news

Convicted PFLP activist running France-sponsored summer program in eastern Jerusalem

The East Jerusalem Youth Initiative Program, funded by the French Foreign Ministry, is to be run by Daoud Ghoul, a known PFLP activist with multiple convictions over his ties to the terrorist group.

Popular Front for the LIberation of Palestine (PFLP) supporters in Nablus during a rally marking the 51st anniversary of Hamas's founding in the West Bank, Dec. 15, 2018. Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.
Popular Front for the LIberation of Palestine (PFLP) supporters in Nablus during a rally marking the 51st anniversary of Hamas's founding in the West Bank, Dec. 15, 2018. Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.

A program funded by the French Foreign Ministry in coordination with its representatives in eastern Jerusalem is being operated by a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group, according to a report by NGO Monitor.

The East Jerusalem Youth Initiative Program, set to commence this week at the city’s Chateaubriand French Cultural Center, says it aims to provide leisure activities, sports and psychological counseling to some 500 youths from the city’s Silwan neighborhood, whom the program says have been “very negatively affected by Israeli demolitions.”

The program is being run by the Al Bustan Project, which is funded by a series of local councils in France, as well as the French Foreign Ministry. According to the budget plan, Al Bustan is set to receive nearly 400,000 euros (around $450,000) from various aid agencies in the French government.

In the past, the Al Bustan Project has been tied to activities that expressed support for terrorism. In one such incident, Al Bustan organized a production in which Palestinian children were seen holding weapons and demonstrating on a child how the United States and Israel “execute Palestine.”

Even more troubling, the role of the East Jerusalem Youth Initiative coordinator has been given to a well-known PFLP activist. A resident of eastern Jerusalem, Daoud Ghoul was convicted in 2015 of membership in the PFLP and even spent a year-and-a-half in prison for attempting to instill in children the “spirit” of the PFLP. This was Ghoul’s third conviction in connection with PFLP activities. The PFLP has been classed as a terrorist group by the European Union as well as by Israel.

The French Consulate in Jerusalem is infamous for its anti-Israel activity.

A few months ago, one of its former employees was sentenced to seven years in prison after he was caught smuggling weapons into Israel from the Gaza Strip. In another confrontation with Israel, the consulate has for years prevented Jewish worshippers from entering the Tomb of Kings, a catacomb under its administration in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah near the Old City due to international agreements dating back to the Ottoman period. While the catacomb was recently opened to Israelis for a short period, it has since been closed.

This article first appeared on Israel Hayom.

Topics
Comments