by Itamar Marcus
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has condemned the U.S. Senators of the Committee on Foreign Relations for their vote in favor of the Taylor Force Act, which calls to cut all funding to the Palestinian Authority if it continues paying salaries to terrorists and allowances to families of so-called Martyrs. The condemnation was issued at a meeting of the PLO Executive Committee, led by PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
The PA’s rewarding of terror has been a source of contention between the Palestinian Authority and its American and European funders since 2011, when Palestinian Media Watch first exposed the PA’s practice of rewarding terrorist prisoners. The U.S. Congress finally decided to act decisively after becoming aware that the family of the murderer of American veteran and university student Taylor Force, who was killed last year in Tel Aviv, would be receiving a lifetime monthly stipend.
The Palestinian Authority sees all Israelis and all visitors to Israel as legitimate targets, and therefore rewards the terrorists and families of those who are either imprisoned or killed.
Accordingly, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is defying the international community — including the donor countries — by continuing to spend $355 million a year on these payments.
The PLO Executive Committee’s condemnation of the U.S. Senators is another statement by Mahmoud Abbas that he has no intention of seeing the murder of Israeli civilians and visitors to Israel as terror, and therefore will continue to reward the killers.
The following is the translation of the article posted on the Facebook page of the Abbas-led Fatah Movement’s Bethlehem branch, Aug. 13, 2017, about the PLO decision:
“The PLO Executive Committee, led by [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas, met at the [PA’s] presidential headquarters and discussed the political developments…
“The [PLO] Executive Committee condemned the legislators of the American Congress and their positions towards the Palestinian people… and sees the American Senate Committee on Foreign Relations’ approval of stopping American aid to the PA – if it does not stop the aid to the families of the Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners – as an unacceptable act that will negatively affect everything that is connected to the Palestinians’ rights, and particularly their right to life and protection from the occupation army’s violations, and [from] the summary executions that it carries out in the streets and military checkpoints of the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
“[The Executive Committee] emphasized the rejection of this [American] extortion and the rejection of using the tool of financial aid to extract political concessions.
“[The Executive Committee] emphasized that the PLO will continue its national, moral, and humanitarian responsibility towards the occupation’s victims, the victims of the organized state terror, and the victims of the herds of settlers and their terror organizations, which the government of Israel supports and provides with protection and patronage, with the blessings of the legislators of the American Congress…
“The [PLO] Executive Committee sent a blessing of appreciation and pride to the freedom prisoners of war for their legendary stance, and emphasized that their release is at the top of its agenda.”
[Facebook page of the Fatah Movement’s Bethlehem Branch, Aug. 13, 2017]