PLO Chief Negotiator says Israel is "shirking its obligations to pay the salaries" of Palestinian terrorist prisoners, and should "commit itself to paying the allowances of the prisoners"
Headline: “The PLO and prisoners’ institutions demanded to cancel the racist legislation against the prisoners”
“The PLO and prisoners’ institutions demanded to cancel [Israel’s] racist legislation against the prisoners in the Israeli occupation’s prisons. This was during a meeting of PLO Executive Committee Secretary, [Fatah Central Committee member, and PLO Chief Negotiator] Saeb Erekat, Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake, and [PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club President Qadura Fares…
Erekat noted that the [Israeli] law to deduct the prisoners’ allowances (mukhassasat, refers to an Israeli bill; see note below –Ed.) comes as part of an organized incitement campaign to present the Palestinian people’s struggle as a crime and to mislead world public opinion by marking our legal struggle against the occupation as terrorism.
He emphasized that Palestine has been paying the financial price of the occupation in light of [Israel] shirking its obligations to pay the salaries (rawatib) of the prisoners and the families that they provide for, and he mentioned Israel’s obligations as the one holding them [the prisoners], which also include financial obligations according to the Fourth Geneva Convention (sic., the Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply, see note below).
He said: ‘Israel is not only violating international law, but is also stealing and manipulating the prisoners’ money in favor of the occupation state through the extension of their term of imprisonment and the profits that it derives from what the prisoners pay in exchange for their food and their basic commodities for which the occupation state is obligated. Therefore the allowances that Palestine pays the families of the prisoners, Martyrs (Shahids), and wounded are a legal commitment and national and humanitarian duty, and the Palestinian people’s struggle against the colonialist occupation is a historical and legal right of all peoples subjected to occupation.’
He also demanded that the states of the world restrain the incitement campaigns that Israel is waging and confront it with international law. In addition, Erekat demanded that Israel immediately cancel its racist legislation and commit itself to paying the allowances of the prisoners and their families that are financially dependent upon them, and to compensating Palestine for all of the prisoners’ allowances and salaries that it has stolen for 50 years.”
Bill to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money - On Feb. 18, 2018, the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill proposed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense that would deduct the amount of money the PA pays imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. The bill would enable the deducted money to be used for infrastructure benefitting all West Bank residents, compensation awarded to terror victims in lawsuits against the PA or individual terrorists, and projects aimed at eliminating terror.
The Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates that an occupying power that holds protected persons as internees has certain obligations regarding their livelihood and the livelihood of those dependent upon them. However, it also explicitly states that a person who is “suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State… shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the present Convention.” This definition clearly disproves the claim that Israel has financial obligations to provide for convicted Palestinian terrorist prisoners who are not considered “internees,” and likewise those held in administrative detention are “suspected of… activities hostile to the security of the State.”
“The PLO and prisoners’ institutions demanded to cancel [Israel’s] racist legislation against the prisoners in the Israeli occupation’s prisons. This was during a meeting of PLO Executive Committee Secretary, [Fatah Central Committee member, and PLO Chief Negotiator] Saeb Erekat, Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake, and [PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club President Qadura Fares…
Erekat noted that the [Israeli] law to deduct the prisoners’ allowances (mukhassasat, refers to an Israeli bill; see note below –Ed.) comes as part of an organized incitement campaign to present the Palestinian people’s struggle as a crime and to mislead world public opinion by marking our legal struggle against the occupation as terrorism.
He emphasized that Palestine has been paying the financial price of the occupation in light of [Israel] shirking its obligations to pay the salaries (rawatib) of the prisoners and the families that they provide for, and he mentioned Israel’s obligations as the one holding them [the prisoners], which also include financial obligations according to the Fourth Geneva Convention (sic., the Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply, see note below).
He said: ‘Israel is not only violating international law, but is also stealing and manipulating the prisoners’ money in favor of the occupation state through the extension of their term of imprisonment and the profits that it derives from what the prisoners pay in exchange for their food and their basic commodities for which the occupation state is obligated. Therefore the allowances that Palestine pays the families of the prisoners, Martyrs (Shahids), and wounded are a legal commitment and national and humanitarian duty, and the Palestinian people’s struggle against the colonialist occupation is a historical and legal right of all peoples subjected to occupation.’
He also demanded that the states of the world restrain the incitement campaigns that Israel is waging and confront it with international law. In addition, Erekat demanded that Israel immediately cancel its racist legislation and commit itself to paying the allowances of the prisoners and their families that are financially dependent upon them, and to compensating Palestine for all of the prisoners’ allowances and salaries that it has stolen for 50 years.”
Bill to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money - On Feb. 18, 2018, the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill proposed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense that would deduct the amount of money the PA pays imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. The bill would enable the deducted money to be used for infrastructure benefitting all West Bank residents, compensation awarded to terror victims in lawsuits against the PA or individual terrorists, and projects aimed at eliminating terror.
The Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates that an occupying power that holds protected persons as internees has certain obligations regarding their livelihood and the livelihood of those dependent upon them. However, it also explicitly states that a person who is “suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State… shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the present Convention.” This definition clearly disproves the claim that Israel has financial obligations to provide for convicted Palestinian terrorist prisoners who are not considered “internees,” and likewise those held in administrative detention are “suspected of… activities hostile to the security of the State.”