US Congress blocks aid for Palestinians

The Palestinian Authority has accused the US of "collective punishment", after the US Congress blocked $200-million in aid in response to President Mahmoud Abbas'' bid for UN statehood. The decision to freeze the payments was reportedly made by three congressional committees on August 18, before Abbas'' planned bid for statehood recognition at the UN the following month, reported the Guardian newspaper on Sunday. The funds, intended for food aid, healthcare, and infrastructure projects, were supposed to have been transferred within the US financial year, which ends today. The Obama administration is reportedly negotiating with congressional leaders to unlock the aid. "It is another kind of collective punishment which is going to harm the needs of the public without making any positive contribution," Palestinian Authority spokesperson Ghassan Khatib told the Independent. "It is ironic to be punished for going to the United Nations,'''' he said. USAid has already started scaling back its aid operations in the West Bank and Gaza, and there are fears it may be forced to end all humanitarian work and distribution of financial support to the Palestinian Authority by January. There are also fears the move could lead to a security crisis in the Palestinian territories. Republican Gary Ackerman, member of the House sub-committee on the Middle East and South Asia, told a meeting of representatives and leaders of Jewish organisations outside the UN headquarters on Monday that "there may need to be a total cut-off of all aid to the Palestinians for pursuing this course of action which is very dangerous and ill advised". In Ramallah, member of the Central Committee of Fatah , Mohamed Ashtiah said Arab countries had pledged increasing aid to the Palestinian authority in case of US aid cut off.