THE new Israeli law that will withhold money from the Palestinian Authority over its payments to families of Palestinians jailed or killed by Israel is tantamount to daylight robbery.
The new law — approved by 87 votes to 15 in the 120-seat Knesset — requires the Israeli government to withhold an amount of tax revenue equal to what is paid by the PA to “individuals who were involved in terror activity against Israelis and their families”. If the Defense Ministry determines that such payments are no longer being made, the frozen funds will be returned to the PA.
Either we support the MPs behind the bill who say the payments are “essentially an expression of support for acts of terror”. Or we go with the PA which says it is welfare for relatives of prisoners and “martyrs”. The more appropriate is the latter. When the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, Israel knew that the PA doles out money to these families but it never objected. So why now?
According to a sponsor of the legislation, the PA pays around $330 million a year to prisoners and their families, accounting for seven percent of its budget. It’s not a big sum of money; in fact, it’s a stipend, not a permanent salary. This is social welfare money that goes to Palestinian families who have lost their source of income. Many of their family members in jail were their breadwinners.
In addition, even if the prisoners are considered heroes, their families are bearing the brunt of their actions. The least the families should expect is some financial compensation. It’s like when Israel razes the entire houses of rebel Palestinians. Why should the families be the collateral damage?
And it should never be forgotten that Palestinians are attacking because Israelis are occupying their territory, for the past 70 years.
This is not just an Israeli decision. The US, too, introduced legislation that became law in March that also withholds some aid to the Palestinian leadership over the payments to prisoners' families and the families of those killed while carrying out attacks. The law, known as the “Taylor Force Act”, is named after a US military veteran and graduate student who was killed in a 2016 attack while he was visiting Israel. Because of one American death, a whole law was passed. If Israel and the US paid for every Palestinian killed and maimed by the Israeli occupation, every single Palestinian family would be multi-millionaires.
Isn’t it enough that the US, which has been the top donor to the agency that helps Palestinian refugees across the Middle East and which last year provided $364 million, suspended that assistance after the Trump administration announced it was withholding more than half of its initial installment of $125 million until the agency implements structural changes (in other words, until the Palestinians agree to a new peace plan the US has devised?)
The issue of Palestinians detained by the Israeli occupation reflects the history of the Palestinian struggle, a way to preserve its identity through different forms of struggle. On a daily basis, prisoners endure the bitterness of oppression, making the historical sacrifices that have been made, and are still being made, including those who have been martyred, injured, disabled, orphaned, widowed and detained. The prisoners promote Palestinian rights throughout the world, and remind the world of the justness of their cause, propelling it to the helm of Arab, regional and international concerns.
The PA is responsible for all Palestinians and for the families of prisoners and martyrs within a program of social assistance. This new law amounts to piracy and theft. The money belongs to the Palestinians and Israel has no right to hold it back from them. It isn’t enough that Israel has stolen Palestinian land. Now it’s stealing Palestinian money.
