$250 million for Palestinians buried in 5,000-page US coronavirus relief bill

Congress rushed to pass a coronavirus relief bill on Monday, which includes $50 million a year in aid to Palestinians and programs that benefit them.

By World Israel News Staff

On Monday, Congress passed a $2.3 trillion piece of coronavirus relief legislation that spanned over 5,500 pages and included hefty payments for Palestinians.

The bill was introduced to authorize $600 stimulus checks for Americans and a $300 per week unemployment supplement, in addition to hundreds of billions of dollars in small business loans.

The bill also contained reams of provisions to assist foreign entities.

Among these provisions is authorization for $250 million in payments to Palestinians.

These payments are to be doled out over the course of five years, allegedly to stimulate employment in the Palestinian sector and encourage dialogue with Israelis.

The bill, titled the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act of 2020, creates something called the “People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund,” administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The partnership “provide[s] funding for projects to help build the foundation for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians and for a sustainable two-state solution.”

The act also creates a “Joint Investment for Peace Initiative” that would fund “projects that contribute to the development of the Palestinian private sector economy in [Judea and Samaria] and Gaza.”

Under the legislation, the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and any Palestinian terror groups, such as Hamas, cannot receive earmarked funds.

Currently, the Taylor Force Act prevents the U.S. from using taxpayer money to aid the Palestinian government because it pays salaries to violent terrorists and their families.

For example, under PA regulations, the government must provide a monthly salary to the killer of Esther Horgan, an Israeli mother of 6 who was violently murdered earlier this week.

The Palestinians’ refusal to end this program forced the Trump administration to cut off aid.