The House Appropriations Committee held a hearing Tuesday on the proposed budget for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) but didn’t ask a single question about reports showing U.S. funding is potentially being used to promote Palestinian terrorism.
Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida, who oversees the subcommittee that deals with foreign aid spending, ripped President Joe Biden’s proposed budget that would increase USAID funding by $32 billion calling it “completely unrealistic.” While the two-hour hearing discussed a variety of topics including climate change, education overseas and women’s rights, none of the members asked USAID administrator Samantha Power about concerns that USAID funding was being used to support Palestinian terrorism. (RELATED: ‘Unsung Female Champions’: Biden Admin Funded Pakistani Show Featuring Trans Lawyer)
Díaz-Balart spokesperson Laura Hernandez told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the “limited time” allotted for the hearing did now allow for questions on the subject.
“We have been repeatedly asking questions and expressing concerns about the reported funding to groups with ties to terrorism since the allegations were first reported,” Hernandez said. “Unfortunately, with limited time during the public hearing, we were not able to raise every pressing issue of concern to the Chairman but will continue strong oversight through the many channels available to the Committee. During the hearing, the congressman briefly mentioned this by stating, ‘We also should not be funding controversial programs that tarnish the American taxpayer’s view of foreign aid and of USAID.'”
A picture taken on Aug. 15, 2014, shows a box containing sanitation kits and soap provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) being stored at a UN school before distribution to Palestinian displaced people in Gaza City. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
In February, a report revealed that Omariya Secondary School for Girls in the West Bank was indoctrinating students to celebrate and commemorate Palestinian terrorists. During one of the events the school held a ceremony to honor “hero Khairy Alqum” who murdered seven Israelis and pictures posted of the event showed a placard designating the school as USAID funded.
A Palestinian nonprofit ,The Community Development & Continuing Education Institute, received $78,000 from USAID in a grant spanning from 2021 to 2023. The funding was given despite CDCEI’s board chairman Imad Al-Zeer being photographed at an event hosted by the U.S.-designated terrorist group Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
“The festival, which was moderated by the student Donia Dandis and the student Rami Al-Ahmar, began with standing a minute of silence in honor of the souls of the martyrs, followed by the national anthem, and was attended by the Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees, Professor Dawood Al-Zeer, Dr. Emad Al-Zeer, Vice President of the University, Dr. Nafeh Al-Hassan, Dean of the Faculty of Law, and Dr. Muhammad Sa’abneh, Dean of Student Affairs, many families of martyrs and prisoners, and a large crowd from the Labor Front and university students,” an article covering the event read.
Several other leaders of CDCEI made posts on social media praising known Palestinian terrorists and the nonprofit is also a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement, which works to force businesses and institutions to cut ties with Israel.
USAID did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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