(200) Contemporary foreign aid is often portrayed as a unilateral gift that expresses symbolic domination. Like archaic gifts, it is received with a ‘burden attached’, and the ‘spirit’ present in international aid transfers may not only undermine the foundations of local communities but can also fuel violence. As demonstrated by earlier studies donors supporting the Palestinian Authority have also been complicit in maintaining the Israeli occupation. Therefore, this paper aims to explore how the ‘spirit’ – noble ideas, such as liberal peace, non-violence – is coded in contemporary aid relations and how it might fuel tensions by dividing the recipient society. By using the European Union as a case study and scrutinising risk-mitigation procedures prescribed in funding agreements and assessed in audit reports, the paper conceptualises technical conditionality and practices such as eligibility checks and screening as the ‘magical force’ whereby the EU as a donor transfers not only its ‘soul and substantial presence’, but also that of the international community with Israel among its members. By accepting aid, Palestinians accept the spiritual essence of gifts ‘within their own space’ at the expense of social cohesion and political unity, as the gap between beneficiaries and those excluded from aid projects increases.
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