Citing Mideast, Swiss to tighten monitoring of aid projects

Switzerland’s foreign minister says his country will step up monitoring of its humanitarian aid activities and its support for non-governmental groups “with particular attention on the Middle East.”

Didier Burkhalter spoke as news reports over the weekend said Switzerland is re-evaluating funding it gives to an organization in the West Bank city of Ramallah that contributed money to a women’s center named after Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist who participated in a deadly 1978 attack in Israel.

Speaking Tuesday in parliament’s upper house, Burkhalter said Switzerland will make sure its contracts will do more to block discrimination, racism and incitement of hatred, and will involve a deeper political “risk analysis.”

The Swiss parliament is considering a measure aimed to cut off misuse of public funds for racist, anti-Semitic or hateful ends.

— AP