Based on the policies and philosophy of E'tilaf el Khair and its member institutions that are based on providing relief to the Palestinian people and helping them in the face of poverty, siege, and sufferings under the Israeli occupation regardless of political affiliation, race, or religion, of the affected, and in an attempt to resume cooperation between donor organizations especially in Europe and Palestinian institutions that are directly tied to helping the poor, orphans, and the needy, representatives of E'tilaf el Khair institutions in Europe held a meeting in an attempt to lay new foundations for cooperation with the Palestinian Zakat Fund and the newly appointed Zakat Committees.
This important meeting which was held in France was attended by Dr. essam Yousef, deputy president of the Palestinians Relief and Development Fund in Britain and the secretary general of E'tilaf el Khair, Shiekh Hassan Tahboub, Director of the Palestinian Zakat Fund, Jihad Qandil, Executive Director of the Palestinians Relief and Development Fund, INTERPAL, Ahmad Maymoun, Secretary General of the Committee for Palestine (CBSP), Khalid Alshouli, member of the board of directors of CBSP, and Naser Banjaloun, Chief Financial Officer of CBSP.
Through this meeting, E'tilaf el Khair wishes to stress that institutions working under its umbrella throughout the world, especially in Europe, have no factional, partisan, or political affiliations. It further stresses that its support for any project that serves the poor in Palestine is unbiased, and that the first and last goal these institutions is delivering the Palestinian people from poverty and need regardless of who they are or where they are, whether in Palestine or the refugee camps.
E'tilaf el Khair regrets placing some of its institutions by Israel and the United States on the so-called “terrorism” lists without investigation or verification, where the reality shows that these institutions were dedicated to humanitarian efforts as legal investigations have concluded in a number of European countries, among which are Denmark, The Netherlands, Britain, France, etc.., that such institutions are credible, transparent, and respect the laws of the countries in which they are based.
E'tilaf is stressing that it is attempting to lay the foundation for cooperation with the Palestinian Zakat Fund and the newly appointed Zakat Committees despite its objection to the manner and means in which changes were made to the administration councils of these committees and the reduction of its numbers in a way that resulted in hindering the efforts of charity institutions and created confusion in the Palestinian arena, given our belief in the necessity and need for positive changes and for developing the performance of these institutions and increasing their numbers, was and still is a factor in servicing the Palestinian people.
Despite that, E'tilaf showed readiness to cooperate with the Palestinian Zakat Fund and the newly appointed Zakat Committees welcoming any positive changes in these committees.
In the meeting, E'tilaf stressed the fact that the Zakat Committees in particular, and other charity institutions that E'tilaf dealt with in Palestine distinguished themselves with a great degree of credibility, integrity, transparency, and neutrality in serving the Palestinian people throughout Palestine, which earned it the confidence of major international organizations, such as UNRWA, European Union organizations, and others.
As a good beginning, E'tilaf proposed providing the Palestinian Zakat Fund with 40 tons of food provided that the Palestinian Zakat Fund secures the necessary permits to bring this shipment into the West Bank.

Additionally, some institutions in Europe will be providing financial assistance to the new committees and the Fund during the holy month of Ramadan, subject to monitoring and evaluation as E'tilaf has done with all institutions it dealt with in the past. E'tilaf hopes that this assistance will reach its destined audience in transparency and integrity.
Director of the Zakat Fund displayed readiness by the Fund and the Zakat Committees to provide all necessary documentations regarding the disbursement and distribution of assistance and implementation of programs. He expressed a genuine will to continue coordination and meetings to achieve the humanitarian goal of the donor institutions and the Fund.
We at E'tilaf el Khair will always support developing humanitarian efforts and helping the poor, needy, and orphans in all of Palestine in a manner that ensures delivery of aid to its deserving target on the West Bank and Gaza without any bias.
We hope that the gap within the Palestinian leaderships be bridged and stress the necessity to spare humanitarian and civil society institutions this conflict to avoid exacerbating this ongoing tragedy of the Palestinian people under the Israeli occupation.
Secretary General of E'tilaf el Khair
Dr. essam Yousef