Families of more than 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in peril after PA payment cuts

For a long time, Tahrir Jaradat relies on payments she receives at the beginning of each month to meet the basic needs of her four children. The money comes from the Palestinian Authority (PA), since her husband is imprisoned by Israel.

However, the PA suddenly ended payments to her without giving any reason, and now Jaradat faces a very difficult and uncertain future. 

In recent days, families of about 1,700 Palestinian prisoners say that their monthly payments were cut without prior warning or notification, exacerbating their ongoing suffering.

Palestinian sources claim that the names of prisoners and families impacted were selected by a joint committee comprising the PA's security services and finance ministry. The lists were sent in full by the Prisoners' Affairs Authority, while the decision to cut payments came from the Ministry of Finance in coordination with Palestinian security services.

This move came after a controversial presidential decree issued by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this past February which repealed articles in laws and regulations related to the system for paying financial allowances to the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded.

'They want to crush us'

In December 2022, the Israeli army arrested Mahmoud Jaradat from the village of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, and charged him with participating in the murder of an Israeli settler.

Two months after his arrest, his house was destroyed by Israeli forces, leaving his wife, Tahrir, and four children homeless.

According to Tahrir, she was forced to live in her brother-in-law's home for several months, then moved in with her mother-in-law and two of her sons in a two-room house.

"We are living in difficult circumstances, and I depend entirely on my husband's monthly payments to meet my children's needs. However, I was surprised when it was cut off, so I went to the Prisoners' Affairs Authority, and they said the decision was made by the Ministry of Finance based on directives from the security services," she described to The New Arab.

Jaradat was arrested for six years prior to 2022, and now the Israeli military prosecution is demanding a life sentence.

Tahrir expressed astonishment at the decision to financial cut her off, wondering what her children, the eldest of whom is 12 years old, had done wrong, and how she could support them without a home and no other source of income.

"Why are the security services recommending cutting my husband's salary? What did he do to them? Let them provide for my children before they cut their father's salary. They want to crush us, and we will not beg for our rights," she questioned.

On Monday afternoon, Tahrir and a number of others prisoners' wives headed to Jenin to participate in a protest against the policy of payments cuts, which took effect this month. Other protests in Tubas, Hebron, and Bethlehem were organised as well by the families of prisoners. 

'A stab in the back'

The Freedom Human Rights Organisations Coalition condemned what they described was "the violation of the rights of prisoners, freed prisoners, and the families of martyrs and wounded".

"This repeated approach of marginalising symbols of the Palestinian national struggle is unacceptable. We affirm that the prisoners' issue is not a purely financial or service-related one, but rather a national, sovereign one linked to the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and resistance to the occupation," the Coalition said in a press statement.

For its part, Lawyers for Justice said this step represents a clear violation of the most basic legal and constitutional principles, given the fierce assault the Palestinian people, with all their components, are facing from the Israeli occupation.

"The measures, which were taken based on joint recommendations from the Ministry of Finance and the security services, are not subject to any judicial oversight and represent an act of arbitrariness and oppression by the executive authority," the group said in a statement.

The group emphasised that the decision violates the provisions of the Amended Palestinian Basic Law of 2003 and contradicts the Civil Service Law and the General Retirement Law.

Palestinian leader Omar Assaf said to TNA that the PA's action constitutes "a stab in the back" on the people's struggle, values, and history.

"Prisoners have rights, and everyone must be loyal to their sacrifices, as they have sacrificed their lives for this cause," Assad said. 

"Whoever took this step didn't take into account our people's history, their struggle, or their aspirations for freedom. Everyone must take his responsibility in stopping this crime, and national forces are required to take action and lift the cover from any attempt to continue it," he added.

According to Assaf, "the action must come today, rather than tomorrow, from civil institutions and prisoners' families, to prevent the Security Coordination Team and the Empowerment Foundation from going too far. This decision will have a negative impact on the future of the Palestinian people and their civil peace. Therefore, efforts must be made to stop it and deter those responsible."

For his part, Raed Abu al-Hummus, head of the Palestinian Authority for Prisoners' Affairs, said that a security agency recently ordered the suspension of payments to at least 1,612 Palestinian prisoners.

He added, during an interview with a local radio station last Saturday, "It is very clear from the government's policy that it doesn't want to deal with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. We studied the list of those whose salaries were suspended and found that the vast majority of them are from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and a large number are also from the Fatah movement."

He further argued there was "a political stance on the matter".

"The government must publicly declare that it doesn't want to provide salaries to any faction that doesn't belong to or recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation," he added.