PA Official: Palestinians Approve Paying Terrorists More Than Civil Servants
The opening of a hall that the Palestinian Authority named for a terrorist who killed 125 people. Photo: Palestinian Media Watch.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is going through a major financial crisis and cannot afford to pay its employees their full salaries.
Nonetheless, according to a PA official, Palestinian civil servants are happy that the PA prioritizes paying terrorists in prison 100% of their terror reward salaries, while the civil servants themselves receive only 50% of their monthly salary (though today, they claim the salaries are equal).
Muhammad Hamida, Economy Ministry Director in Bethlehem: “While we as [public] employees received a salary at a rate of 50%, before the [Gaza] war, the families of the prisoners and Martyrs [i.e., terrorists] received a full salary. The Palestinian leadership remains committed to this. It deducted amounts from regular employees and gave a full salary to the families of the prisoners and Martyrs.
Today, everyone is equal. The salaries that the families of the Martyrs and prisoners receive are also received by the employees. We are proud of the prisoners and their families as well as of the Martyrs and their families. .. This is a national question, a very important one, and it is a priority. No one in Palestine complains about why the families of the prisoners and the Martyrs get full salary and we get half.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, July 16, 2024]
This shows how well the Palestinian Authority has succeeded in brainwashing its population to believe that terrorists deserve more money than Palestinian government employees, even though they do not work and have no expenses.
PA TV has broadcast PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ well-known proclamation dozens of times that even if the PA has one penny left, it will continue to pay prisoners and Martyrs before anyone else.
Another PA official recently stressed yet again that terrorists should be paid before all other Palestinians:
Jericho and Jordan Valley District Governor Hussein Hamayel: “When great pressures were exerted on [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership to stop the salaries (rawatib) of the Martyrs and the prisoners [i.e., terrorists], or to create tools to pay them so that they would constitute a prelude to stopping the salaries and allowances of the prisoners and the Martyrs, the president’s position was clear and it represents all the Palestinians by him saying: ‘If one penny is left in our pockets, it will be paid to the prisoners and the Martyrs.’
This is something strategic for us, something that is not subject to any issue connected to pressures, extortion, blockade, or threats from here or there. This is a clear position for us that we will continue.”
[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, April 17, 2024]
Palestinian Media Watch has exposed for years that the PA leadership sees its Martyrs and prisoners as the most important and honored people in society who deserve more financial rewards than people who work.
PA officials are now stressing that glorifying and rewarding terrorists is supported by the entire Palestinian population.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
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