Press release

Berlin, 17.10.2018

Press conference in the German Bundestag

Development aid for terror and violence?

Together with politicians from various parties, the Mideast Freedom Forum today presented a study in the German Bundestag that sheds light on the system of payments made by the Palestinian Authority to Palestinian assassins and their families.

The study analyzes a problem that has hardly been highlighted by the German public so far. The Palestinian Authority pays lifetime pensions to Palestinian prisoners who carry out attacks in Israel and are held in Israeli prisons. Families of assassins who die in attacks in Israel also receive years of benefits from the Authority, which are regulated by law.

Jörg Rensmann, program director of the Mideast Freedom Forum Berlin comments: "The principle of the payments is: the higher the prison sentence, the higher the payments to the assassins and their families. With this practice, terror against the Israeli civilian population is deliberately planned and controlled by the autonomous authority. This practice should be seen as an obstacle to peace. Payments to the autonomous authority should be conditional on not funding assassins."

Michael Leutert (Die Linke), a member of the Bundestag, added: "It is not acceptable for the EU to make indirect payments to people who carry out attacks against civilians. Payments to the Palestinian Authority must be consistently tied to the do-no-harm principle and controlled."

Sven-Christian Kindler, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, also calls for consequences on the part of the German government: "The German government should work at the international level to outlaw the practice of payments to assassins."

Michaela Engelmeier, SPD member and former member of the Bundestag states, "Martyrs' pensions radicalize Palestinian society. The Palestinian Authority must commit to abolishing the principle of these pensions for violence."

The study, "Welfare for Terror and Violence? Palestinian Authority Payments to Palestinian Prisoners and the Families of Assassins" can be found online here.