Report: USAID funding Fatah campaign
Washington Post reports USAID funds projects to the tune of USD 2 million to boost Fatah's election campaign against rival Hamas
Some USD 2 million were funneled through the US Agency for International Development to fund projects for which Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority took credit, the paper said.
US Aid has never shied away from sticking its logo to water sanitation, education and infrastructure projects, which cost American tax payers USD 400 million in 2005.
The latest aid package is being used to purchase computers at community centers, street cleaning campaigns, organize a youth football tournament, and distribute food and water for Palestinians stranded at border crossings with Israel and Egypt.
The projects are being coordinated by the head of Abbas’ office, Rafik Husseini.
Ads promoting PA events and projects have appeared in Palestinian newspapers in the run up to the elections. Abbas recently attended a number of events sponsored by Fatah and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and elsewhere in the territories.
In addition, the PA hired a number of American PR companies to promote Fatah’s election campaign which boasters the PA’s role in ending Israel’s 38-year occupation in the Gaza Strip.
