Last week, the Palestinian Authority announced that it will be giving an additional $46 million a year to released prisoners, including hundreds of murderers of civilians, this according to a report by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). This new funding is an addition to the tens of millions the PA already gives in salaries and other benefits to terrorists in prison and released terrorists. The PA’s funding of terrorists is enabled by money the US and European countries give to the PA for salaries and its general budget.
The official announcement was made by the PA Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake, who said that the PA government has approved a regulation of the Prisoners’ Law that “is concerned with improving conditions for released [prisoners],” a regulation whose “budget… has been estimated at 160 million shekels a year.”
These 160 million shekels ($46 million) for terrorists, including mass murderers, is made possible by international donors. This was made clear in the PA Minister’s announcement. He explained that the PA was not able to fund this financial support for released prisoners in 2013 because of its “large budget deficit,” so it will only start in 2014: “Karake noted that the government has acknowledged the importance of the regulation and the need to implement it according to the rules. However, due to the large budget deficit and the PA’s financial situation, establishing the budget, which has been estimated at 160 million shekels a year, has been postponed until April [2014],” an Al-Hayat Al-Jadida report cited. The PA did not cover its 2013 budget without hundreds of millions of dollars from Western donors, tens of millions of which went directly into the bank accounts of terrorists. Since there have been no reports of massive improvements in the PA economy freeing it of the need to receive Western aid to pay its budget, clearly the PA is counting on Western donor money to facilitate this $46 million to terrorists as well.
Most Western countries have laws and regulations prohibiting support for terrorists or former terrorists. The US, the UK, Holland, Norway, Sweden and others have debated, proposed and/or passed laws or motions in parliament against giving the Palestinian Authority money that ends up in the hands of terrorists. In spite of their laws and their opposition, these countries continue to fund the PA’s general budget, thereby paying tens of millions of dollars to terrorists as salaries and other payments.
In 2011, Palestinian Media Watch exposed that the PA pays high salaries to imprisoned terrorists. Similarly, the PA gives salaries, grants and other financial benefits to released terrorist prisoners. Since then, many European countries have condemned the PA’s use of their money to pay terrorists. However, the PA responded to Western criticism by mocking European donors for wanting their money to remain “clean.” In the words of the same PA Minister who announced the $46 million for released prisoners on official PA TV:
“The Europeans want their money that comes to us to remain clean – not to go to families of those they claim to be ‘terrorists.’ [They] need to renounce this occupation (Israeli) mentality. These [prisoners] are heroes, self-sacrificing fighters (fedayyeen), and fighters who fought so that we could live in dignity… These heroes, whom you [the audience] are applauding, must live in dignity, so that we will continue to hold our heads high. We appreciate the people of the revolution and are proud of them.”
Although the PA has rejected the European demand not to fund terrorists, neither the US, the UK, Holland, Norway, Sweden or any other donors have announced over the last year a cessation of funding for PA salaries or the PA general budget, from which the PA pays the terrorists. It is therefore not surprising that the PA continues to use donor money as it pleases against donor wishes. In addition to paying salaries to terrorists, the PA uses donor money to glorify terrorist murderers, propagate libels demonizing Israel, promote violence and spread Anti-Semitism among its people. To this, the PA has added and additional $46 million payment to terrorists, which will be paid by Western taxpayers in 2014.
By Aryeh Savir
Tazpit News Agency