Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund

The Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund is a fund operated by the Palestinian Authority for the purpose of paying a monthly cash stipend to the families of Palestinians killed, injured or imprisoned for involvement in attacking, assisting in attacking, or planning to attack Israel, or for other types of politically-inspired violence, including riots, violent demonstrations, and throwing rocks, and also for paying cash stipends to the families of innocent bystanders killed during violent events. In addition, it provides pocket money to all Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails for ordinary crimes.

The Fund traces its origins to a fund created by Fatah in 1964 to support the widows and orphans of Palestinian fedayeen.

History

The Palestine Mujahidin and Martyrs Fund was established in 1964 by Fatah to recompense the families of dead and wounded militants.[1] In 1971 it was replaced by the Society for the Care of Palestinian Martyrs and Prisoners. The Society defined as "military martyrs" not only as Palestinian fedayeen killed during terrorist operations, but to include fedayeen who died of natural causes while on active service. Their families received cash stipends. Non-members of the Palestine Liberation Organization killed during any kind of encounter with Israeli security forces were given a one-time payment; this created an incentive for families to apply posthumously to have their dead relatives reclassified as fighters.[2]

SAMED, the Palestine Martyrs Works Society, was founded in 1970; it handled some of the "martyr payments and provided employment in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in the 1970s.[1][2]

The payments were routinized during the Second Intifada (2000–2005).[3] In 2016, it made payments to 35,000 families, including the families of suicide bombers, from a 2016 annual budget of $170 million.[4][3] The stipend is higher than the average Palestinian wage.[3][5]

The question of whether militants from all political factions will receive Palestinian Authority subsidies has been highly contested within Palestinian society; President Mahmoud Abbas withdrew, then in 2009 restored, subsidies for prisoners belonging to the Palestinian Liberation Organization, but this government claims that it does not pay subsidies to families of prisoners belonging to Hamas or Islamic Jihad.[6]

In 2010 (or 2014), mounting criticism of the stipends caused the Palestinian Authority to return management of the Martyrs Fund to the Palestine Liberation Organization, which now disburses the government-funding to terrorists and their families.[7][8][9]

Names

The fund is often referred to as the Martyrs Fund, and, pejoratively, as "Pay for Slay."[10][11][12]

The a series of funding agencies have existed over the decades, including "Fund for Families of Martyrs and the Injured."[13]

Funding

In 2017, half of the $693 million that the PA receives as foreign aid, $345 million, was paid out as stipends to convicted terrorists and their families.[14]

Fund distribution

The funding system pays regular stipends to individuals and to the surviving families of individuals who carry out terrorist attacks, including suicide bombers, against Israelis and their survivors, and to individuals injured in violent demonstrations and riots and in mob attacks on Israeli civilians or security forces.[10][11][15] The agencies that disburse the funds employ over 500 bureaucrats.[10]

Funds are dispersed via separate agencies, one for families of prisoners and the other for the general population, including convicted terrorists released in prisoner exchanges.[8] Both agencies are "PLO institutions," but they are both funded by the Palestinian Authority.[16]

Prisoner fund

Under the Amended Palestinian Prisoners Law No. 19 (2004), terrorists who have served a year or more in an Israeli prison are entitled upon release to health insurance and tuition free school, university and professional education.[11] If they become civil servants, the law stipulates that the Palestinian Authority will "pay his social security and pension fees . . . for the years he spent in prison.”[11] Incarcerated terrorists are entitled to monthly stipends "linked to the cost-of-living index." The 2013 amendments to the law entitle terrorists released form prison to preference in getting jobs with the Palestinian Authority, and stipulates that the PA "will make up the difference" if the civil service salary "is lower than the salary he received in prison."[11] Female terrorists who have served 2 years in prison, and males who have served 5 are entitled to receive stipends for the rest of their lives.[11]

Foundation for the Care of the Families of Martyrs

The Foundation is dedicated to assisting an Arab who has been "wounded, killed, or otherwise affected as a result of their joining the revolution or the presence of the revolution," against Israel and operates within the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Social Affairs. In 2016 it supported 35,100 families.[8]

Countering Palestinian Authority claims that this is a welfare fund, the World Bank has stated that, "the program is clearly not targeted to the poorest households. While some assistance should be directed to this population, the level of resources devoted to the Fund for Martyrs and the Injured does not seem justified from a welfare or fiscal perspective."[13]

