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Hände weg von Israel und Islam!
Abbas Unfreezes Hamas Funds
2005-02-14
The Jerusalem Post
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/ JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1108353357730&p=1101615860782
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to unfreeze Hamas funds held in a number of Palestinian banks, Palestinian sources in Gaza City said Monday.
The sources said Hamas leaders who met with Abbas last Saturday raised the subject, urging him to rescind an earlier decision to freeze the funds.
They said Abbas accepted the Hamas request and decided to release the funds, including a private bank account belonging to slain Hamas leader and founder Ahmed Yassin.
One source said the move was taken to encourage Hamas to abide by the truce declared by Abbas recently. He noted that Hamas was facing a severe financial crisis as a result of the decision to freeze its funds.
Under pressure from the US, Abbas, who served as prime minister in 2003, ordered the freezing of several bank accounts belonging to nine charities affiliated with Hamas. The order was issued by the PA's Monetary Authority, a move that deprived thousands of families from monthly payments.
The nine charities are: Al Jamiya Al Islamiya, the Islamic Young Women's Association, Al Salah Association, the Social Care Committee, the Palestinian Student Friends Association, the Islamic Charity for Zakat, Al Mujamma Al Islami, Al Nour Charity Association and Al Aqsa Charity Association. The banks were told no money could be withdrawn from the charities' accounts without authorization of the attorney general.
US President George W. Bush, responding to the August 19, 2003 bus bombing in Jerusalem that killed 21 people, announced that the US was freezing the funds of six senior Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon, as well as of five European-based charities that he accused of funding Hamas.
Hamas, which ahs denied any links between the money and terrorism, has hundreds of charities throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip that provide food and monetary assistance to the families of those who have been killed and wounded in the fighting with Israel.
The families normally receive an initial, one-time grant of between $500-5,000, as well as a monthly allowance of approximately $100. The charities also provide the families with scholarships and educational subsidies, as well as financial assistance for the rebuilding of homes that have been demolished by the IDF.
Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis
