A new house and huge terror salaries – the PA’s rewards to a family of murderers
Even while the Palestinian Authority was facing a self-inflicted financial crisis, the PA coffers were still full enough to fund the reconstruction of the houses of terrorists demolished by Israel as a means of deterrent.
Making good on promises made by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the PA has financed the rebuilding of the home of a terrorist, who also has five other terrorist brothers – all of whom murdered Jews. Four of them are serving multiple life sentences and a fifth was killed when he resisted arrest after murdering a member of Israel’s Security Agency. The mother of the terrorists – Um Nasser Abu Hmeid – is the focus of constant PA attention and even led the PA’s bid for membership in the UN in 2011, simply because she is the mother of multiple murderers. Now the PA is rebuilding her and her sons’ house:
“The rebuilding of the four story house is being conducted with full vigor, and the construction of the first floor is already finished. It is being funded by the [PA] Presidential Office and is being carried out by the popular committee to serve the refugees in the Al-Amari camp.
Um Nasser said to Raya that the construction of the house is expected to conclude at the end of this year [2019]. She thanked [PA] President [Mahmoud] Abbas for his support for her family…
It should be noted that the [PA] Ministry of Public Works began to remove the ruins of Um Nasser’s demolished house at the beginning of January this year.”
Despite the financial crisis that the PA was facing, Abbas committed the PA to rebuild the house immediately after its demolition.
Fatah Central Committee member and Head of Civil Affairs in the PA Hussein Al-Sheikh: “President Abbas has given direct orders this morning [Dec. 15, 2018] to quickly and immediately rebuild the home of the Abu Hmeid family. This is a fighting family. We bow to this family, its history of struggle, and their heroism (i.e., terrorists who murdered at least 10). Therefore, the minimum that can be provided to this family is to stand by it and immediately rebuild its demolished home.”
At the time, Fatah’s Central Committee member, Fatah Commissioner of Mobilization and Organization in the West Bank, and PLO Central Council member Jamal Muhaisen also expressed his support for PA financing the rebuilding of terrorists’ houses:
Muhaisen: “We encourage [the establishment of] a national committee. This national committee will have a national fund for rebuilding all of the homes destroyed by-”
Official PA TV host: “Who will finance this fund, Dr. Jamal?” […]
Muhaisen: “Regarding that, we will certainly request that the [PA] government take part in it. We will also request that the national assets take part in it too (i.e., funding from the public).”
Abbas’ Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul also expressed his support for the terrorist mother and Palestinian “pride” in her “fighting children”:
“Um Nasser Abu Hmeid is the mother of all of us, and she is the mother of all of the Palestinian fighters. To embrace her and take care of her is the responsibility of all of us, and to rebuild her house… We have seen Um Nasser Abu Hmeid’s responses after the demolishing of her home [in the past]. She noted [she would] continue standing firm, regardless of the cost. We are always proud of Um Nasser Abu Hmeid and her fighting children.”
A post on Fatah’s Facebook page weeks later showed heavy machinery removing the rubble from the site of the demolished home and a photo of PA Minister of Public Works and Housing Mufid Al-Hasayneh visiting the site.
Moreover, Al-Hasayneh’s ministry is “heading a ministerial committee to rebuild the demolished house, according to [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas’ instructions and [PA] Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah’s instructions.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 3, 2019]
Since five terrorist members of the Abu Hmeid family are in prison serving life sentences and another was killed, the PA pays the family a whopping 40,400 shekels/month ($10,800) as part of the PA’s “Pay-for-Slay” terror reward program. Cumulatively over the years, through September 2019, the PA has paid the family at least 4,154,500 shekels ($1,110,498). At the end of this October, having cumulatively spent 25 years in prison, the salary of the murderer Sharif Abu Hmeid will rise from 8,000 to 10,000 shekels/month.
Totally ignoring the PA’s “Pay-for-Slay” policy, the World Bank recently warned that a “liquidity squeeze has started to affect the PA’s ability to fulfill its responsibilities of paying its civil servants and providing public services.” While the rest of the Palestinian population may be feeling the crunch of the PA financial crisis, the PA apparently has enough money to handsomely reward terrorists and their families, in particular the Abu Hmeid family. It’s all a matter of priorities…
The following is a longer excerpt of the report on the PA’s rebuilding of the terror family’s house:
Headline: “Rebuilding the Abu Hmeid family’s house in accordance with the [PA] president’s promise”
“‘They will not break us, they demolish and we build’ – thus responded Um Nasser [Abu] Hmeid (i.e., mother of terrorists responsible for at least 10 murders; see note below) to the occupation, which demolished her home in the Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah in the early morning hours of Dec. 15 [2018]. Currently, Um Nasser has begun to realize her words: The rebuilding of the four story house is being conducted with full vigor, and the construction of the first floor is already finished. It is being funded by [PA] Presidential Office and is being carried out by the popular committee to serve the refugees in the Al-Amari camp.
Um Nasser said to [the independent Palestinian news network] Raya that the construction of the house is expected to conclude at the end of this year [2019]. She thanked [PA] President [Mahmoud] Abbas for his support for her family…
It should be noted that the [PA] Ministry of Public Works began to remove the ruins of Um Nasser’s demolished house at the beginning of January this year.”
Read more: PMW