PA and Fatah officials call to boycott Israeli products, Israel uses Palestinian holidays in order to sell defective products
Headline: “The holiday is an opportunity to boycott the occupation’s products”
"While merchants throughout the world look forward to the holiday season in order to increase their sales, in recent years this is very different for the Palestinian merchants, and this is due to the policy the occupation government is implementing, which gives our people permits [to enter Israel] and so-called 'easements' in order to tempt them to shop in its businesses…
During the last [PA] government meeting before the [Eid Al-Adha] holiday (i.e., the Sacrifice Feast), [PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh…. called on the citizens not to turn the holiday into an opportunity to buy products and shop in Israel, but rather to shop in the Palestinian markets in order to support our national products.
The national forces in the different districts have begun campaigns to encourage the merchants and citizens to boycott the occupation's merchandise and support the national products.
Fatah Movement Central Committee member [and PLO Central Council member] Jamal Muhaisen said that the occupation government, which is besieging our economy, is attempting to promote so-called 'easements' during the holiday period whose goal is to harm our national economy. He emphasized that our people will thwart the occupation's intentions, and will not support the Israeli economy.
Muhaisen added: 'Boycotting the occupation's products is part of our battle, as anyone who supports the Israeli economy is like one who supports the killing of his own children, their arrest, the desecration of his holy sites, the destruction of his houses, and the uprooting of his trees.'
The Israeli businesses exploit the period of the Islamic and Christian holidays in order to empty their warehouses of old products, or even those that will soon pass their expiration dates. They offer these products at attractive prices in order to deceive the Palestinian shoppers.
Economist Samir Abdallah said that the so-called 'easements' that Israeli gives during the holiday period are connected to the economic interests of the Israeli merchants and Israeli companies, and that this is done in order to increase their sales. He explained that this is being done at the same time that Israel is holding the Palestinian tax money (i.e., referring to Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law to deduct terror salaries; see note below), which constitutes two thirds of the Palestinian government's revenues (sic., Israel is only refusing to transfer a sum equal to the amount the PA uses to pay terror salaries; the PA has chosen to protest by not accepting the rest of the money). He added: 'This is an economic war against Palestine that harms everyone.'"
Dr. Jamal Muhaisen also holds the position of Fatah Commissioner of Mobilization and Organization in the West Bank.
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.