New in PJ Media:
The Iranian protesters who have gained the support of the entire world have pointed out more than once that the mullahs who run the repressive Islamic regime in Tehran spend more money on foreign jihad terrorists than on their own people. So in what may be another regime attempt to calm the protests, or simply an indication that the regime is strapped for cash, the Islamic Republic of Iran has stopped funding Palestinian jihad terror groups. Old Joe Biden’s handlers, however, are still forking over quite enough of your taxpayer cash to keep the terror groups going.
The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday that “Iran has stopped channeling funds to a number of Palestinian factions.” The Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds “quoted unnamed informed sources in Lebanon as saying that the factions are currently suffering from a financial crisis because of the Iranian move, which was taken three months ago.”
That report came exactly a week after Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke at a conference of J Street, a far-Left group that is viciously hostile to Israel. According to the Washington Free Beacon, Blinken “touted the Biden administration’s renewed engagement with the Palestinian government, which includes nearly $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer aid, and accused ‘Israeli settlers’ of perpetrating violence against Palestinians, a line that drew applause from J Street’s crowd.”
That nearly $1 billion in aid goes to the Palestinian Authority, but only the most naïve and blinkered assume that it is then spent only on humanitarian initiatives. The Taylor Force Act, which is still U.S. law although the Biden administration blithely ignores it, prevents taxpayer funds from being given to an entity that supports terrorism.
But the Palestinian Authority continues to pay imprisoned jihad terrorists and the families of dead terrorists who killed Israelis. As recently as May 2022, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed that these payments would not stop: the Jerusalem Post reported that he said in a speech on “Nakba Day” that “the Palestinian Authority will continue to pay allowances to the families of Palestinian prisoners and those killed while carrying out attacks against Israel.”
Abbas has repeatedly vowed to keep paying terrorists. It’s one of the highest priorities of his regime, if not the very highest priority. In July 2018, according to Breitbart, he “vowed that his government will continue to pay salaries to terrorists and their families even if ‘we have only a penny left.’” Abbas added: “We will not accept a cut or cancellation of salaries to the families of martyrs and prisoners, as some are trying to bring about.”
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