Stipends

Stipends are paid to families of both prisoners and of Palestinians killed in a contexts ranging from political demonstrations that turn violent where protestors are killed by non-lethal riot control methods (such as being hit by a tear gas cannister,) and to individuals imprisoned for "common crimes."[9] The fund also pays $106 a month in "canteen money" to all imprisoned Palestinians, including those imprisoned for non-political crimes such as car theft and drug dealing, for prisoners to spend in the prison canteen.[9]

Families of terrorists killed by Israeli security forces while they are murdering Israelis are paid stipends of about $800 to $1,000 per month. The families of convicted terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons receive $3,000 or higher per month.[17][12] According to Yossi Kuperwasser of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, in 2017 the Palestinian Authority was paying out $300 million annually in terrorism stipends, which tallies to about 7 percent of the Authority's annual budget, and to more than 20% of the total foreign aid donations given to the Authority by all governments.[17]

Douglas J. Feith calls the stipends "cash incentives" to spur Arabs to undertake car ramming and stabbing as a terrorist tactic.[11]

Salam Fayyad, a former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister and Finance Minister, stated that between January 1995 and June 2002 the Fund distributed 16m Israeli shekels to families of prisoners annually, and between June 2002 to June 2004 88.5m Israeli shekels annually.[18]

In 2017 the National Association of the Martyrs’ Families of Palestine demanded cost of living increases in their stipends, which had been unchanged since 2011.[19]

Private charities including the U.S. based Holyland Foundation have been accused of funding the stipends.[20]

Hamas

Hamas has operated a separate Martyrs Fund since well before the 2007 insurgent coup d'etat resulting in the Hamas' takeover of Gaza.[21]

In 2001 Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, boasted that Hamas payments to the families of prisoners and of suicide bombers totaled between $2 and $3 million. But according to a 2001 Israeli government report, the families of prisoners received an initial lump sum payment of $500 – $5000, with monthly stipends of about $100, with higher payments for the families of Hamas members.[22]

The Hamas-controlled Unlimited Friends Association for Social Development (UFA) in Gaza is supported by eight registered U.S. charities. By its own account, UFA distributes cash both to the needy and to "the families of martyrs and prisoners," and " “families of martyrs of the Palestinian people."[23]

Attitude of Palestinian society

The "martyr" payments are "exceedingly popular" among Palestinians and have been described as "part of the ethos of Palestinian society."[3][9] Ziad Asali, founding president of the American Task Force on Palestine, told a reporter that Palestinian politicians and the media have elevated these payments to the point where they are "sacred in Palestinian politics," and no government dares terminate the practice.[3]

Professor Nathan Brown of George Washington University says that the stipends to prisoner's families are "universally supported among Palestinians."[9]

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club defends the stipends, the Club's leader, Qadura Fares, maintains that payments supporting the families of prisoners are just because the families, "are a part of our people" and that "the family did nothing against anyone." According to Fares, the attacks for which the prisoners were convicted are "not terror," but "part of the struggle" against Israel.[9]

In June, 2017, Palestinian Authority President Mahmood Abbas called efforts to stop the martyr payments an "aggression against the Palestinian people," and defended the salaries paid to imprisoned Palestinians as a "social responsibility."[24]

Response by governments

Israel

Prime Minister Netanyahu calls the payments "an incentive for murder".[4] The Israeli government, describing the payments as glorifying terrorism, responded to the 2016 killing of Hallel Yaffa Ariel by threatening to deduct the value of "Martyr" payments from the tax revenue it pays to the Palestinian Authority.[4][25] The United States has threatened to deduct the sums paid out to "martyrs" via the fund from the subsidies it grants to the Palestinian Authority.[3]

A bill introduced in the Israeli Knesset in 2017 would reduce the flow of tax payments collected by Israeli inland revenue on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to the Authority by the sum of annual payouts from the Martyrs Fund[26][14]

Speaking before the United Nations Security Council on the 24th of June 2017, Israeli ambassador Danny Danon, together with Oran Almog, one of the victims of the Maxim restaurant suicide bombing, demanded that the Palestinian Authority cease incentivizing terrorism by paying stipends to terrorists.[27][28][29]

