PA PM Shtayyeh repeats Abbas’ vow that last penny will be paid to terrorist prisoners
Broadcast over 40 times on official PA TV:
Abbas: “Even if I’m left with one penny, I’ll pay it to the families of the Martyrs, to the prisoners, and to the wounded”PA Grand Mufti: “We are hearing [it]… from the top of the pyramid His Honor President Abbas said clearly: ’Even if I’m left with one penny, I’ll pay it to the prisoners, the prisoners’ families, and the families of the Martyrs’”
Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs: “Abbas has repeatedly emphasized… that if one penny is left in the treasury of the PA it will be paid to our brave prisoners”
If foreign donors have not understood it by now, the Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh spelled it out yet again: The PA will never stop paying salaries to terrorists:
PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “From our perspective, the prisoners are the heart of the Palestinian national movement throughout history… The US is punishing us, and Israel is punishing us because we are taking care of the prisoners’ affairs. As President Abbas says: “Even if we are left with one penny, we will take care of them.”These people are our children and we will protect them like we protect every central element of the Palestinian public.”
[Facebook page of PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, Sept. 14, 2021]
The PA also regularly ensures the Palestinian public that under all circumstances the financial rewards for terror will continue. Over 40 times official PA TV has broadcast a filler praising PA Chairman Abbas for various achievements. Part of the video shows Abbas vowing to pay his “last penny” to terrorists – be they prisoners, wounded, or “Martyrs”:
PA TV narrator: “Armed with the power of the right, adhering to the national principles, defying the political pressures, defending Jerusalem… Despite the blackmail, he defends the right of the Martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners.”
Mahmoud Abbas: “A blessing is sent to our loyal Martyrs, our prisoners, and their families who are standing firm and bearing their suffering with patience. We say to them, to the families of the Martyrs, that we will defend their rights regardless of the price we’ll have to pay. I won’t submit to what Israel has requested. I won’t submit. Even if I’m left with one penny, I’ll pay it to the families of the Martyrs, to the prisoners, and to the wounded, and I won’t withhold this from them.”
[Official PA TV, June 4 (twice), 5 (twice), 6 (four times), 9 (twice), 11 (twice), 12, 15, 16 (twice), 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 28, 30, July 2, 3 (twice), 4, 6, 7, 8, 13 (twice), 17 (twice) 23, 26, Aug. 9 (three times), 13, 14, 20, 21, 29, 30 (twice), 2021]
The highest religious authority in the PA, the Grand Mufti, also repeated Abbas’ promise to continue the salaries:
PA Mufti Muhammad Hussein: “Clearly the prisoners’ salaries need to be guaranteed for them. This is their right. I think that what we are hearing from the PA officials, and from the top of the pyramid His Honor President Abbas – He has said clearly: ’Even if I’m left with one penny, I’ll pay it tothe prisoners, the prisoners’ families, and the families of the Martyrs.’”
[Official PA TV, Fatwa, Sept. 15 and 17, 2021]
In reaction to Abbas’ speech before the UN General Assembly in Sept. 24, when he indirectly referred to the PA policy of rewarding terrorists, the head of the PLO’s Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs, Abu Bakr, also repeated Abbas’ vow to spend “the last penny” on terrorists:
Abbas to the UN: “Why should we have to clarify and justify providing assistance to families of prisoners and martyrs who are the victims of the occupation and its oppressive policies? We cannot abandon our people and we will continue striving to free all our prisoners. And I salute here the prisoners’ heroic stand.”
[UN News website, Sept. 24, 2021]
Abu Bakr:“What [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas said in his speech at the UN General Assembly [on Sept. 24, 2021] regarding the prisoners’ cause and their release is not new, but rather a renewed emphasis of the Palestinian position.
Abu Bakr added that Abbas has repeatedly emphasized that there is no peace without the release of all the prisoners, and that if one penny is left in the treasury of the PA it will be paid to our brave prisoners.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 26, 2021]
Also PLO Executive Committee member and Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad repeated Abbas' "one penny" vow.
“Al-Ahmad noted the words of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, who said that ‘even if one penny is left, it will be paid to our prisoners.’ Al-Ahmad said that this is a clear message to the occupation and the world that we will not abandon our prisoners, the bodies of the Martyrs, and the national principles.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 20, 2021]
Read more about the PA’s “Pay-for-Slay” policy that Palestinian Media Watch has documented since 2011, through which terrorists and murderers are rewarded financially.
The following are longer excerpts of the statements quoted above:
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.
Muhammad Hussein also serves as Deputy Secretary-General and acting Secretary-General of the PLO Popular National Conference of Jerusalem.
“Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr said that what [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas said in his speech at the UN General Assembly [on Sept. 24, 2021] regarding the prisoners’ cause and their release is not new, but rather a renewed emphasis of the Palestinian position.
Abu Bakr added that Abbas has repeatedly emphasized that there is no peace without the release of all the prisoners, and that if one penny is left in the treasury of the PA it will be paid to our brave prisoners.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 26, 2021]
Headline: “Al-Ahmad during a visit of support to the families of the six prisoners in Jenin: There is no security, no peace, and no stability without the prisoners’ release”
“PLO Executive Committee member and Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad said yesterday evening, Sunday [Sept. 19, 2021]: ‘We are proud of the determination and willpower of the six prisonerswho took their freedom by force from Gilboa Prison and whom the occupation rearrested (see note below -Ed.). They conveyed their message to the entire world – without their freedom and without the establishment of our state there will be no security, peace, or stability, and we will know no rest as long as the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, which hopes for freedom and independence, are not achieved.’
During a visit of support to the families of the six prisoners, Al-Ahmad added… that these heroic prisonersput a new and awe-inspiring date into the record of our Palestinian people’s struggle and returned the Palestinian cause to the fore.He emphasized that Fatah has a clear strategy of activity on the ground to press the occupation to release all the prisoners…
Al-Ahmad noted the words of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, who said that ‘even if one penny is left, it will be paid to our prisoners.’ Al-Ahmad said that this is a clear message to the occupation and the world that we will not abandon our prisoners, the bodies of the Martyrs, and the national principles.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 20, 2021]
PLO Executive Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad who spoke on official PA TV also serves as head of the PLO Department of Arab and Parliamentary Affairs, Fatah Central Committee member, Fatah Commissioner of National Relations, and Fatah Commissioner for Relations with Lebanon.