Where Do your Taxes Go? The Palestinian Terrorists of Course

In a recent MEMRI report 22 August, and following the passage of legislation in the U.S. Senate suspending aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) because of the PA's extensive support for Palestinian prisoners and the families of Palestinian "martyrs" and wounded, it is being claimed in the PA that the payments and aid given to the prisoners and the families of martyrs are the same as welfare benefits given to needy families. This argument is based on the reasoning that in both cases, the family wage earner cannot work and the family is reliant on aid.

However, a look at the payments to the Palestinian incarcerated and released prisoners and their families, and to families of martyrs and wounded clearly shows that these payments are in no way comparable to welfare allowances such as those provided to needy families.

The prisoners and released prisoners, who are considered a "fighting sector," and the families of the martyrs and wounded do not receive welfare; they are paid what is referred to as a "monthly salary" or a "monthly allowance." Needy families receive what is referred to as "monetary aid," which is paid out only every three months, or quarterly, as well as "non-monetary aid."

The payments to the prisoners and families of martyrs are much higher than those to needy families, which are paid out by the PA's Ministry of Social Development.  The maximum monthly payment to a needy family is NIS 600 shekels per family – less than US $170 – while the maximum monthly payment to a prisoner is at least 20 times higher: it exceeds NIS 12,000 – currently about US $3,340. Furthermore, the monthly payments to prisoners and their families, released prisoners, and the families of martyrs and wounded are paid out regardless of the recipient's socioeconomic situation.

Furthermore, the prisoners and released prisoners receive a monthly allowance for themselves alone, not for their families, and its level increases in direct proportion to the length of their sentence, which obviously reflects the severity of the crime for which they are serving time. Thus, the highest payments go to prisoners who are responsible for terror operations in which people were killed (above NIS 12,000 monthly). Likewise, released prisoners who were incarcerated for over a decade also receive monthly salaries.

For full report see here