f foreign donors have not understood it by now, the Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh spelled it out yet again: The PA will never stop paying salaries to terrorists:

• Broadcast over 40 times on official PA TV:
  Abbas: “Even if I’m left with one penny, I’ll pay it to the families of the Martyrs, to the prisoners, and to the wounded”

• PA Grand Mufti: “We are hearing [it]… from the top of the pyramid His Honor President Abbas said clearly: ’Even if I’m left with one penny, I’ll pay it to the prisoners, the prisoners’ families, and the families of the Martyrs’”

• Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs: “Abbas has repeatedly emphasized… that if one penny is left in the treasury of the PA it will be paid to our brave prisoners”

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “From our perspective, the prisoners are the heart of the Palestinian national movement throughout history… The US is punishing us, and Israel is punishing us because we are taking care of the prisoners’ affairs. As President Abbas says: “Even if we are left with one penny, we will take care of them.”These people are our children and we will protect them like we protect every central element of the Palestinian public.”

[Facebook page of PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, Sept. 14, 2021]

The PA also regularly ensures the Palestinian public that under all circumstances the financial rewards for terror will continue. Over 40 times official PA TV has broadcast a filler praising PA Chairman Abbas for various achievements. Part of the video shows Abbas vowing to pay his “last penny” to terrorists – be they prisoners, wounded, or “Martyrs”:

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PA TV narrator: “Armed with the power of the right, adhering to the national principles, defying the political pressures, defending Jerusalem… Despite the blackmail, he defends the right of the Martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners.”

Mahmoud Abbas: “A blessing is sent to our loyal Martyrs, our prisoners, and their families who are standing firm and bearing their suffering with patience. We say to them, to the families of the Martyrs, that we will defend their rights regardless of the price we’ll have to pay. I won’t submit to what Israel has requested. I won’t submit. Even if I’m left with one penny, I’ll pay it to the families of the Martyrs, to the prisoners, and to the wounded, and I won’t withhold this from them.”

PA Mufti Muhammad Hussein: “Clearly the prisoners’ salaries need to be guaranteed for them. This is their right. I think that what we are hearing from the PA officials, and from the top of the pyramid His Honor President Abbas – He has said clearly: ’Even if I’m left with one penny, I’ll pay it tothe prisoners, the prisoners’ families, and the families of the Martyrs.’”

 [Official PA TV, Fatwa, Sept. 15 and 17, 2021]

In reaction to Abbas’ speech before the UN General Assembly in Sept. 24, when he indirectly referred to the PA policy of rewarding terrorists, the head of the PLO’s Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs, Abu Bakr, also repeated Abbas’ vow to spend “the last penny” on terrorists:

Abbas to the UN: “Why should we have to clarify and justify providing assistance to families of prisoners and martyrs who are the victims of the occupation and its oppressive policies? We cannot abandon our people and we will continue striving to free all our prisoners. And I salute here the prisoners’ heroic stand.”

[UN News website, Sept. 24, 2021]

Abu Bakr:“What [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas said in his speech at the UN General Assembly [on Sept. 24, 2021] regarding the prisoners’ cause and their release is not new, but rather a renewed emphasis of the Palestinian position.

Abu Bakr added that Abbas has repeatedly emphasized that there is no peace without the release of all the prisoners, and that if one penny is left in the treasury of the PA it will be paid to our brave prisoners.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 26, 2021]

Also PLO Executive Committee member and Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad repeated Abbas' "one penny" vow.

“Al-Ahmad noted the words of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, who said that ‘even if one penny is left, it will be paid to our prisoners.’ Al-Ahmad said that this is a clear message to the occupation and the world that we will not abandon our prisoners, the bodies of the Martyrs, and the national principles.”