Germany

The government of Germany is reviewing the payment of foreign aid to the PA in the light of the use of these funds to incentivize terrorism.[26]

Norway

In 2016 Børge Brende, foreign Minister of Norway, demanded that the PA cease using Norwegian foreign aid for "martyr" stipends. He was satisfied with an assurance that Norwegian funds would not be used for the stipends, although the change was purely "cosmetic" since PA funds are fungible.[30]

United States

The Taylor Force Act, a bill proposed in the United States Congress in 2016 would end foreign aid payments to the Palestinian Authority until the payment of stipends to terrorists and their surviving families ends.[31][10]

References

  1. 1 2 Marron, Rayyar (2016). Humanitarian Rackets and their Moral Hazards: The Case of the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon. Routledge. ISBN 1317119495. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 Yazīd, Ṣāyigh (1997). Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949–1993. Clarendon. p. 60. ISBN 0198292651.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lake, Eli (1 July 2016). "The Palestinian Incentive Program for Killing Jews". Bloomberg. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Israel puts Palestinians on defensive over 'martyrs' fund'". Philadelphia Tribune. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Gordon, Evelyn (30 June 2016). "Stop Subsidizing Terror Murder". Commentary magazine. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "Stipends for PLO-member political prisoners". Palestine News Network. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Study: Palestinian Authority Paid Over $1 Billion to Terrorists in 4 Years". The Tower Magazine. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 Makovsky, David (6 April 2017). "If Palestinians are serious about peace, ‘martyr’ violence should not pay". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Zeveloff, Naomi (26 August 2016). "Unpacking the Controversial History of Subsidizing Terror". The Forward. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Pay for Slay in Palestine U.S. aid becomes a transfer payment for terrorists". Wall Street Journal. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Feith, Douglas (15 March 2017). "The Department of Pay for Slay". Commentary magazine. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  12. 1 2 Diament, Nathan (6 March 2017). "How to end the Palestinian Authority's 'pay-for-slay' laws". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  13. 1 2 Levitt, Matthew (20 November 2015). "The P.L.O. Verdict Should Be No Surprise". New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  14. 1 2 Lieber, Dov (31 July 2017). "PA payments to prisoners, ‘martyr’ families now equal half its foreign aid". Times of Israel. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  15. ↑ Baker, Peter (2 May 2017). "G.O.P. Pressures Trump to Take Tough Stance With Mahmoud Abbas". New York Times. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  16. ↑ Daraghmeh, Mohammed (11 July 2016). "Israel puts Palestinians on defensive over 'martyrs' fund'". AP Worldstream. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  17. 1 2 Booth, Willliam (21 May 2017). "Israel wants Trump to stop Palestinian payments to prisoners and families of ‘martyrs’". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  18. ↑ Fayyad, Salam (15 July 2004). "Palestinian finance minister rejects "unjust" allegations over prisoner funds". BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  19. ↑ "Amid growing US criticism, families of Palestinian terrorists seek larger payments". Times of Israel. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  20. ↑ Stork, Joe (October 2002). "VI. Financial and logistical support". Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians (Report). Human Rights Watch.
  21. ↑ Levitt, Matthew (2008). Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. Yale University Press. p. 59. ISBN 0300129017.
  22. ↑ Westrup, Sam (12 January 2017). "How American Charities Fund Terrorism". National Review. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  23. ↑ "Abbas Defends Payments to Terrorists After Meeting With U.S. Envoys". The Tower Magazine. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  24. ↑ "PA under pressure over ‘martyr’ stipends it pays to terrorists’ families". Times of Israel. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  25. 1 2 Paleggi, Tamar (3 April 2017). "New law would deduct ‘martyr’ payments from Palestinian tax revenues". Times of Israel. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  26. ↑ Halamish Terrorist Will Receive Monthly Salary from Palestinian Authority, Jewish Press, 24 July 2017
  27. ↑ Danon shows photos from Halamish terror attack at UN, YNET, Itamar Eichner, 24 July 2017
  28. ↑ "After Halamish attack, Israel demands UN address PA terror payments". Times of Israel. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  29. ↑ "Abbas confirms PA still paying terrorists' salaries". Times of Israel. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  30. ↑ Tubbs, Ashlyn (28 September 2016). "Senators introduce Taylor Force Act to cut terror attack funding". KCBD. Retrieved 15 November 2016.

Sources

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