The Ten Plagues of the Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian Authority (PA) acts as the representative of the Palestinian people. For nearly two decades, the PA has acted in an abysmal fashion, causing the hardship of its people through corruption, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The United States of America, as it stands now, intends to fund $440 million in foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority. We call upon the United States to stop funding the Palestinian Authority immediately, as the following ten “plagues” of the PA do not represent the future interests of regional peace.

1. The United States State Department labels Hamas as a terrorist organization. Hamas is a member of the current government within the Palestinian Authority, thus the United States should not directly fund terrorism.

2. The Palestinian Authority continuously projects anti-Semitic messages in its media, calling for Palestinian-Arabs to murder Jews and for the destruction of the State of Israel. This is the main obstacle to peace.

3. Hamas operatives kidnapped and murdered an American citizen, Naftali Frankel, along with Israeli citizens Gil’ad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, with silenced guns.

4. The PA applauds terrorists who kill innocent Israelis and then when they return back to the PA are lauded as heroes. The PA also names summer camps and town squares after terrorists who murdered Israelis.

5. The PA does not respect the equal and human rights of women, Christians, Jews, or the LGBTQ community. Neither does the PA exercise free press nor speech. The PA does not line up with democratic, liberal values that the United States proudly upholds.

6. Mahmoud Abbas overstayed his welcome, as he should have left his current position in 2009, since he was elected for a four-year term as President in 2005. The United States should not fund a government with such corrupt leadership that does not hold free elections.

7. Funding the Palestinian Authority presents a horrible return on investment, as it uses American foreign aid to pay convicted terrorists a monthly salary, to operate anti-Semitic media stations, and to fund Mahmoud Abbas’s salary of $1,000,000 a month.

8. Hamas misuses the tons of humanitarian aid that Israel gives to the Palestinians in Gaza by hording the supplies away from the civilian population. Hamas then uses the supplies for illicit activities, such as building smuggling tunnels for weapons.

9. The Palestinian Basic Law affirms that any future Palestinian state would operate under Sharia law, constituting it as an Islamic theocracy, comparable to Iran and Saudi Arabia.

10. If the Palestinian Authority wanted peace, it would not have let Hamas into its government. For as long as Hamas remains a permanent part of any unified government, the United States of America should no longer fund this governing body.

We therefore believe that in order to ensure peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority must be held accountable for its disgraceful behavior in the modern world. We hope to see a time where they act in a manner that is conducive to peace and to the best interests of their people. The ideal purpose of a sovereign government is to serve the best interests of its people, whether it may be religious rights, human rights, equal rights, and economic rights. We firmly admonish the Palestinian Authority for failing to uphold the basic tenants of a sovereign, legitimate power. If the Palestinian Authority wishes to create a state, then it would serve in its interests to alter its current course of action under the threat of full foreign aid cuts.

Co-written with Elliott Hamilton.