PLO Chief Negotiator supports salaries for terrorists

Headline: "Erekat briefs a delegation of ambassadors and consuls from foreign states on the prisoners’ suffering"

"PLO Executive Committee Secretary [and Fatah Central Committee member] Saeb Erekat briefed a delegation of consuls and representatives of foreign states in Palestine yesterday [April 16, 2019] regarding the prisoners’ suffering, the severe injuries they are suffering, and the tyrannical laws that are being imposed on them.

Together with Erekat, Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners' Affairs Maj. Gen. Qadri Abu Bakr, Chairman of the [PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club Qadura Fares, released female prisoner Khalida Jarrar (i.e., member of PFLP terror organization), and Director-General of the Independent Commission for Human Rights Ammar Dwaik were present at the meeting.

Erekat noted that it has been proposed to convene a delegation of international experts to investigate the Israeli claim regarding the illegality of paying salaries to [the prisoners] and to the families of the Martyrs and wounded, despite there being clear text in international law, according to clauses 81 and 98 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that call to provide the needs of the prisoners, Martyrs, and wounded(sic., Israel’s actions against PA terrorist salaries do not breach the clauses as the clauses specifically apply to “internees”; see note below –Ed.).

Maj. Gen. Abu Bakr said: ‘These matters were unclear to the consuls regarding the prisoners, and they were strengthened with mistaken information that was conveyed to them by the occupation authorities’…

Director-General of the Independent Commission for Human Rights Ammar Dwaik said: ‘A meeting with a number of consuls and representatives of foreign states preceded this meeting, and they were briefed regarding the prisoners’ suffering, and the theft of the tax money by Israel (refers to the Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law to deduct terrorist salaries; see note below –Ed.) was extensively discussed in the conversation.'

…

And he added: 'We also explained to them that some of the deducted money goes to a canteen meant for food and the prisoners' needs that the administration of the prisons is supposed to provide them (Israel provides for the prisoners needs as mandated by international law –Ed.), and an additional part goes to families that are suffering from the absence of the main provider.'"

Saeb Erekat also holds the position of PLO Chief Negotiator.

Khalida Jarrar – Palestinian Authority MP arrested by Israeli authorities on April 12, 2015, for being a member of the terror organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), for inciting to kidnap Israeli soldiers and inciting to terror. On Dec. 6, 2015 she was sentenced to 15 months in prison, fined 10,000 shekels, and given an additional suspended sentence of 10 months for incitement to violence and belonging to the PFLP terror organization. Jarrar was released in June 2016 following an international campaign on her behalf. She was arrested again in July 2017 and is being held in administrative detention that was extended in December 2017, and again in June 2018. The reasons for her administrative detention have not been released. Jarrar was released from detention on Feb. 28, 2019.

PA claim that Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law breaches Article 81 of the Fourth Geneva Convention - The PA claims that Israel's law to deduct the amount of the PA’s payments to terrorists and their families from taxes Israel collects for the PA (passed on July 2, 2018) breaches Article 81 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV). This is incorrect, as Article 81 applies only to “internees,” and not to terrorists who are standing trial, convicted, or released from prison, and likewise not to the families of dead terrorists. The only “internees” held by Israel are Palestinian terrorists held in administrative detention in accordance with Article 78 of GCIV, and Israel fulfills all its obligations vis-a-vis these “internees.”

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.