Sunday, January 25, 2009

IRIB: "Hamas sets up board to oversight aid distribution"

A BBC decision not to run an ad to raise funds for Gaza is generating a great deal of controversy. This story provides some context:
The Gaza-based Palestinian government Hamas set up a special board to oversight the distribution of foreign aid among the Gaza residents and the rebuild of invasion-ravaged Gaza.

Ahmad al-Kerd, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the elected Hamas government has been commissioned by Premier Ismail Haniya to preside over the board.

The board is tasked to oversight the distribution of a sum of 45 million dollars in aid among the families of martyrs and those who have lost their residence to the destructive Israeli invasion.

Meanwhile, Ismail Rezwan, a Hamas leader told the Aljazeera TV network said the Gaza-based Palestinian government Hamas is ready to cooperate with Arab countries in reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

"A vast part of Gaza has been destroyed during the war. The financial aid should be handed to the legal Palestinian government of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, otherwise we will invite Palestinian groups and Arab countries to help us in construction of Gaza," he added.

The eligible Palestinian groups, he said, were those who are active in the Gaza Strip under the supervision of the Palestinian government.

"If the Arab countries and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were really after reconstruction of Gaza, they should talk with us," Rezwan noted. [...]
Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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