A Fatah Central Committee member reiterated on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will continue its policy of funding terrorists despite President Trump’s threat to end funding to the PA.
The committee member, Azzam Al-Ahmad, said the following:
Fatah's Azzam Al-Ahmed: Palestinian Authority will not stop support for families of martyrs. We're engaged in an open political battle with the US administration. pic.twitter.com/tjjo3j6x5u
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) January 3, 2018
Al-Ahmad’s declaration comes after Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he would end funding to the PA if they refused to engage in the peace process:
…peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
According to Palestinian Media Watch, Al-Ahmad has served on the Fatah Central Committee since 2009. Back in October, Al-Ahmad called the Balfour Declaration “a historical mistake.”
“The Palestinian people, which is standing firm in the occupied homeland and outside of it, expects you to stand alongside it in its ongoing struggle – since the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) from British Foreign Secretary [Arthur Balfour] 100 years ago – for its freedom and the achievement of its national rights like the rest of the peoples of the world,” said Al-Ahmad. “We hope that Britain will correct its historical mistake against our people.”
Al-Ahmad has also called for violence against Israel in October.
“It is the Palestinian people’s right to wage the struggle against the occupation using all the methods, but there should be a consensus on its form,” said Al-Ahmad. “We have not eliminated any method from our considerations, nor from our principles since the [Fatah] Launch [in 1965] until today: Popular resistance, armed struggle, and negotiations. If violence breaks out again, Israel will be responsible for it.”
The PA paid terrorists and their families $355 million, providing a major financial incentive for Palestinians to commit acts of violence against Jews. At the beginning of December, the House of Representatives passed the Taylor Force Act, which states that funding to the PA will end if they continue to fund terrorists. The White House has signaled that the president will sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.
