by Giulio Meotti
The Netherlands paid the salary of two terrorists implicated in the assassination of 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb, killed a year ago (her brother Dvir was seriously injured) by a bomb while visiting the “Danny Spring”.Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag admitted it in the Hague. It is the first time that a European government has admitted that its funds, supposedly destined for charitable causes, have ended up fueling terrorism against Israel.
Samer Arbid, who was responsible for the attack on the Shnerb family, was an accountant at the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC). Last October, he was indicted on 21 counts as a commander of the PFLP terrorist cell which detonated the bomb that killed young and vivacious Rina Shnerb.
Abdul Razeq Farraj was the director of finance and administration of the UAWC and was charged for the aid he gave for perpetrating the attack. The two were not only members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group called “terrorist” by the European Union and also featured on the payroll of the UAVC, to which the Netherlands has donated 20 million dollars in a period of seven years.
So the salaries of the two terrorists were covered by Dutch funds.
According to NGO Monitor, Italy and Spain are among the countries that donate funds to the UAWC. To remedy the scandal, the Hague has suspended donations to the UAWC. It wasn’t just about payments. In 2017, both the terrorists received a one-year pass from the Dutch representation in Ramallah with which they could identify themselves as employees of a partner organization of the Dutch representation. It is not the first similar case.
In 2018 it emerged that the Ma’an Center, which received Dutch grants, had hired a terrorist, Ahmad Abdallah Aladini, an employee who died in Gaza shortly thereafter.
It was what Eitan, Rina Schnerb’s father said when he appealed to the European Union to stop funding terrorists:
“How can it be that people who glorify death are active in human rights groups? How can it be that for years they have received millions of euros in aid from European nations? I have no doubt that European countries do not advocate terrorism or the murder of innocent people. But they certainly understand that the links between Palestinian civilian groups and terrorist organizations is a reality that must be condemned. I urge you not to close your eyes. Don’t be fooled. Don’t lend a hand, a grandstand or finance to these organizations”.
A year ago, an 80-page report by the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, titled “Terrorists in Suits”, denounced the links between terrorist organizations such as Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and NGOs promoting the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, which is simply well-mannered terrorism.
And it also showed that some of these NGOs receive funding from European states. The report gave names and faces of thirty members of Hamas and PFLP who hold high-level positions in NGOs, often after serving prison terms for terrorist-related crimes, including assassination, and who maintain active links with terrorist groups.
At the time, the report was dismissed by some as an Israeli spin. With Holland’s admission of guilt, it cannot be ignored anymore. Now Europe must disclose how much of its money went to the killers of innocent Israeli girls such as Rina.