Palestinians from Gaza express support for PLO because "all of the prisoners... receive their salaries from the PLO, and that sometimes they are higher than salaries of judges and doctors"
Headline: “Voices from Gaza: This Palestinian [Abbas] and this organization [the PLO] represent me”
“Dozens of intellectuals, politicians, academics, and even activists of [political] parties, members of various organizations, and veteran prisoners from the Gaza Strip expressed their full and voluntary support for the PLO and [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas…
Dr. Khader Mahjez said: ‘The PLO did not agree with me about my affiliation with Hamas when I was one of its [Hamas’] founders, but when I was imprisoned on charges [of being affiliated with] Hamas, the PLO paid me compensation and did not ask me about my organizational affiliation.’ …
Marwan Abu Shariah wrote: ‘I’m in favor of the PLO and concerned about its fate because when I was in prison my father went to a PLO ministry in Amman and received a monthly allowance from them for a married prisoner, without them asking him about my affiliation and my opinion on the PLO… I’m in favor of the PLO because I discovered that all of the prisoners, and prime among them the prisoners from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, receive their salaries from the PLO, and that sometimes they are higher than salaries of judges and doctors. This is while their factions did not give them and their families even a tenth of what the PLO gave them, despite the difficulties and harassment that the PLO is dealing with on this matter (apparently refers to implementation of Israeli law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.). If not for these salaries, their families would have been abandoned to their fate. The same is true about the Martyrs (Shahids) and the wounded.’”
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Law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money - Israeli law stating that the PA payments to terrorists and the families of dead terrorists is a financial incentive to terror. The law instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. Should the PA stop these payments for a full year, the Israeli government would have the option of giving all or part of the frozen money to the PA.
The law was enacted by the Israeli Parliament on July 2, 2018, and its first implementation was approved by Israel's Security Cabinet on Feb. 17, 2019, when it decided to withhold 502,697,000 Israeli shekels (approximately $138 million) from the PA. In response, the PA announced it would not accept any of the tax money collected by Israel unless it also included the frozen amount.
During the initial parliamentary vote in 2018, the law's sponsor Avi Dichter said: “The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee received much help in its deliberations... from Palestinian Media Watch who provided us with authentic data that enabled productive and professional deliberations, nuances that are very difficult to achieve without precise data.” [Israeli Parliament website, July 2, 2018]
“Dozens of intellectuals, politicians, academics, and even activists of [political] parties, members of various organizations, and veteran prisoners from the Gaza Strip expressed their full and voluntary support for the PLO and [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas…
Dr. Khader Mahjez said: ‘The PLO did not agree with me about my affiliation with Hamas when I was one of its [Hamas’] founders, but when I was imprisoned on charges [of being affiliated with] Hamas, the PLO paid me compensation and did not ask me about my organizational affiliation.’ …
Marwan Abu Shariah wrote: ‘I’m in favor of the PLO and concerned about its fate because when I was in prison my father went to a PLO ministry in Amman and received a monthly allowance from them for a married prisoner, without them asking him about my affiliation and my opinion on the PLO… I’m in favor of the PLO because I discovered that all of the prisoners, and prime among them the prisoners from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, receive their salaries from the PLO, and that sometimes they are higher than salaries of judges and doctors. This is while their factions did not give them and their families even a tenth of what the PLO gave them, despite the difficulties and harassment that the PLO is dealing with on this matter (apparently refers to implementation of Israeli law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money; see note below –Ed.). If not for these salaries, their families would have been abandoned to their fate. The same is true about the Martyrs (Shahids) and the wounded.’”
Click to view bulletin
Law to deduct terrorist salaries from PA tax money - Israeli law stating that the PA payments to terrorists and the families of dead terrorists is a financial incentive to terror. The law instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. Should the PA stop these payments for a full year, the Israeli government would have the option of giving all or part of the frozen money to the PA.
The law was enacted by the Israeli Parliament on July 2, 2018, and its first implementation was approved by Israel's Security Cabinet on Feb. 17, 2019, when it decided to withhold 502,697,000 Israeli shekels (approximately $138 million) from the PA. In response, the PA announced it would not accept any of the tax money collected by Israel unless it also included the frozen amount.
During the initial parliamentary vote in 2018, the law's sponsor Avi Dichter said: “The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee received much help in its deliberations... from Palestinian Media Watch who provided us with authentic data that enabled productive and professional deliberations, nuances that are very difficult to achieve without precise data.” [Israeli Parliament website, July 2, 2018]
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