiatives and Gaza-based projects, as long as none of them benefit the PA.