Even before the arrival March 12 to Jerusalem and Ramallah of Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump’s representative for international negotiations, the Palestinians were concerned. They were already aware of the voices in Washington calling for a halt of American aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) until payments to families of shahids (martyrs) are halted.
Those in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ bureau tried to circumvent the problem. As reported by Al-Monitor last week, Abbas instructed the Finance Ministry in Ramallah to probe a possible discontinuation of salary payments to PA workers in the Gaza Strip who left Fatah and joined other groups that are categorized as terror movements by donor organizations. Indeed, the issue of salaries to Gaza employees is a separate issue, but Abbas’ entourage hoped that such steps would prove to the Americans that Abbas is acting with determination against Gaza employees suspected of joining other (terror) groups, and that he is taking each and every matter seriously. Obviously, this did not convince the Americans.
When Greenblatt arrived at the meeting in the Palestinian headquarters at the Muqata on March 14, he immediately placed the issue on the table. A Palestinian source told Al-Quds newspaper that Trump’s emissary delivered an unequivocal ultimatum to Abbas: The United States will not hesitate to discontinue its financial aid to the PA if it continues to pay compensation monies to families of shahids. According to the report, Greenblatt named the senators and congressmen who are taking action to stop the aid. Some of them are Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio, Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, and dozens of other bipartisan members of Congress. They are all resolved to halt American aid money.
Those in the environs of Abbas turn an accusing finger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom they feel is responsible for the incitement campaign against the Palestinian president. They claim that the Israeli prime minister encourages congressmen and senators to impose sanctions on the PA, even though these Americans do not have a full picture of the situation in the PA. Also, they do not understand that a shahid in Palestinian society is anyone who was harmed by the occupation forces, whether or not he or she carried out a terror attack.
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