EU giving people gas. Heresy! How dare they dispense hydrocarbons!The Gaza Strip has power again. The European Union has resumed funding the territory's only electricity generating station. Brussels suspended the payments last weekend following reports that the new Hamas administration planned to siphon off some of the money. The EU decision looks to have been too hasty.
What goes unsaid is that this is Gaza’s only power station serving 25% of the population’s needs. The remainder comes from Israel.
The shutting down of the power station led to a terrible situation. Residents were left to deal with the blazing heat, and even hospitals were without electricity. Many people found the European decision "unforgivable"A happy ending? There remain serious questions about the EU's performance. For example, Ms Torres declines to detail the grounds Europe had for suspecting Hamas.
Money? Misused by Hamas? Impossible!
It is thought that Hamas had plans for a tax on energy use, while the EU insists that all electricity profits are pumped back directly into the economy. The EU sees Hamas as a terrorist organisation which should not be allowed to profit from aid under any circumstances.
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If there are reports - following rumours begun by Israel or Fatah - that EU aid is being misused, Brussels has to follow these up. However, it appears that this time nobody stopped to think that the people of Gaza might be the victims of the EU move.
Behind the Façades in France: What expats and the mainstream media (French and American alike) fail to notice (or fail to tell you) about French attitudes, principles, values, and official positions…
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