As longtime readers will be aware, the BBC’s coverage of Palestinian affairs is patchy at best and one of the topics regularly downplayed or ignored is that of the Palestinian Authority’s payment of salaries to terrorists and their families.
It hence came as no surprise to find that the BBC News website (which last published a report tagged Mahmoud Abbas a year ago) ignored a recent story about the PA president’s restructuring of that reward scheme.
On February 10th the PA’s official news agency reported that “President Mahmoud Abbas issues decree-law restructuring the social welfare system”. While some media outlets reported the story as though Abbas had ended the payments to terrorists, that is not the case.
That other body is named by Wafa as the Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Foundation which it describes as having “a Board of Trustees appointed by the President” – i.e. Mahmoud Abbas. According to the Times of Israel, “[t]he fund will be headed by current PA Social Welfare Minister Ahmad Majdalani”. Whether or not that is the same organisation as the one called the Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Institution (PNEEI), where Majdalani already heads a Board of Trustees comprised of a high proportion of PA ministers and officials, is unclear.
As noted by the FDD, citing a report from Israel’s Channel 12 News, “the existing policy is simply being modified, with stipends paid according to financial need rather than the length of prisoner sentences, as is currently the case”.
The reasons behind Abbas’ modification of the scheme were reported by Channel 12 and others as follows:
“Senior sources in Ramallah say that in exchange for this change, Abbas is asking the US to repeal the Taylor-Force Act – named after an American citizen who was murdered in Israel, which states that the US will not transfer any aid to the Palestinian Authority until the Authority stops paying salaries to terrorists and condemns the terrorist acts that have been carried out. In addition, Abbas is asking for the removal of other sanctions imposed by the US on the Palestinian Authority. […]
It should be noted that the Palestinian Authority is very concerned that on February 28, US courts will impose heavy fines on the Palestinian Authority – $200-300 million following lawsuits filed by families of terror victims accusing the Palestinian Authority of encouraging terrorist attacks. There is grave concern in Ramallah that an unprecedented financial crisis will hit the Authority in the near future.”
Even Hamas condemnation of Abbas’ decree was however not enough to prompt the BBC to report this story.
