Palestine refutes US attack on Arabian aid

UNITED NATIONS - The Palestinian UN ambassador on Tuesday said the United States should not come to the United Nations "in an arrogant way" to say that they are the "only one who is helping and others are not doing anything".

"That is not the case," Riyad Mansour said.

He also told reporters that after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6, the US "lost the qualification to be the only party to supervise the political process".

The retort came just after a rebuke made by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, criticizing Middle Eastern countries for not doing enough to help Palestinians and move the peace process forward, saying they need to "step up".

"Where are the Arab countries when it comes to encouraging reconciliation between Palestinian factions, which is essential to peace? Where are the Arab countries when it comes to denouncing Hamas terrorism? Where are the Arab countries when it comes to supporting compromises that are necessary for peace?"

Haley highlighted US assistance to the Palestinians, saying that Washington provided $300 million in bilateral aid last year, and "over 6 billion - with a B - dollars in bilateral assistance to Palestinians" since 1993.

She also mentioned US aid to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA - but without saying that total has been significantly cut.

Her French counterpart Francois Delattre asked the US to reconsider its decision to cut aid to UNRWA, calling on Washington "to shoulder its responsibilities" to help fill the agency's estimated $200 million gap.

The cuts rendered the UNRWA $217 million short for sustaining its work this year even after it stepped up fundraising efforts, according to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov.

"You do not stop 300 million dollars from UNRWA under any pretext and say you care about the humanitarian situation of the people there," said Mansour, criticizing Haley's speech.

He also cited Saudi Arabia's ambassador as saying, in response to Haley's remarks, that as an Arab country, Saudi Arabia has over the years contributed more than $6 billion to help Palestinians.

"She (Haley) was insulting close allies of the United States, such as Arab countries in the Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia," said Mansour.

After Washington's decision on the cuts, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates each gave $50 million to the agency, according to UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl.

Saudi Arabia has over the past two decades provided "$6 billion to the Palestinians in humanitarian assistance, development aid and relief", said its ambassador, Abdallah al-Mouallimi.

Afp - Xinhua - Ap

(China Daily 07/26/2018 page11)