EURO-AUDITORS OBJECT TO PAYING GAZANS NOT WORKING

Auditors in Europe have called for the EU to stop giving money to welfarers in Gaza:

European auditors say the EU should stop paying the salaries of thousands of Palestinian civil servants in the Gaza Strip who are not going to work.

The auditors examined about 1bn euros (£840m; $1.3bn) of EU spending in Gaza between 2008 and 2012.

But they also said:

They called for a major review, saying money spent on civil servants there should go to the West Bank instead.

Oh for heaven's sake! Did it ever occur to them that the PLO's "civil" servants may not be working either?

Lack of transparency
The EU pays about one-fifth of the salaries of the PA's 170,000 civil servants, both in the West Bank and Gaza, under a programme known as Pegase.

Hans Gustaf Wessberg of the European Court of Auditors said overall EU funding had played an important role in supporting vulnerable families, and maintaining health and education services in Palestinian areas.

But he pointed out that "the payment of civil servants who do not work does not meet one of [the EU's] main objectives to provide public services to the Palestinian people".

When Hamas took control of Gaza, President Abbas decided to keep paying the salaries of the estimated 61,000 civil servants and members of the security forces who stopped reporting for the jobs, so long as they stayed home and did not work for the rival administration.

Oh, and did any of that money they got ever go to building up good infrastructure for neighborhoods and stuff like that? In fact, did it really go to managing good health and educational services? Did it even go to reforming their educational system so that it isn't built on anti-semitism and racism? Not one bit, and the EU has only abused the continent's tax money for the sake of funding ingrates.

It's not just auditors who should be objecting. It's the sensible citizenry of Europe who should.