Making Crime Pay: Norwegian TV Station Reveals EU Paying Salaries To Imprisoned Palestinians
The PA is using foreign aid to pay salaries as high as $3,111 per month to imprisoned terrorists, according to the in-depth report by the NRK, a Norwegian public broadcasting station. The salaries reportedly start at around $400 per month and increase with length of prison time.
The PA has maintained the payments are actually “social welfare” for the families of terrorists, not rewards for murderers of Israeli citizens. But Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide acknowledged last week that the PA mischaracterized the payments.
“It is unfortunate that the incorrect information obtained from the Palestinian Authority was communicated to the Parliament,” said Eide. Members of the Norwegian parliament have called for a reconsideration of funding, and are investigating the issue.
Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli-based activist organization that helped uncover the payments, said the Norwegian government’s response to the controversy could influence policy for the entire E.U. Norway chairs the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, which coordinates Palestinian developmental aid policy. Other participants include the E.U., the U.S., and the United Nations.
Read more from this story HERE.