Terrorism pays, literally
On Thursday evening,
Channel 2's Ilana Dayan conducted a fawning interview with U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry about the chances for a peace deal between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This was followed by a panel
discussion, led by Dayan, with radical leftist commentator Amnon
Abramovich and chief Israeli negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni.
Naturally, everyone
discussed the question of whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
would "do an about-face" on his life-long beliefs, for the sake of
peace.
Kerry was evasive, saying that this was up to the parties in the negotiations.
Abramovich was openly
disdainful and pessimistic. Livni kept repeating that she was working
closely with Netanyahu to make sure that certain clauses would be
included in Kerry's "framework" proposal.
But basically, the
message from all was that, whatever happens, Netanyahu will be
responsible. It was as predictable as it was nauseating. PA President
Mahmoud Abbas must have enjoyed watching it on TV in his hotel in Paris,
where he had just completed two rounds of one-on-one "in-depth"
discussions with Kerry about the "core issues."
Too bad Kerry was with
Abbas in France on Wednesday, and not in Jerusalem, where he could have
been treated to an eye-opening presentation at a special session of the
Knesset, organized by Coalition Vice Chairman MK Robert Ilatov.
Ilatov hosted American
syndicated columnist Edwin Black, who provided an overview of his latest
book, "Financing the Flames: How Tax-Exempt and Public Money Fuel a
Culture of Confrontation and Terror in Israel."
Black, the son of
Holocaust survivors who "has been in the human rights movement for
nearly half a century," is not a right-winger. This is probably why
Knesset members from a cross section of parties showed up, however
briefly, to pay their respects. It also helps to explain the willingness
of the British European parliaments to hear him out and take him
seriously earlier this month, prior to his arrival in Israel.
"I do not come as a
conservative or a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican," he said. "I
don't vote in the Israeli elections. ... Nothing I'm doing can be
construed as against any organization. It can only be construed as for
the Jewish people."
The organization to
which he was alluding is the New Israel Fund, whose activities, both
charitable and pernicious, are meticulously documented in his book. And
he kept pointing out that, in spite of his scathing expose, the NIF and
other groups involved in similar activities "also do a lot of good
things."
These "good things,"
such as running shelters for battered women, were not the focus of his
talk, however. Instead, he painted a chilling picture of the money
trail, leading from the likes of George Soros, via "human rights"
organizations engaged in a concerted effort to undermine Israel, and
smack into the pockets of Palestinians who kill Jews.
Yes, he said, "A
Palestinian can go from being a nobody to a somebody..., from rags to
riches, just by blowing up a bus [in Israel] or breaking into a house
and slitting the throats of some young [Israeli] children. As soon as he
gets sentenced, he [begins to receive] a PA salary. It could be a few
hundred dollars a month for a short sentence ... and up to several
thousands of dollars a month for maybe killing 20 to 30 people and
getting a 30-year sentence."
Nor is jail time a
deterrent. "Nobody believes they're going to serve [a full] sentence,"
he said, "because they are going to be part of the next prisoner
release, or of the next discussion even to have a discussion about a
prisoner release."
Indeed.
This travesty is
supervised by the Palestinian Prisoners Ministry and written into PA
legislation. The law determines an ascending pay scale for terrorists:
The more the carnage and the longer the prison term, the higher the
salary.
According to Black,
"This takes up $5 million to $7 million a month -- approximately six
percent -- of the PA budget. If you add in the other payments [to
terrorists] for weddings, social events, special bonuses, academic
scholarships, it comes to 16% of the Palestinian budget. And where does
the money come from? From American and European taxpayers."
Until the blood-for-money law is rescinded, he said, "There can be no peace between Palestinians and Israelis."
No kidding.
Black recounted the
shock experienced by parliamentarians in London and Brussels when faced
with the facts in his book -- facts he assumed would come as no surprise
to members of the Knesset.
Sadly, however, it is
not facts that have been shaping American and European foreign policy;
even key figures in the Israeli government are not swayed by them.
Ideology trumps information every time, after all.
This is why Black's
revelations required as much bravery as journalistic integrity. It is
also the reason that Kerry refuses to forfeit his fantasy of peace in
favor of reality.
As he told Dayan during
her interview, "People who know me know that when I sink my teeth into
something, if I get the bit between my teeth, I try to get it done."
Ruthie Blum is the author of "To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the 'Arab Spring.'"
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