Op-ed in official PA daily defends PA salaries to terrorists, claiming they are not terrorists but “fighters for freedom, peace, and political justice” and that anyone who calls them terrorists (i.e. Israel and the US) are the real terrorists
Excerpt of op-ed by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, regular columnist for the official PA daily
Headline: “The tax money and prisoners’ salaries”
“Necessity requires analyzing the dangers of the [Israeli] law (a bill to deduct money used for terrorists’ salaries from PA tax revenues; see note below -Ed.)… whose goal is the theft of $300 million from the Palestinian tax money each year, under the pretext that they are ‘feeding terror.’ This indicates:
Bill to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money - 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, which was passed by the Israeli Parliament in a first reading on May 7, 2018. The bill would enable the deducted money to be used for infrastructure benefiting all West Bank residents, compensation awarded to terror victims in lawsuits against the PA or individual terrorists, and projects aimed at eliminating terror.
Headline: “The tax money and prisoners’ salaries”
“Necessity requires analyzing the dangers of the [Israeli] law (a bill to deduct money used for terrorists’ salaries from PA tax revenues; see note below -Ed.)… whose goal is the theft of $300 million from the Palestinian tax money each year, under the pretext that they are ‘feeding terror.’ This indicates:
a. Turning the facts upside down, as the occupying war criminal murderer has become the one that determines the criteria for distinguishing between a ‘terrorist’ and the rest of the people. This is a moral, legal, and political scandal.
b. The overwhelming majority of people know that the state that creates terror and supports it is Israel, alongside the US that stands behind it, and those that follow their path.
c. The Palestinian tax money is the Palestinian Arab people’s money, and not Israeli or American money. Nobody has a right to interfere with this.
b. The overwhelming majority of people know that the state that creates terror and supports it is Israel, alongside the US that stands behind it, and those that follow their path.
c. The Palestinian tax money is the Palestinian Arab people’s money, and not Israeli or American money. Nobody has a right to interfere with this.
…
The salaries of the prisoners and the Martyrs’ (Shahids’) families are one of the legitimate rights, as they are fighters for freedom, peace, and political justice. They are prisoners of war and not terrorists. On the contrary, whoever calls them by this description is the terrorist, and he is the one that is creating the dark terror throughout the world, and not just in the region. We are proud of them and defend them with all our strength and uncompromising determination, because they are symbols of the Palestinian nationalism and people of stature.”
The salaries of the prisoners and the Martyrs’ (Shahids’) families are one of the legitimate rights, as they are fighters for freedom, peace, and political justice. They are prisoners of war and not terrorists. On the contrary, whoever calls them by this description is the terrorist, and he is the one that is creating the dark terror throughout the world, and not just in the region. We are proud of them and defend them with all our strength and uncompromising determination, because they are symbols of the Palestinian nationalism and people of stature.”
Bill to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money - 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, which was passed by the Israeli Parliament in a first reading on May 7, 2018. The bill would enable the deducted money to be used for infrastructure benefiting all West Bank residents, compensation awarded to terror victims in lawsuits against the PA or individual terrorists, and projects aimed at eliminating terror.