(CAMERA) Gilead Ini - On May 9, the New York Times published "Israel Cracks Down on Banks Over Payments to Palestinian Inmates." The story discusses Israeli legal measures targeting Palestinian stipends that have sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Palestinians involved in violent attacks against Israelis, and to the families of suicide bombers and other terrorists. Many see the payments as incentivizing anti-Israel violence. The piece is loaded with emotional messages from Palestinians about the "occupation's tyranny, the "prisoners of freedom" who "have sacrificed their lives in the darkness of prisons," and the supposed "rights of the prisoners and martyrs." IDF Brig.-Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser has noted that "while ordinary prisoners, such as car thieves, do not receive a salary, every person committing acts of terror is on the PA payroll." While the article quotes the Palestinian position that the stipends are "vital welfare" payments, they don't bother to point out a World Bank report saying, "The level of resources devoted to the Fund for Martyrs and the Injured does not seem justified from a welfare or fiscal perspective." It isn't until paragraph 19 of 21 that readers encounter the first quotation from the Israeli side of the debate.
2020-05-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive