Scholarship scandal strains PA's ties with Venezuela

The recent furor over mismanaged scholarships to a Venezuelan medical school is further evidence that the Palestinian Authority takes advantage of foreign aid and grants while ignoring Palestinians’ needs.
Palestinian students arrive at Simon Bolivar airport outside Caracas November 6, 2014. Some one hundred Palestinian students arrived in Caracas on Thursday to begin their studies in medicine at a medical school in Caracas. REUTERS/Jorge Silva (VENEZUELA - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTR4D61U
Palestinian students arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas, Nov. 6, 2014. Some 100 Palestinian students arrived in Caracas to begin their studies at a medical school there. - REUTERS/Jorge Silva
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Adnan Abu Amer
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The Palestinian scene is still reeling from the latest Palestinian Authority (PA) corruption case. In November 2014, Venezuela — under President Nicolas Maduro — decided to provide 1,000 scholarships for Palestinian medical students following the Israeli war on Gaza.

The Palestinian Foreign and Education Ministries and the Palestinian Embassy in Venezuela manipulated the dispersal of scholarships in a scandal Palestinians fear will negatively affect Palestinian-Venezuelan relations. The news broke on July 13, when the Venezuelan authorities decided to deport dozens of Palestinian students.

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