Official PA daily op-ed: Palestinian terrorists “can never be abandoned, they are not terrorists but fighters”
Headline: "The [Palestinian] National Fund and Liberman's terror"
Excerpt of op-ed by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, regular columnist of the official PA daily
"[Israeli] Minister of War (sic., Defense) Avigdor Liberman demanded more than a week ago that the PLO [Palestinian] National Fund be considered a 'terrorist organization!' [What would he say] if they asked the minister of death (sic., defense): ‘On what basis did you make this statement? Did you check the summaries signed in the Oslo Accords? Do you know what the significance and status of the National Fund is within the PLO, which your government at the time recognized in Washington in 1993, and what the criteria of terror are? And what do you call the [Jewish] National Fund of the Jewish Agency (sic., the two organizations are not connected)? And what do you call the Zionist movement and your rebellious state? And what do you call yourself or how do you describe yourself, you who not long ago came from the remnants of the dismantled Soviet Union, at the beginning of the 1990s, to the land of Palestine as an occupier and thief?’
…
If the minister of war does not know the meaning of terror, it can be defined for him and for the Israeli colonialists like him: Terror is when a man, group, or state carries out an act of aggression (an explosion, bombing, kidnapping, or takeover) [parentheses in source] against other people anywhere in the world; or beginning a war against a people or members of a religion, ethnicity, or faith out of racial intent; or forcing the people to leave their homeland and stealing their property, lands, and homes, and that is the most severe form of global terror…
Returning to the matter of the Palestinian National Fund; it is one of the supporting pillars of the PLO, or its treasury. It takes care of the concerns of the people and is concerned about its interests, and it is responsible for the victims and the Martyrs (Shahids). It is also responsible for paying the salaries of the PLO leaders, fighters, and employees. When the government of [former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin recognized the PLO as the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people, it was aware of the role of the National Fund. The Palestinian people, through its national factions, has sacrificed processions of Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners one after another in order to defend its national rights and to achieve freedom, independence, and the establishment of an independent and sovereign state. Under no circumstances can they and the PLO responsibility to their families be abandoned. They are not terrorists. They are fighters, and therefore the PLO leadership must insist that Liberman take back his terrorist and racist statement. At the same time, it must defend the right of the Martyrs, wounded, prisoners, and their families to receive attention, and not make any concessions that are being suggested in one place or another in vague formulations, and which harm the national struggle."
PNF declared terrorist organization by Liberman:
On March 16, 2017, Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman declared the Palestinian National Fund of the PLO a terrorist organization. The fund manages financial aid received by the PLO from different sources. The Israeli Ministry of Defense declare the fund a terror organization due to the fund's "massive support for elements responsible for committing severe acts of terrorism against Israel," and stated that the fund serves "as a significant financial pipeline for tens of millions of shekels that are transferred on a monthly basis to security prisoners held in Israel for committing acts of terrorism and to members of their families," and that "the fund also supports family members of terrorists who were wounded and killed while perpetrating acts of terrorism against Israel." It also stated that "the necessary steps will be taken, in Israel and abroad, to seize and forfeit the property and money belonging to the fund.”
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA uses the Palestinian National Fund to transfer money for terrorist salaries to the PLO.
Excerpt of op-ed by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, regular columnist of the official PA daily
"[Israeli] Minister of War (sic., Defense) Avigdor Liberman demanded more than a week ago that the PLO [Palestinian] National Fund be considered a 'terrorist organization!' [What would he say] if they asked the minister of death (sic., defense): ‘On what basis did you make this statement? Did you check the summaries signed in the Oslo Accords? Do you know what the significance and status of the National Fund is within the PLO, which your government at the time recognized in Washington in 1993, and what the criteria of terror are? And what do you call the [Jewish] National Fund of the Jewish Agency (sic., the two organizations are not connected)? And what do you call the Zionist movement and your rebellious state? And what do you call yourself or how do you describe yourself, you who not long ago came from the remnants of the dismantled Soviet Union, at the beginning of the 1990s, to the land of Palestine as an occupier and thief?’
…
If the minister of war does not know the meaning of terror, it can be defined for him and for the Israeli colonialists like him: Terror is when a man, group, or state carries out an act of aggression (an explosion, bombing, kidnapping, or takeover) [parentheses in source] against other people anywhere in the world; or beginning a war against a people or members of a religion, ethnicity, or faith out of racial intent; or forcing the people to leave their homeland and stealing their property, lands, and homes, and that is the most severe form of global terror…
Returning to the matter of the Palestinian National Fund; it is one of the supporting pillars of the PLO, or its treasury. It takes care of the concerns of the people and is concerned about its interests, and it is responsible for the victims and the Martyrs (Shahids). It is also responsible for paying the salaries of the PLO leaders, fighters, and employees. When the government of [former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin recognized the PLO as the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people, it was aware of the role of the National Fund. The Palestinian people, through its national factions, has sacrificed processions of Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners one after another in order to defend its national rights and to achieve freedom, independence, and the establishment of an independent and sovereign state. Under no circumstances can they and the PLO responsibility to their families be abandoned. They are not terrorists. They are fighters, and therefore the PLO leadership must insist that Liberman take back his terrorist and racist statement. At the same time, it must defend the right of the Martyrs, wounded, prisoners, and their families to receive attention, and not make any concessions that are being suggested in one place or another in vague formulations, and which harm the national struggle."
PNF declared terrorist organization by Liberman:
On March 16, 2017, Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman declared the Palestinian National Fund of the PLO a terrorist organization. The fund manages financial aid received by the PLO from different sources. The Israeli Ministry of Defense declare the fund a terror organization due to the fund's "massive support for elements responsible for committing severe acts of terrorism against Israel," and stated that the fund serves "as a significant financial pipeline for tens of millions of shekels that are transferred on a monthly basis to security prisoners held in Israel for committing acts of terrorism and to members of their families," and that "the fund also supports family members of terrorists who were wounded and killed while perpetrating acts of terrorism against Israel." It also stated that "the necessary steps will be taken, in Israel and abroad, to seize and forfeit the property and money belonging to the fund.”
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA uses the Palestinian National Fund to transfer money for terrorist salaries to the PLO.