“Saudi Societies” in Gaza: accused of corruption and waste



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Loop The | A fight is brewing within a Salafist association in the Gaza Strip, revealing what has been hidden from a Saudi “extravagance” in its funding in recent years, and the curtain falls on corruption and political recruitment for this funding . The chapters of the story began about a year and a half ago, after the disagreement between the poles of Salafist leadership intensified within the “Book and Sunnah Association”, and are among the most prominent components of this trend. The crisis within the Saudi-funded association led to divisions, most notably the departure of the association’s former director, Abdullah Al-Masry, and his founding of the “Ahl al-Sunna Initiative”, telling “Al-Akhbar” that “a conglomerate” within the association overthrew him, noting that the dispute began after the election of a new board of directors. The association is headed by Ibrahim Al Astal.

According to informed sources, the flotilla settled the dispute in its favor after a visit to Saudi Arabia last February, as part of new funding and referral arrangements within the association that was founded in 1975, and have not been held since then. elections, except those that brought the fleet to the presidency. During all that time, the association continued to operate under the supervision of the Egyptian, who was not in dispute, and the elections every three years were a mere scene, but the last elections represented a turning point and overthrew Al-Masry due to his proximity to Hamas, sources say, and this is confirmed by man. Tacitly, when saying: “There is a group of specific people who voted for the foundations”, pointing out their refusal to allow the association to work only for its audience, that is, the Salafists, but for “the society in general of the Sunnis”.
“Dar Al-Kitab and Al-Sunnah” has a series of Ibn Uthaymeen schools, a kindergarten for children, a series of “Al-Sham Bakeries”, “Dar Al-Hadith” institutes, heritage buildings, clinics and small hospitals , plus approximately 30 to 40 dunums of land, and a worthwhile core asset in recent months. Three million dollars. According to Al-Masry, these tens of millions of properties “are not managed in the right way”, and this is one of the reasons that “led me to leave the association”, adding that “the current administration is not successful in managing all this, and the way it works doesn’t suit me. “
We contacted Osama al-Louh, who is the association’s official spokesperson, and admitted that there were abuses by some workers, but he refused to release a description of “corruption” about what was happening, nor did he deny the existence of “severe disagreements. in the association “without revealing more details. Al-Louh says the Gaza Interior Ministry “has carried out investigations into some financial files, and some of them have been alerted … These measures came after abuses by some workers, such as when someone disbursed them without an account, or does not record the amounts spent by a regulated mechanism. ” But the Egyptian says: “Who within the association did not pay attention to public money, but spent unfairly. If I ask someone on the street, he knows more than we do about the errors of the association, and these are all errors, but in the contemporary term it is corruption. “

These associations suffer reduced subsidies after the announcement of the “deal of the century”.

About the association’s current activity, Al-Louh says that prior to the dispute, she was implementing projects during Ramadan alone, worth more than $ 300,000, at the level of Gaza and some West Bank cities, while sources They say that “the associations subsidized and financed by Saudi Arabia operate with the Al Baraka system, that is, they are not governed. A clear financial and administrative system, so that the funds are distributed without documentation.” Although “Dar Al-Kitab and Al-Sunnah” is identified with charity, this does not deny political action, as the deputy in the Salem Salama Legislative Council says of Hamas that they are “charitable institutions, some of which are scientific like they affirm, but these associations definitely have contact with Saudi Arabia Because the name of the Ibn Baz Association is from Saudi Arabia, and there is an association that knows better that its members are receiving salaries from Riyadh so far, such as the Higher Committee for Islamic Sciences » .
He agrees with the safety of the Saudi activist Mohammed Al-Omari, who resides in Britain, and says that the support of the Kingdom “is intended to form pressure cells that are used to divide political and religious groups to which the Kingdom is opposes and sees in his activities a danger to him. ” Especially since it is consistent with the idiosyncratic mood of those around the state’s security pillars. Al-Omari believes that workers in these societies may not be bad, but “some of them are being exploited and work as security and intelligence agents where they do not know.” As for Salama, he believes that these associations approve the taxpayer’s order directly, and that Riyadh can stop financing it if he considers that he is close to the “Gaza government”, adding: “All this financing comes with US approval, especially because American intelligence controls all the financial transfers that come to Gaza. ” .
On the other hand, Younis al-Astal, member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, sees that the role of these associations is simple and is limited to changing some heresies, focusing on issues of monotheism, and does not carry out a major change project , like the establishment of an Islamic caliphate or resistance, and therefore its program and Simple horizon. But it seems that these associations, who were living luxuriously in a tragic economic reality in Gaza, are experiencing a reduction in subsidies, especially after the “Deal of the Century” and the announcement by the US administration to save the funds, which some countries transfer to different Palestinian organizations, in a special fund to promote the agreement. Sources report on the emerging financial crisis. Here, the plaque acknowledges that “Saudi Arabia’s support (for” Dar Al-Kitab and Al-Sunna “) covered more than 70% of its total budget, but after recent Kingdom policies, this support decreased significantly.

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