Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Elder of Ziyon
Rosh HaAyin, February 21 - A crane operator whose negligence resulted in the death of an Israeli Jew filed a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority today after discovering he was not eligible to receive a lifetime pension that the Authority pays to killers of Jews.
Poel Rashlan, 44, filed papers in Tel Aviv District Court this afternoon, naming Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and several other Palestinian officials as defendants, and accusing them of refusing to pay him thousands of shekels per month for the rest of his life simply because he is Jewish, whereas non-Jews who kill Jews receive such payments without even applying.
Rashlan was convicted of criminally negligent homicide following a 2017 incident in which, under the influence of drugs, he failed to adhere to basic safety procedures and caused the collapse of his construction crane. The falling segments of the ten-story device fell on a car, killing the driver. Rashlan expected to receive the same monthly stipends that the Palestinian Authority pays others who have killed Jews, but received nothing, his lawyer asserted.
"I am filing this lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Rashlan to call attention to the discriminatory practices of the Palestine National Authority with regard to to their pay-for-slay program," stated attorney Ron Scheister. "While non-Jewish killers of Israeli Jews, and of others, receive monthly payments, my client has received nothing. Even those whose actions fail to result in the actual death of Jews receive payments, albeit lower ones, whereas my client, whose actions led directly to the death of an Israeli Jew, remains suspiciously absent from the rolls of those whom the Palestinian Authority pays a generous lifetime pension."
Scheister noted that while both Israeli and American pending legislation might pressure the Palestinian Authority to cease such payments, his client cannot wait until the legislation goes into effect for justice. "It would be one thing if the Taylor Force Act were to go into effect tomorrow," he explained, referring to a bill under Senate review. "Then we could anticipate all such pay-for-slay payments to come to an end, and hold off on filing the suit. However, with the timetable of such legislation and its impact still undetermined, Mr. Rashlan decided to address the injustice that prevails in the interim."
Scheister also revealed that he considered making the case a class action suit on behalf of any Jew convicted of homicide since the Palestinian Authority began making payments to killers of Jews decades ago, but decided against the move for reasons of expediency. "It would take much longer for a class-action suit to proceed," he noted. "By then the Authority may bow to the financial pressure of the Taylor Force Act and other laws, rendering the lawsuit pointless. So we proceeded with just a regular lawsuit."
