Abbas accuses Israeli “attacks” and “break-ins” at holy sites; accepting reduced taxes would mean “we are renouncing our most sacred cause, the cause of the Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners”

Headline: "The [PA] president: We will not accept ‘the deal of the century’ and ‘the Manama workshop,’ and will not accept the reduced money regardless of how much we suffer – the excavations in Jerusalem are a most dangerous issue and we will not allow the occupation to keep playing with our capital"

"The sixth session of Fatah Movement Revolutionary Council meetings began at the [PA] presidential headquarters in Ramallah yesterday [July 20, 2019], in the presence of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah Central Committee members.
At the beginning of the meeting the president gave a speech that dealt with the political situation and the continuation of the Israeli attacks, which are manifested by the continued settlement and break-ins, especially break-ins into the holy sites that are taking place in occupied Jerusalem, the continued excavations under the holy city, and the destruction of the houses of the people of Jerusalem.
The president emphasized that these excavations that are taking place in occupied Jerusalem are a most dangerous issue and we will not allow the Israeli occupation to keep playing with our capital, and our Jerusalem Palestinian people will continue to stand firm on its land and hold onto its earth regardless of how the challenges and difficulties that we face multiply.
The president emphasized the constant Palestinian position that holds onto the national basic principles before the challenges facing the national project. He emphasized the national position that rejects the deal of the century (i.e., US President Donald Trump's as yet unpublished Middle East peace plan) and all of the dubious projects that are striving to eliminate our national cause. He said: 'We will not accept the deal of the century, will not accept the Manama workshop that America organized (i.e., refers to US-led conference in Bahrain in June 2019 focusing on economic aspects of Trump's Middle East peace plan), and will not accept the reduced money (refers to Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law to deduct terror salaries; see note below –Ed.) - regardless of how much we suffer – because if we accept [the money] that means we are renouncing our most sacred cause, the cause of the Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners."

Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law - 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. During the parliamentary vote, 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] In accordance with the law, as of September 2021 Israel’s Security Cabinet had ordered the freeze of 1.857 billion shekels ($580.15 million) - the sum equivalent to the PA payments to terrorists in 2018, 2019, and 2020.