Effects Ripple: Palestinian Officials and Development Aid

effects ripple: Much of that aid is channeled through international NGOs, which were abruptly informed of the cuts last summer and have been scrambling to keep their programs alive, according to Vancouver Courier. President Donald Trump says the USAID cuts are aimed at pressuring the Palestinians to return to peace talks, but Palestinian officials say the move has further poisoned relations after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last year. The Trump administration's decision last year to cut more than 200 million in development aid to the Palestinians is forcing NGOs to slash programs and lay off staff as the effects ripple through a community that has spent more than two decades promoting peace in the Middle East.article continues below Trending Stories More than 40 men arrested in underage Vancouver sex sting Vancouver family donates 40 million to build new art gallery Former Vancouver school trustee Ken Clement charged in underage sex sting Update Video of police take-down after car-jacking in Richmond The U.S. government's development agency, USAID, has provided more than 5.5 billion to the Palestinians since 1994 for infrastructure, health, education, governance and humanitarian aid programs, all intended to underpin the eventual creation of an independent state. The aid groups, many of which have little or no connection to the Palestinian Authority, say the cuts hurt the most vulnerable Palestinians and those most committed to peace with Israel. Before the aid cuts were announced, it provided food aid branded as a gift from the American people to more than 180,000 Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza on behalf of the World Food Program. If you want to maintain the idea of the peace process, you have to maintain the people who would be part of the peace process, said Lana Abu Hijleh, the local director for Global Communities, an international NGO active in the Palestinian territories since 1995. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.