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If the Palestinians Care about Peace, Why Do They Pay Salaries to Terrorists?
(National Post) Robert Fulford - All over the world, people take the side of the Palestinians without knowing much about them and their collective beliefs and intentions. For many years, the Palestinian Authority (PA) or one of its offshoots has been paying regular salaries to the families of dead or imprisoned terrorists. The 2016 PA budget says it pays relatives of "martyrs" the equivalent of $183 million a year and families of imprisoned terrorists $135 million. The Palestinians have paid out $1.12 billion during the last four years to terrorists and their families. The money comes from foreign aid grants. Recently, the official Facebook page of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' party, Fatah, carried his statement: "Even if I will have to leave my position, I will not compromise on the salary of a martyr or a prisoner." Fatah central committee member Jamal Muhaisen explained that the payments are connected to the "Palestinian historical narrative" and that the prisoners and martyrs "represent our Palestinian people's struggle." The recipients of the salaries are encouraged to believe that their actions, whether blowing up a bus or knifing an old man, are part of a sacred historic movement. That's the point. Many Palestinians (and certainly the leaders they elect) assume that terrorists who randomly slaughter men, women and children are heroes.