Palestinian Authority to Pay Families of Slain Hamas Terrorists

AP Photo/Francisco Seco

I wonder where the money will come from. US aid funneled through the UN? Perhaps money donated by other countries around the world?

Regardless of who picks up the tab, what we do know is that the Palestinian Authority has a program to pay family members of slain terrorists who died killing or trying to kill Jews.

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It is nicknamed the “Pay to Slay” program. The PA, which is recognized by the UN and officially recognized as the government of a Palestinian state by over 100 governments around the world, spends about $300 million annually to the families of “martyrs” killed fighting Israel (families get a lifetime “salary” for their dead relatives).

$300 million. Annually. For terrorists.

According to PA law, the families of terrorists who have been killed in the current conflict will get massive payouts this month, and monthly payouts for life.

Many on the Left still try to insist that the Palestinians are simply fighting for their rightful place in the Middle East, and sincerely want to make peace with the Israelis.

Nobody with half a brain should believe them. There are undoubtedly individual Palestinians who hold those views and oppose the wave of terror unleashed by their neighbors, but the government that represents them does everything it can to incentivize the reign of terror we see before us.

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Hamas and Hezbollah have been hurling rockets into Israel for years, and terrorists have been attacking Israelis for decades. Despite all the warm and fuzzy words coming from the West Bank PA, they put their money where their mouth isn’t. They want the gravy train of US and European money to keep flowing, and use that money to fund a steady war against Israelis and all Jews.

Calls for Israeli “restraint” are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the political situation. There is no peace to be had with the current Palestinian leadership, just as there was no peace to be made with Nazi Germany or Iran today. It’s not that peace is impossible with Iranians or Palestinians ever, but it can only be achieved once the ideology that motivates these malignant regimes is utterly crushed.

We did it in Germany–at great cost to them and to us. Israel must do it in the Palestinian territories. Unfortunately Western leaders exert enormous pressure on Israel to ease up on their mortal enemies, which only extends the conflict indefinitely.

No, there is no near-term solution to the problem. Israel has tried and failed to occupy the terrorist havens. But they can beat back the current crop of terrorists, and we can shift our pressure from Israel to the Palestinians. The flow of money should stop until the terrorism stops.

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Most Arab countries are as sick of the wars as everybody else, although the leaders have to walk a fine line to avoid angering the “Arab street.” Israel isn’t just the military powerhouse in the region, but also the economic leader. Trade would benefit everyone.

This is why no Arab country is anxious to bring refugees into their country. Palestinian radicals are a destabilizing force and everybody wants them to just disappear.

It has been decades since an Arab country, save Syria, actually wanted war with Israel. It’s bad for business and for the politics of the region.

Palestinians, Syria, and Iran are the major obstacles to peace. The least we can do is quit playing footsie with them.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 20, 2024
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