Palestinian Authority Pays Off Terrorists

On Monday, December 5, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas approved financial aid for the families of suicide terrorists. This act guarantees that the cycle of violence between Palestinians and Israel will continue.

With the new law, all members of the family benefit on a monthly basis. “The bomber’s family, along with those of every other deceased killer, will now receive at least $250 a month in direct government aid …” (Jerusalem Newswire,December 5).

This means that the annual “martyr” stipend budget will grow by $20 million to meet demand.

Another recently approved law will allot $50 million per year to support wounded terrorists or those in Israeli prisons. According to Palestinian Authority (pa) figures, Palestinians already budget $4 million for those in prison.

Eleven million dollars are allotted for families of the 3,746 Palestinians who have actually succeeded in terminating their own lives and those of innocent Israelis during the recent Intifada. In fact, more than 10 percent of the pa’s overall $1 billion budget is earmarked as stipends for “martyr” families and imprisoned or wounded suicide bombers.

With this new law joining related laws already on the books, the Palestinian Authority is funding a culture of terror.

The money legitimizes criminals and provides incentive for new recruits. “That amount of money [$250] is more than most lower class ‘Palestinians’ can hope to make working menial jobs. This fact, coupled with a culture that glorifies deceased terrorists as national heroes, has the potential to increase the number of young Palestinian Arabs willing to give their lives to kill Jews” (ibid.).

The day Abbas signed the law, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated explosives in a shopping center in an Israeli town north of the West Bank, killing five and wounding scores of others.

In a written statement, Abbas reacted with shock: “This operation … against civilians causes the most serious harm to our commitment to the peace process and the Palestinian National Authority (pna) will not go easy on whoever is found to be responsible for this operation” (Xinhua News Agency, December 5).

This new law belies Abbas’s tough rhetoric. What, in fact, is really going to happen? At a minimum, a $250 check will be sent to the family.

Even though the Palestinian leadership claims to desire peace, its laws evidence the contrary. If Abbas was serious about the Palestinian commitment to peace with Israel, his politics would not be a fountainhead of support.

And despite Abbas claiming that terrorist suicide bombers pose “serious harm” to the peace process, his actions speak otherwise.

Christ said, by their fruits you shall know them (Matthew 7:20). World leaders must be judged by what they do, not what they say.