Shin Bet accusationsThe Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reported that Halabi was detained by Israeli forces as he attempted to return to Gaza through the Erez crossing from present-day Israel.According to Haaretz, Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency has accused Halabi of funneling “tens of millions of dollars” of World Vision resources to Hamas, “some of it to fund digging military-related tunnels and to purchase weapons.” Citing Shin Bet, The New York Times put the figure at $43 million allegedly funneled to Hamas in just six years.Israel has not explained how such astonishing sums could have gone missing without the charity noticing, especially in Gaza where relatively small sums of development money could have a potentially massive impact.Shin Bet claims that $80,000 contributed by UK donors for needy families and to support civilian projects “were used to build a Hamas position in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, to pay Hamas activists’ salaries and bonuses [for] members who had fought against Israel in the 2014 war,” Haaretz said.Halabi’s attorney Muhammad Mahmoud told the newspaper that his client denies any ties to Hamas and that the fact the investigation took more than 50 days indicates a “problem” with the evidence.Shin Bet has routinely used torture in interrogations of Palestinians.World Vision said in its statement that it has “detailed procedures and control mechanisms in place to ensure that the funds entrusted to us are spent in accordance with applicable legal requirements and in ways that do not fuel conflict but rather contribute to peace.”Halabi’s lawyer told Haaretz that some allegations appeared to be linked to an incident allegedly in which “armed Hamas members came in two commercial vehicles with a machine gun mounted on it and under threat they took what they wanted” from World Vision stores.“We will study the file and its evidence some more but I think this file started off very inflated and the balloon has since been deflated,” the lawyer added.CrackdownIsrael has a history of making baseless allegations that various organizations are tied to Hamas.The accusations regarding World Vision also come months after Amnesty International expressed concern over harassment and intimidation by Israel aimed at hampering and discrediting the work of Palestinian and Israeli human rights defenders and nongovernmental organizations.The arrest of Halabi may be an ominous sign of a broader crackdown specifically targeting humanitarian workers in Gaza.“Other information obtained while investigating Halabi has raised suspicions that other humanitarian aid organizations, as well, including United Nations institutions, have exploited their jobs for Hamas,” Haaretz reported, citing Shin Bet sources.It said that details of these cases are under Israeli gag orders.Evangelical ChristiansThe arrest was first reported by the blog ThinkProgress on 1 August.ThinkProgress revealed that a senior Gaza staffer – presumably Halabi – had been held for more than 40 days “without evidence or trial” and that occupation forces had searched World Vision’s offices in East Jerusalem.The charity works closely with UN agencies and the Red Cross and has received funding from the US and European governments.“The detention of a World Vision employee and subsequent raids potentially complicates the historically strong relationship between Israel and evangelical Christians in the United States,” ThinkProgress commented.World Vision Gaza humanitarian aid christian activism Hamas armed resistance Mohammad El Halabi Shin Bet ThinkProgressAli Abunimah’s blog Add new commentYour nameE-mailThe content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.HomepageSubjectComment policyComment *Content limited to 2000 characters, remaining: 2000 Notify me when new comments are posted All comments Replies to my commentBy submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.ALI ABUNIMAH Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, now out from Haymarket Books.Also wrote One Country: A Bold-Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. Opinions are mine alone.TwitterFacebook What’s really behind Israel’s attack on Christian charity World Vision?Ali Abunimah 5 August 2016 Video: Israeli soldier assaults child playing on Jews-only roadAli Abunimah 3 August 2016 Israel temporarily lifts travel ban on BDS co-founder Omar BarghoutiAli Abunimah 2 August 2016 Israel uses Caterpillar equipment in apparent extrajudicial killingAli Abunimah 28 July 2016 Saudi-Israeli courtship heats up with general’s visitAli Abunimah 27 July 2016Main menuFeaturesOpinion and analysisReviewsBlogsSearch form Search
Source: Christian charity rejects Israeli claim funds went to Hamas | The Electronic Intifada






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