OK, nobody likes taxes. But being honest we know that there are lots of issues in our communities, local, regional and statewide, wherever we live, that need to be taken care for and that.... mean taxes.
People usually complain about badly spent or wasted tax money ( I am no exception). But much as we disagree about what is wasted tax money I hope we all agree that paying for terrorism, murders or attempted murders is singularly bad spent tax money (to put it extremely mildly). And probably most of us believes our respective governments are not doing anything like that. Well, you might be wrong (specially if you live in any country financially supporting UNRWA or Palestinian aid).
Since the Peace Process in 90s Palestinian Authority passes law, rarely dealing with trivial matters of education, healthcare, infrastructure, and so on. For example the 2003 Amended Palestinian Basic Law guarantees the right of “martyrs, prisoners of war, the injured and the disabled,” to “education, health and social insurance.” A series of other laws from 2004 and 2013 mandate payments to terrorists and/or their families with the amount determined according to the severity of the crime.
Each of these laws—Law No. 14 (2004), Amended Palestinian Prisoners Law No. 19 (2004), and Decree No. 1 (2013) on the Amendment of the Prisoners and Released Prisoners Law No. 19 (2004)—defines a prisoner as “anyone incarcerated in the occupation’s prisons for his participation in the struggle against the occupation,” meaning involvement in terror attacks against Israel. Significantly, these laws reward only terrorists who killed or injured Israelis or attempted to do so. Persons convicted of other crimes, like theft, do not receive similar rewards.
The rewards to these terrorists include monthly salary and other benefits, such as tuition fees at state universities and priority job placements at state institutions upon release from prison, with seniority determined based on the length of the prison term. Likewise, pursuant to PA Government Decision No. 23 of 2010, the amount of the monthly salary is fixed based on the length of the prison term.15 Thus, the more serious the crime, the longer the prison sentence and the higher the salary.
Thousands of Palestinian prisoners currently serving or having served time in Israeli jails for terror-related offenses receive salaries and benefits from the PA. Despite a financial crisis in 2019 which led to cuts in the salaries of the PA’s actual public employees, PA salaries to terrorists increased.
Of course, since many of the PA expenses are paid directly from international aid this is (sometimes) money received from democratic countries. Not intentionally, but for the lack of supervision, lack of reaction and lack of care the money is paid for slaying the Jews by quasi-state entity so wildly recognized by Western government during previous 2 years of was this entity has started. Now tell me murder and war don't pay. Literally....
Look at the Article 22 of the Basic Palestinian Law. I know it sound innocently, but what it means is paying for terror acts: shooting, stone throwing at passing vehicles, attacking with knives or axes, ramming with car people waiting on the bus stops and so on. As of 2018 the pay-for-slay budget amounted to 7% of Palestinian budget. Look at main positions in Western budgets: healthcare (where it is public), judiciary system, education, military. By any standards 7% of the budget is a HUGE amount of money. That tells all we need to know about PA priorities. Abbas, in his 20th year of his 4 year term in office is not interested in welfare payments, infrastructure, healthcare or pension system, but pay-for-slay? Yes, of course.
To be honest last month he tried to finally comply with US and Israeli demands to stop pay-for-slay system. He issued a decree creating Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Institution which was to create the system of stipends based on economic need basis and not the basis of the gravity of crime. The result? The West Bank erupted in protests. Below you will find some quotes from what protesters said:
“We reject the decision to treat the prisoners as welfare cases,” a young woman said at a rally in Tulkarm. “We will not resort to the Tamkeen (PNEEI) institution. They [the prisoners, the wounded, and the families of the martyrs] lost their lives for the homeland.”
“The prisoners represent the essence of our national cause. We will not give up our rights, and we will not remain silent.”
“These are the unalienable rights of the prisoners, and they cannot be subject to political blackmail.”
“Transferring this national issue to a body that deals with it as welfare cases is a dangerous insult to our national dignity and a blatant distortion of the sacrifices of those who fought for our people’s freedom and rights.” (this is by Tawfik Tirawi, the Fatah official).
As you can see murdering innocent Jews on bus stops decides about dignity of Palestinians. Interesting, isn't it?
To be true the US tried to stop the system by passing in 2018 the Taylor Force Act, in honor of the US soldier, Taylor Force, a native of Texas, who served tours of duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq. After completing his service, Taylor entered the Vanderbilt University to study for an MBA. He was murdered (stabbed to death) in Israel in 2016 by a Palestinian terrorist. At the time of his murder, he was visiting Israel as part of a study group examining global entrepreneurship. The US stopped paying aid and UNRWA donations for some time but it started again, so in a way you may say the US is rewarding terrorist who killed their distinguished soldier who was fighting in two US wars. Isn't it interesting?
From the same 2018 Israel is withholding part of taxes which she collects from Palestinians on behalf of Palestinian Authority (since peace process) and passes to it. The part the equals the paid as pay-to-slay stipends. It started in Israel in 2016, after the murder, by 17-year-old from West Bank of 13-year-old girl, Hallel Yaffa Ariel, in one of the settlements. He entered her house at night and stabbed her to death. Is this dignity? I wouldn't say so, but it was rewarded with a pay-to-slay stipend to his family after he was killed by the guard on the place of his crime.
Up to now the Israel is withholding the exact amount of taxes paid by Palestinians as pay-for-slay fund before passing the money to Palestinian Authority. Of course it is labeled by Fatah, Hamas and their supporters (notably from quite a few pro-Palestinian Western organizations) as theft. But imagine if your country would be collecting money from people who, as a national group, want to slay you, your family and your children, regardless of your opinion about the conflict, and if some of them would receive money just for performing terrorist acts would you like your government to react? I suppose you would.
Here are the pictures of Hallel Yaffa Ariel and Taylor Force, whose murderers didn't know anything about any of them, murdered them just because they were Jews or they were thought to be Jews (Taylor), and were rewarded by PA with a stipend.
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