Released terrorist prisoners “humiliated” by PA decision to pay terror salaries through the post office
Headline: “The Palestinian prisoners’ salaries are being paid through the post office after 35,000 bank accounts were closed”
“Today, Tuesday, [April 6, 2021,] the PA began to pay the salaries of the prisoners in the Israeli occupation’s prison, the released prisoners, the wounded, and the Martyrs’ relatives through the Palestinian post office branches. This was after approximately 35,000 of their accounts were closed at the banks operating in the Palestinian territories following an Israeli military order (refers to the application of much of Israel's Anti-Terror Law to the West Bank, including rendering banks liable to punishment for facilitating PA terror salaries -Ed.)…
According to information obtained by [the UK Arab news website] Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the number of accounts of prisoners, Martyrs, and wounded that were closed is approximately 35,000. The payment is being made through the post office after other options failed, including the establishment of a Palestinian governmental bank. Therefore, the Palestinian [PA] government decided at the end of last month [March 2021] to pay the salaries through the post office, including the salaries of 7,500 released prisoners, until the procedures are completed to integrate them in the PA’s security and civilian institutions.
At the postal center in Ramallah, which is in the center of the West Bank, there was a crowding of released prisoners, relatives of prisoners and Martyrs, and wounded…
Released prisoner Arafat Barghouti (PMW was unable to determine the nature of his crimes -Ed.) told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: ‘The prisoners, their relatives, and the released prisoners received the message that they are going to make them social cases, and this is as a result of the wait at the gates of the post office and the feeling of humiliation and degradation after years of struggling against and defying the occupation.’
Barghouti continued: ‘Currently the prisoners are standing and pleading to receive salaries that will support them. The sentence I heard the most today from the released prisoners is that we are standing like beggars to receive these salaries. It is not fitting for the prisoners and their struggle that we stand like this in front of the post office.’
Barghouti demanded to pressure the banks or find appropriate paths for the prisoners, instead of transferring the salaries to the post office. He said: ‘The banks need to do what is required of them. They are in the Palestinian territories, and they must pay a price, even if pressures are exerted on them by the occupation.’ He also said that it is the PA’s obligation to bear responsibility and seek suitable alternatives.”
Israeli army legislation which applies parts of Israel's 2016 Anti-Terror Law to the West Bank (taking effect on May 9, 2020). The law prohibits numerous terror related offenses, including terror funding/rewarding and holds heads of terror organizations responsible for murder committed by members of the organization. The law criminalizes the provision of funds for or the payment of rewards for the commission of terrorist offenses, such as the salaries the PA pays to terrorist prisoners and released prisoners. The provision also applies to any person or body - such as a bank - that facilitates such funding or rewarding of terror offenses. Based on this last provision, PMW sent letters in April 2020 to the heads of banks in the PA areas warning them that they must freeze the accounts of terrorists and their proxies and transfer them to the Israeli army or face legal consequences.