by Erez Linn and Israel Hayom Staff
Paying terrorists and their families is "a clear national duty that cannot be compromised," PA official Issa Qaraqe says
Head of prisoner affairs for
the Palestinian Authority Issa Qaraqe
|Photo credit: AP
 |
The Palestinian Authority has no intention of
suspending payments to terrorists and their families, a new report by
the Middle East Media Research Institute has found.
The Palestinian Authority spends millions of
dollars annually paying stipends to the families of terrorists who are
either jailed in Israel or were killed while carrying out terrorist
attacks against Israelis, a practice Israel has repeatedly condemned.
In 2016, the Palestinian Authority's payments amounted to
1.15 billion shekels ($322 million) -- 7% of the Palestinian
Authority's total budget for salaries and about 20% of the foreign aid
it received.
Ramallah officials told the Palestinian daily
newspaper Al-Quds that U.S. Special Representative for International
Negotiations Jason Greenblatt was told that the Palestinian Authority
would not change its policy, as it may create a "breeding ground" for
terrorism.
The MEMRI report, issued Friday, quoted the
head of prisoner affairs for the Palestinian Authority, Issa Qaraqe, as
saying that the stipends were "a clear national duty that cannot be
compromised. ... The PA's allowances to the prisoners, the wounded and
the families of martyrs are a red line and a fundamental principle on
which we will in no way compromise."
Qaraqe also criticized U.S. officials, saying
that their announcements that Ramallah was considering suspending the
payments constitute "U.S.-Israeli aggression against the Palestinian
people and the PA."
The Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted Qaraqe
as saying, "We will continue paying the families of the martyrs and
prisoners and will not succumb to Israeli pressure. We will continue
aiding them, for they are victims of the occupation."
PLO Executive Committee member Ahmad Majdalani
was quoted by the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed network as saying,
"The [Palestinian] leadership has not complied [with the demand] to stop
the allowances of the prisoners, martyrs and wounded. Even if there was
[such an] American demand, that does not mean that the PA would comply
with it.
"This issue is not subject to U.S.-Israeli
extortion. ... Our duty to pay the allowances to the families of the
martyrs, the wounded and the prisoners is moral, national and social,
and it is a red line that no one will cross."
Senior Palestinian figures threatened to
pursue legal action against Israel it if deducts these stipends from
taxes and customs it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority,
which amount to over $100 million a month.
"The occupation authorities have no right to
withhold tax revenues [owed to] the Palestinians," Qaraqe told Wafa. "We
will sue Israel in international courts for deducting the sum paid to
the prisoners and to the martyrs' families from the tax funds [it owes]
the PA."
Erez Linn and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=43191
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