• Canadian court: A PLO run organization is criminal, whose single ‎purpose is “incentivising acts of terrorism against Israelis”‎

A‏ ‏‎ Canadian court has found that the PLO Institute for the Care of the Families ‎of the Martyrs and the Wounded (The Institute for the Martyrs/Palestine Martyrs’ ‎Families Foundation) has “a single purpose… of a criminal nature” and was ‎created with the “criminal purpose of incentivising acts of terrorism against ‎Israelis.” The Institute for the Martyrs was founded by former PLO leader Yasser ‎Arafat, among other reasons, to give terrorists the security of knowing that their ‎families would be supported should they be killed while attacking Israelis. ‎Today, the PLO is headed by Mahmoud Abbas who has repeatedly expressed ‎his complete support for this institute and its financial support to families of ‎killed terrorists, including families of suicide bombers.‎

The decision of the Montreal District Court was given in the case of a ‎Palestinian whose request for refugee status was rejected by Canada because ‎she had worked for the Iraq branch of the Institute for the Martyrs. ‎

Approving the decision of the Refugee Appeal Division of the Immigration and ‎Refugee Board of Canada (RAD) to reject her application, the district court noted ‎that the woman had made a “significant contribution to the criminal purpose ‎of the [PLO] organisation,” and adopted critical findings both relating to the ‎Institute for the Martyrs and the appellant. These findings included: ‎

“The RAD found, on a balance of probabilities, that the Palestine ‎Martyrs’ Families Foundation was created by the PLO to fulfill the ‎criminal purpose of incentivising acts of terrorism against Israelis.” ‎

“RAD noted that during the first intifada, the PLO’s main purpose was to ‎use armed struggle to create a Palestinian state, and that the Fatah ‎nationalist movement constituted the largest of the various factions of the ‎PLO… The RAD also noted that the Fatah’s objective during the second ‎intifada period was the removal of the Israeli military and of settlers from ‎the West Bank, that it was employing suicide bombings within Israel, ‎and that in 2003, Canada declared it a terrorist entity.”‎

“Even if she did not have a management role, the RAD found that her ‎contribution was significant because her work directly concerned the ‎foundation’s objective, which was to issue payments to the families of ‎individuals who committed unlawful killings and acts of violence, ‎which in turn incites further acts of martyrdom.”‎

“The RAD mentioned the evidence to the effect that Palestinians who ‎gave their life to kill Israelis were referred to as martyrs by the PLO and ‎that the nature of the PLO’s programs was well-known among the ‎Palestinian community, both in Palestine and internationally.”‎

“The RAD thus found, on a balance of probabilities, that Ms. Khudeish ‎was aware of the criminal purpose of the PLO, as the relevant program ‎had existed for over 50 years, 22 of which she spent working for the ‎PLO.”‎

“The RAD reasonably conclude that the PLO had a criminal purpose ‎based on the evidence that was presented. Ms. Khudeish did not ‎contradict this evidence with documentary evidence. The RAD’s finding ‎that the Palestine Martyrs’ Families Foundation was created by the ‎PLO to fulfill the criminal purpose of incentivising acts of terrorism ‎against Israelis is supported by the evidentiary record.”‎

“The RAD referred to the evidentiary record to find that the widows and ‎orphans who received the payments were “family members of ‎terrorists” who committed unlawful violent acts and killings. Given the ‎nature of Ms. Khudeish’s duties and the nature of the payments, it was ‎not unreasonable for the RAD to find they amounted to the level of a ‎significant contribution to the criminal purpose of the organisation.”‎

“The RAD focussed on the nature of the organisation, i.e. the Palestine ‎Martyrs’ Families Foundation, which the RAD found had a single ‎purpose, which was of a criminal nature.”‎

‎[2020 FC 1124 Khudeish v The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]‎

As stated, in addition to being Chairman of the PA and Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas ‎is also the Head of the PLO. According to the Canadian court, Mahmoud Abbas ‎heads an organization – the PLO – which created the Palestine Martyrs’ Families ‎Foundation with “a single purpose… of a criminal nature” for “incentivising ‎acts of terrorism against Israelis.”

Significantly, the court ruled about this woman who played a relatively minor ‎administrative role in the Institute for the Martyrs, “that her contribution was ‎significant because her work directly concerned the foundation’s objective, ‎which was to issue payments to the families of individuals who committed ‎unlawful killings and acts of violence, which in turn incites further acts of ‎martyrdom.” What does this indicate about Canada’s attitude towards ‎Mahmoud Abbas who is not at minor administrator but is solely responsible ‎today for all major decisions related to the Institute for the Martyrs?‎

The Institute for the Martyrs together with the PA-funded PLO Commission for ‎Prisoners’ Affairs make up the two components of PA’s “Pay-for-Slay” policy. ‎The Institute for the Martyrs rewards the families of dead terrorists, while the ‎Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs pays the salaries of imprisoned terrorists. ‎According to sworn testimony of the Director General of the Institute, Khaled ‎Jibrin given in the Jerusalem District Court in the course of litigation by victims ‎of terror against the PA and the PLO, the Institute of the Martyrs, like the ‎Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs, is entirely funded by the PA. ‎

Through these two frameworks, the PA spends hundreds of millions of shekels ‎every year, making monthly payments to terrorist murderers in prison as well as ‎to the families of dead terrorists, to reward their acts of terror.‎

Finally, since the Canadian court has recognized the criminal nature of the ‎PLO’s support of terror, it would be only be fitting for the Canadian government ‎to adopt the court’s ruling and declare the PLO and its Chairman Mahmoud ‎Abbas designated terror supporters.‎

Reprinted with author’s permission from Palestinian Media Watch