Palestinian official who pays murderers' salaries now in bull's-eye

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The Israel-based monitoring organization Palestinian Media Watch is asking the United States Treasury Department to designate the director of the PLO Commission of Prisoner's Affairs, Issa Karake, a "sponsor of terrorism," reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Karake has provided an incentive to terrorism through his supervision of Palestinian Authority payments to convicted terrorists.

PMW has submitted to the U.S. Treasury a special report titled "Evidence regarding Issa Karake, director of PLO Commission of Prisoners Affairs' connections to terror, terrorists and terror financing."

The report explains that Karake is the senior Palestinian Authority bureaucrat responsible for the payment of salaries to terrorist prisoners. In addition, "Karake is regularly involved in the glorification and justification of acts of terrorism," the report states.

"The material provided in this brief by Palestinian Media Watch includes official pay slips of the PA to terrorist murderers, sworn affidavits from PA representatives and items collected form the official PA media by Palestinian Media Watch."

The organization was key to the recent adoption in Israel of a plan to deduct from the taxes the nation collects for Palestinians the amount of money paid to convicted terrorists.

"The unequivocal evidence shows that the PA is, and has been for many years, paying salaries to Palestinian terrorists based on one criteria alone – that their terrorist actions were committed as part of his participation 'against the occupation,'" the report says.

"The evidence shows that the PA salaries are paid only to terrorists. Palestinian prisoners accused of criminal, non-terror related, offenses are not entitled to the salaries. All Palestinian terrorist prisoners are entitled to receive the salary from the PA, including terrorists who are members of E.O. 13244 designated terrorist groups.

"In his official capacity, Karake is directly responsible for facilitating these payments," the report states.

A number of nations have challenged the hundreds of millions of dollars a year paid to the convicted terrorists.

The Palestinian Authority largely depends on foreign contributions for its annual budget.

The United States recently adopted the Taylor Force Act, which specifically states that paying salaries to terrorists – or compensation to families of dead terrorists – "is an incentive to commit acts of terror."

For the rest of this report, and more, please go to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.