SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

Peace in Palestine = Peace in the World

ADVERTISEMENT

SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

Bill to Cut Off Aid to Palestinians Passed by US Committee

Nidiya Fitriyah - Friday, 4 August 2017 - 15:12 WIB

Friday, 4 August 2017 - 15:12 WIB

57 Views ㅤ

Photo: MEMO

Photo: MEMO

 

New York, MINA – A US Senate committee approved a bill on Thursday that would cut off $300 million in annual US aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it stops making what lawmakers described as payments that reward violent crimes.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17-4 for the measure, known as the Taylor Force Act, after a 29-year-old American military veteran who was fatally stabbed by a Palestinian while visiting Israel last year, MEMO reported.

The bill, which must be approved by the full Senate and House of Representatives before becoming law, is intended to stop the Palestinian Authority from paying the stipends, which can reach $3,500 per month.

Also Read: Hundreds of Brazilians Rally in Support of Palestine and Global Sumud Flotilla

Force’s attacker was killed by Israeli police, but his killer’s family receives such a monthly payment.

“What has happened here will hopefully, when passed, prevent other people from having the same fate: an innocent person going about their activities in an innocent way, being murdered by someone who’s being incented to do that by their own government,” Senator Bob Corker, the committee’s Republican chairman and a co-sponsor of the bill, told a news conference.

Force was a graduate student at Vanderbilt University in Corker’s home state, Tennessee, when he was killed.

Force’s parents live in South Carolina, the home state of Senator Lindsey Graham, the act’s other Republican co-sponsor. Graham, who dubbed the payments “pay to slay,” is chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid.

Also Read: Thousands in New York Rally for Gaza, Urge Sanctions and Arms Ban on Israel

Palestinian officials have said they intend to continue the payments, which they see as support for relatives of those imprisoned by Israel for fighting against occupation or who have died in connection with that cause.

To win broader support, the original act was modified to take into account the need for humanitarian aid. It exempts assistance for the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, creates an escrow account to hold assistance funds and spells out steps the Palestinian Authority can take for aid to resume.

Corker said he was confident the bill would become law sometime in the coming months. Similar legislation has also been introduced in the House of Representatives.

Opponents of the bill have said they worry that cutting off economic aid to the Palestinians would increase poverty and instability in the West Bank and Gaza, fueling more violence.(T/R04RS5/)

Also Read: US Approves $240 Million in Aid to Lebanon to Disarm Hezbollah

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

Recommendation for you

Palestine
Palestine
Hamas Releases more Eight Israeli Captives in Gaza, Including Thai Nationals (photo: Anadolu Agency)
Palestine
Victims of Israeli Aggression on Gaza (photo: Anadolu Agency)
Palestine
Most countries walk out of UN General Assembly session during Netanyahu's speech (Photo by Mostafa Bassim)
International
A high-level meeting on the Gaza situation took place in New York on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 attended by US President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and other regional leaders (photo: Anadolu Agency)
America