The Bidenites have blatantly ignored the Taylor Force Act that Congress passed in 2018. That act was meant to halt all American aid to the Palestinian Authority, as long as the PA continued to fund its “Pay-For-Slay” program. “Pay-For-Slay” provides generous subsidies — much larger than the average Palestinian wage — to imprisoned terrorists, and to the families of terrorists who were killed while committing their terrorist attacks. Thus “Pay-For-Slay” both rewords past, and incentivizes future, acts of terrorism. Mahmoud Abbas has made clear he will not end that program, announcing that he will continue the program even “with my last penny.” And the Bidenites, instead of adhering to the clear intention of Taylor Force, have chosen to simply ignore it, and to continue to provide aid to the PA both directly, and indirectly through UNRWA and other organizations. Since Biden took office, more than half a billion dollars has been given in that manner to the PA, even though “Pay-For-Slay” remains.
Just before the House speaker imbroglio, Congress was holding hearings on the refusal of the PA to halt any part of its “Pay-For-Slay” program and on the Bidenites’ equally intolerable refusal to abide by the spirit, and in some cases the letter, of the Taylor Force Act. More on those hearings can be found here: “US Lawmakers, Experts Put Palestinian Authority on Notice for ‘Pay for Slay’ Terrorist Payments,” by Andrew Bernard, Algemeiner, September 27, 2023:
US lawmakers and experts on Wednesday [September 27] lambasted the Palestinian Authority (PA) for continuing to reward terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks against Israelis, calling on the US government to increase pressure on the Palestinians to compel them to end their so-called “pay for slay” program.
The remarks came during a hearing held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss efforts to stop the West Bank-based PA from allocating money to its “Martyrs’ Fund,” which makes official payments to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the families of “martyrs” killed in attacks on Israelis, and injured Palestinian militants.
The hearing — organized by the subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia — also focused on whether the Biden administration is fully implementing the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits US funding to the PA so long as it maintains its pay for slay program.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), lamented in his remarks how the PA is continuing to pay Palestinian terrorists despite the US Congress passing the legislation in 2018.
The real target of Congress ought to be the Biden Administration, that has willfully ignored the Taylor Force Act. If it were to follow the intent of that act. there would be no American aid flowing directly or indirectly to the PA. But since Biden has been in office, the Americans have sent nearly a billion dollars in aid to the Palestinians, through both UNRWA and “humanitarian organizations” that the Bidenites claim are not covered by Taylor Force. If nothing is done to bring the Bidenites into line, Mahmoud Abbas’ will continue to keep funding “Pay-For-Slay.”
Five years ago, Congress passed the Taylor Force Act, which said that no US economic aid could directly benefit the Palestinian Authority unless the Palestinian Authority fully dismantled this grotesque pay-for-slay system,” Wilson said. “Unfortunately, five years later, terrorists are still getting their blood money, and Israelis are living through another wave of violent attacks. Right now, the Palestinian Authority is trying to assert demands and conditions on the normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia. But the Palestinian Authority is paying people to commit acts of mass murder. The United States government cannot take any of their asks seriously until they stop this conduct.”
The exact size of the Palestinian program is disputed. However, it is estimated to be around $300 million annually, or nearly 10% of the entire PA budget, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, an Israeli think tank.
Since Biden became president, his administration has given the Palestinians, through various entities including UNRWA, about one billion dollars. The Bidenites have claimed that since this money is “for humanitarian purposes” and is not given directly to the PA, then it is not covered by the Taylor Force Act. But money is fungible; American aid given to the Palestinians through non-governmental groups does free up other PA money that funds “Pay-For-Slay,” and thus that aid violates the intention of the Taylor Force Act to halt aid to the PA as long as “Pay-For-Slay” continues. The Bidenites are flouting the will of Congress and the aim of Taylor Force.
The three expert witnesses at the hearing disagreed about whether the Biden administration was fully compliant with the Taylor Force Act. Elliott Abrams, who most recently served as US special envoy for Iran and Venezuela during the Trump administration, said that while US money does not go directly to the PA, the US is not doing everything it can to pressure others to cut funding to the Palestinians….
If the Bidenites were serious about enforcing the Taylor Force Act, they would not be relying on intermediaries to continue funding the PA, but would halt all payments, both to non-governmental groups, no matter how “humanitarian” their claimed goals, and to UNRWA, because in the end such payments relieve the PA of certain expenses and thus allow it to continue funding Pay-For-Slay. It’s not just the letter, but the spirit of Taylor Force, that must be upheld, and Congress is right to be angry at the Bidenites for ignoring both. Of course the Taylor Force Act is not working as it was supposed to.. The PA in just the last year has given close to $200 million to its “Pay-For-Slay” program. It can afford to do so because of all the money the Bidenites have supplied to the PA indirectly, through non-governmental “humanitarian” programs including UNRWA.
The suggestion from some Israelis is this: the PA will have to give up the “Pay-For-Slay” Program. Those who had been benefiting from “Pay-For-Slay” will now receive much-diminished payments, equal to what other destitute Palestinians receive from the PA government in the West Bank, rather than continue to receive the very large stipends they had been receiving. Those imprisoned are destitute; the families of dead terrorists, if not destitute, will cease receiving anything from the PA. Such an outcome would allow Mahmoud Abbas to claim he has not abandoned the former beneficiaries of “Pay-For-Slay.” It’s not the ideal outcome — that would be a complete cutoff of all payments to imprisoned terrorists or to the families of terrorists killed during their attacks — but possibly it’s the only one that has a chance of being accepted by both the intransigent Mahmoud Abbas, and by the PA’s willing collaborators among the Bidenites, whose unconscionable tolerance of “Pay-For-Slay” will, one hopes, be made an issue in the 2024 presidential campaign.
William Kemmler says
The Biden regime Ignoring the Taylor Force Act (2018) and continuing to provide funds to the terrorist Palestinian pay-to-slay program. Just another line item on what is becoming a multi-page Resolution of Impeachment.
But I highly doubt anything is actually going to happen over this. Nothing ever happens to the democrats to hold them responsible for their illegal acts & actions.
James Lincoln says
test
Noah Andeark says
Extreme PEDO Democrats are all Jew haters. By “extreme PEDO Democrats”, I mean Democrats. My new name for them is Extreme PEDO Democrats.