The Absurd Funding of Terrorism

The Fellowship  |  June 26, 2017

In recent weeks, the Palestinian Authority’s continued payments to terrorists has come under the microscope of those who stand for Israel and against terror. Writing at Israel Hayom, Ariel Bolstein discusses an important piece of legislation – named for an American killed in a 2016 terror attack in Tel Aviv – that would end funding of the P.A. until it stops its support of terrorism:

The U.S. Congress is reviewing all kinds of proposed legislation these days, but not a single bill is more justified or moral than the Taylor Force Act. This bill, named after an American citizen who was murdered by a terrorist on the Tel Aviv promenade in March 2016, proposes to stop American economic aid to the Palestinian Authority until the PA stops paying stipends to individuals who commit acts of terrorism and to the families of deceased terrorists. The terrorist who murdered Taylor Force was killed, but his family enjoys a monthly salary that is significantly higher, some say even 20 times higher, than the average wage in the Palestinian Authority. Other murderers and terrorists also enjoy such generous sums.

Payment for an act of terrorism is a Palestinian invention. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Normally, proper governments encourage citizen to save lives, but in the Palestinian Authority, the goal is the opposite: The public is encouraged to take lives — as many as possible. The incitement begins in school textbooks, continues with public squares being named after “martyrs” and concludes with massive salaries being paid to terrorists. Anyone with any shame or human dignity would not be able to reward murderers so publicly. The Palestinian Authority shed those values long ago.

The Palestinian Authority’s policy of funding terrorism is not just immoral, however. It is also a surprisingly effective method of directly encouraging terrorism. Youth who grow up in Qalqilya, Nablus and Hebron are sent a clear message: If you want financial security for yourself or your immediate family, just grab a knife and stab a Jew. That is a fact of life in the PA, where the leadership purposely channels the energy of its constituents into terrorism. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his partners in the terror industry offer a dubious path of advancement for upwardly mobile Palestinian youths — engage in terrorism…