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Shana Meyerson
The Zionist Yogini

Your bloodsoaked tax dollars

Governments that help fund the Palestinian Authority know the money is going to terrorists
Bereaved Israeli families demonstrate with signs saying 'stop the release of terrorists,' in front of the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, Wednesday, December 25, 2013 (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)
Bereaved Israeli families demonstrate with signs saying 'stop the release of terrorists,' in front of the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, Wednesday, December 25, 2013 (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)

You fund terror.

Don’t feel bad. You’re not alone.

Every taxpayer in the US, Canada, EU, Russia, China, Japan, Australia, and myriad other nations around the globe funds terror too.

But hopefully that doesn’t ease your mind.

While the Palestinian Authority receives approximately $1 billion in international aid annually, it also earmarks $1.1 billion to its “Martyr’s Fund.” “Martyr” being a politically dubious term for “terrorist” in this scenario.

In 2016, there were more than 1,300 Palestinians terror attacks on Israelis, resulting in the murder of 15 innocent Israelis, with countless others severely injured. Whether in the form of stabbings, shootings, car-rammings, or fire bombings, the intention is the same. And so is the result.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas described it best in his infamous September 16, 2015 speech: “We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem.” And…they reward it.

Any Palestinian who carries out a successful act of terror against Israelis is rewarded not only “in the world to come,” but also in this world, to the tune of about $3,000 per month. If the terrorist dies in the process, the money goes directly to his family.

And if $3,000 doesn’t seem like much, let’s put that in perspective. The citizens of the Palestinian Authority currently suffer from an astounding 26% unemployment rate, a poverty rate of 28%, and an average salary of just $245 per month.

So…you are an impoverished, unemployed, despondent youth with little hope for the future. Working full-time at minimum wage will bring in $403 a month…and that’s if you are lucky enough to find a job. You can do that. Or you can go into Jerusalem, stab an Israeli soldier or mother or child or whoever makes the easiest target, and receive $3,000 a month for the next 30 years. It’s sort of a no-brainer. You get the money and you get honored as a hero, as well.

It’s not that the governments who help fund the PA don’t know what is going on (even Israel itself sends assistance). But it’s easier to turn a blind eye and claim “that’s not our money” than to acknowledge that all aid goes to the same pool and rather than utilizing it for education, infrastructure and improvement, the Palestinian Authority is just funneling it into their terrorist machine.

Imagine how different the situation in the Palestinian Authority would be if that $1.1 billion Martyr’s Fund were instead distributed to buy their children computers for school, provide scholarships for teens to go to college, or to raise the wages of teachers from their current minimal rates. And maybe even to buy new schoolbooks that teach the children peace instead of teaching them to hate and kill Israelis while they’re at it.

Or perhaps they could use the funds to build better hospitals, water systems and power grids. Spend some on public welfare programs, job creation, and housing. Think about how far a billion dollars could really go. Not just for financial security, but for peace.

As it turns out, there can be no peace when one of the “partners” is fully committed to the other side’s demise. How is Israel meant to negotiate with a Palestinian leader who calls for their very destruction?

It seemed there was hope for peace in 1993, when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed the first of the Oslo Accords, a peace process of sorts that, among other things, saw the PLO disavow all engagement in and support for terrorism of any kind.

This treaty has formed the cobblestones on the path to Middle East peace ever since. But now that ground is crumbling.

In defiance of Oslo and any number of international conventions on peace, the Palestinian Authority openly and unabashedly sponsors and praises terror in all its ugly forms. The uglier the better, as its denizens dance in the streets and pass out sweets in response to the most brutal and bloodiest attacks on Israelis.

Money for murder represents hope in a hopeless world for many Palestinian youth. An offer they can’t refuse. And despite the feckless threats of supporting governments around the world to cut their funding, the P.A. laughs in insolence and continues its pay-outs, year after bloody year.

Blood money. Literally. Your tax dollars at work. How would you rather see it spent?

About the Author
Shana Meyerson is the host of the Yoga of War Podcast. She is a proud member of the World Jewish Congress's Jewish Diplomatic Corps, Israel Bonds Women's Division National Board, and AIPAC. Professionally, she is an internationally acclaimed yoga instructor, based out of Los Angeles, California.