The nation’s military courts virtually guarantee a conviction. Don’t expect World Vision to find justice there, writes Michael Brull.
Last week, the Israeli internal intelligence organisation Shin Bet accused an employee of the Christian charity World Vision of funnelling money into the military wing of Hamas in Gaza. Australia responded by suspending funding to World Vision in Gaza. This constitutes a significant victory for Israel. The allegations should be given zero credibility. They should be seen as simply a cynical attempt by the Shin Bet to delegitimise NGOs operating in the occupied territories, and as a way to further tighten the siege on Gaza.
The Magical Diversion Of Money World Vision Never Had
Zero meaningful evidence has been presented against the Palestinian the Shin Bet has accused of diverting funds to the military wing of Hamas, Mohammed El Halabi. The President of World Vision International responded with a statement:
“World Vision’s cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past 10 years was approximately US$22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of up to US$50 million being diverted hard to reconcile. Mohammad El Halabi was the manager of our Gaza operations only since October 2014; before that time he managed only portions of the Gaza budget. World Vision’s accountability processes cap the amount individuals in management positions at his level to a signing authority of US$15,000.”
Likewise, Australian World Vision CEO Tim Costello said he was “profoundly perplexed” by the allegations. He observed that El Halabi was alleged to have diverted $50 million, “when the Gaza program is only $3 million and a lot of it is physical assets”, which he has seen. These include “child friendly assets” for traumatised children, “agricultural programs”, growing strawberries and more. Costello noted that “these are physical assets, that you actually can’t just say ‘money’s been diverted, we can’t pay for them’”. He noted that “all of our forensic audits, done by [PricewaterhouseCooper], are absolutely clean”.
Read the article on New Matilda.