© AP/Mahmoud Illean
EU condemns Israel over planned sale of seized West Bank aid as Bedouin children's classroom is reduced to rubble by Israeli army.
EU condemns Israel over planned sale of seized West Bank aid as Bedouin children's classroom is reduced to rubble by Israeli army.
That honour befell Laars Faaborg-Andersen, the European Union's ambassador to Israel, last week when Jewish settlers launched a social media campaign casting him as Hannibal Lecter, the terrifying character from the film Silence of the Lambs. An image of the Danish diplomat wearing Lecter's prison face-mask was supposed to suggest that Europe needs similar muzzling.
The settlers' grievance relates to European aid, which has provided temporary shelter to Palestinian Bedouin families after the Israeli army demolished their homes in the occupied territories near Jerusalem. The emergency housing has helped them remain on land coveted by Israel and the settlers.
European officials, outraged by the Lecter comparison, have reminded Tel Aviv that, were it to abide by international law, Israel - not the EU - would be taking responsibility for these families' welfare.
While Europe may think of itself as part of an enlightened West, using aid to defend Palestinians' rights, the reality is less reassuring. The aid may actually be making things significantly worse.
Shir Hever, an Israeli economist who has spent years piecing together the murky economics of the occupation, recently published a report that makes shocking reading. Like others, he believes international aid has allowed Israel to avoid footing the bill for its decades-old occupation. But he goes further. His astonishing conclusion - one that may surprise Israel's settlers - is that at least 78 per cent of humanitarian aid intended for Palestinians ends up in Israel's coffers.
Comment: Case in point from The New Arab, 1 June, 2019: EU angered by Israeli theft, resell of aid for Palestinian schoolchildren