Palestinian NGOs reject US anti-terror pledgeAdd to Clippings
PTI[ SUNDAY, JANUARY 04, 2004 02:14:31 PM ]
JERUSALEM : Palestinian non government organisations have refused to sign a US-sponsored pledge to stop transfer of funds to individuals or groups engaged in terrorism.
Enraged by the US funding conditions, Palestinians said they have affirmed their opposition to terrorism, and that by departing from international norms and standards of funding, the pledge violates a Palestinian law which prohibits them from agreeing to such funding restrictions by an international body.
Moreover, they say the definition of "terrorist acts" is unclear, especially in the light of Israeli attempts to portray the Palestinian struggle "for freedom and independence as violence and terrorism".
According to the US document 'Certification Regarding Terrorist Financing,' Palestinian Authority-related social welfare groups and some independent NGOs funded by US and several EU countries, must undertake not to "provide material support or resources to any individual or entity that advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or as engaged in terrorist activity".
An appendix to the document names Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine "as bodies and groups the US considers to be linked to terrorism and prohibits all cooperation with them".
Palestinian coordinating committees have called protest meetings on Monday to put pressure on Washington to scrap its intended anti-terrorism pledge, the report said. |
