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Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Families of terrorists protest PLO offices in Gaza for non-payment

From Ma'an:
Gaza families who lost members in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Tuesday shut down the PLO's main office in Gaza City protesting unpaid allowances.

A spokesman of the Martyrs’ Families in the Gaza Strip group told Ma’an that angry families closed a PLO-affiliated office in charge of allowances and donations for families of Palestinians killed or injured in the course of the conflict.

Additionally, offices of Fatah-affiliated lawmakers as well as senior Fatah leader Zakariyya al-Agha were also shut down by the protesters. Some protesters attempted to break into the office of member of Fatah central committee Nabil Shaath.

“We have been asking for our rights in a civilized manner for 13 months, but nobody in the leadership has replied and now we became impatient,” Alaa al-Barawi, the spokesman, said.

He urged President Mahmoud Abbas, members of Fatah's central committee and members of the movement’s revolutionary council to work out a solution for the families who haven’t received their allowances for five years.
A significant portion of the PA budget is to pay families of terrorists, both alive and dead. In 2012 it was estimated to take up 6% of the PA budget, and tens of millions of dollars more were added this year.

I don't know the details of why the Gaza families are apparently not getting paid. Perhaps they are families of those killed by Hamas which puts their "martyrdom" credentials in doubt.