American Tax Dollars Pay Palestinian Terrorists’ Salaries

Posted on 12 November, 2013 by Dylan



By Sharona Schwartz
( Blaze ) American taxpayers are funding the salaries of hardcore Palestinian terrorists responsible for some of the most brutal crimes against Israeli – and in some cases American – citizens, according to a new book that reveals new details about the troubling phenomenon.
Investigative journalist Edwin Black, known for his bestseller “IBM and the Holocaust” about the American company’s business relationship with Adolf Hitler’s Germany, traveled to Israel and the Palestinian territories to uncover how American and Western aid funds terrorism for his new book, “Financing the Flames: How Tax-Exempt and Public Money Fuel a Culture of Confrontation and Terrorism in Israel.”
Author Examines How American Taxpayer Dollars Pay Palestinian Terrorists Lucrative Salaries“It may astound many that American taxpayers are deploying their precious dollars in Israel not just to pay for peace but to fund terrorism. Each year, American aid and financial programs fungibly fund terrorist salaries paid by the Palestinian Authority,” Black wrote in the Times of Israel, describing his findings.
As TheBlaze reported in 2011, Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli research organization, detailed a Palestinian Authority law according to which a monthly salary is granted to Palestinian prisoners serving time in Israel for carrying out terrorist acts. The longer the sentence – which is based on the level of the crime – means a more lucrative government payoff, courtesy of American and European taxpayers whose funds keep the Palestinian Authority afloat.
“These transactions blatantly violate American laws that prohibit any U.S. funding from benefiting terrorists. More than that, they grandly incentivize murder and terror,” Black wrote.
There’s even a Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Ministry responsible for implementing the “Palestinian Law of the Prisoner.”
“A Palestinian watchdog group, the Prisoners Club, ensures the (Palestinian Authority’s) compliance with the law and pushes for payments as a prioritized expenditure. This means that even during frequent budget shortfalls and financial crisis, the PA pays the terrorists’ salaries first and foremost — before other fiscal obligations,” Black wrote.
Palestinian officials have taken pains to note that salaries go only to those convicted in Israeli courts of nationalist crimes, not to financially-motivated criminals or thieves.
Black described how the salary levels incentivize Palestinians not only to enter the terrorist trade, but also to engage in more heinous crimes as a longer sentence draws a higher government salary.
“Detention for up to three years fetches a salary of almost $400 per month. Prisoners incarcerated between three and five years will be paid about $560 monthly — a compensation level already higher than that for many ordinary West Bank jobs. Sentences of 10 to 15 years fetch salaries of about $1,690 per month,” Black wrote. “More severe acts of terrorism, those punished with sentences between 15 and 20 years, earn almost $2,000 per month. These are the best salaries in the Palestinian territories.”
This largesse to the convicted terrorists adds up to 6 percent of the Palestinian budget, according to Black, all of which comes from U.S. and European donors to the Palestinian Authority.
Additional perks include holiday bonuses and education subsidies. Palestinian Media Watch reported that prisoners serving five years or more are exempt from paying tuition at government schools. Those serving 20 years or longer are awarded a tuition exemption for their children.
Black’s article in the Times of Israel can be seen here, and his new book can be found here.

http://gopthedailydose.com/2013/11/1...ists-salaries/