Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) secured a key victory in its case filed on behalf of Stuart and Robbi Force, Sarri Singer, and Rep. Ronny Jackson against President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken for violating the Taylor Force Act and illegally subsidizing terrorism. Rejecting the fundamental premise of U.S. anti-terrorism laws – that money is fungible – the defendants claimed that there is absolutely no evidence U.S. funding for the Palestinians in Gaza and the “West Bank” (more accurately Judea and Samaria) facilitates or subsidizes terrorism against Americans and Israelis. However, internal State Department documents demonstrate...

Jamal Khashoggi hated America and Jews. That’s why Biden loves him. Secretary of State Antony Blinken began his confirmation hearing by reciting a family history of antisemitism. A month later he unveiled a ban named in the memory of an antisemite. “Jamal Khashoggi paid with his life to express his beliefs,” Blinken claimed. Those beliefs that Khashoggi gave his life for included his contention that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion were real, and that Jews were deceivers with no connection to Israel. It also included the Muslim Brotherhood member’s support for the Hamas war against Israel. Last October,...

The Palestinian government is still paying imprisoned terrorists stipends and inciting violence against Israel, even as the Biden administration provides nearly half a billion dollars in American taxpayer funds to the government, according to a non-public State Department report recently furnished to Congress. The Palestinian Authority, which committed to stop these acts to receive new tranches of U.S. aid money, "continued payments to Palestinian prisoners who had committed acts of terrorism, as well as the families of so-called ‘martyrs’ who died while committing acts of terrorism," according to the report, a copy of which was reviewed by the Washington Free...

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas authorized the payment on Sunday of $42,000 to the family of a terrorist who killed two Israelis through a policy that incentivizes and rewards terrorism against Israel. Laila Ghannam, governor of Ramallah’s Al-Bireh district, personally handed the money to the family of Muhannad Al-Halabi, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group . Al-Halabi fatally stabbed two Israeli civilians in 2015 before being shot by police. The $42,000 payment was given to Al-Halabi’s parents "on behalf of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which tracks regional media...

New evidence shows refugee agency has done little to root out anti-Semitism, extremism The United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency is promoting violence against Israel and using educational materials that call for the Jewish state’s destruction, according to video evidence and copies of lesson plans being taught to children before and during the coronavirus pandemic. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is in charge of providing education to scores of Palestinian children, has done little to root out anti-Semitism and the glorification of terrorism from its official lesson plans, although it has repeatedly pledged to do so. The Biden...

Mahmoud Abbas originally thought it was a good idea. There was a new administration in Washington, one most favorably inclined to the Palestinians. The Biden people were ready to undo what the “unfriendly” Trump Administration had done. Trump had closed the PLO office in Washington, Biden promised to open it. Trump had folded the consulate to the Palestinians in east Jerusalem into the Embassy in Jerusalem; Biden promised to reopen it. Trump had ended both direct aid to the Palestinians and American contributions to UNRWA. Biden announced that he was again turning on the spigot of aid, starting with a...

The Trump bandwagon is swinging into top gear--with Jordan in the box seat and the PLO left flailing way behind. Any lingering thought that the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) would have any role to play in President Trump’s soon to-be-released peace plan has vanished - after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that $165 million had been deducted from funding to the PLO because of its continuing “pay for slay” policy in breach of the Taylor Force Act. Jordan has now signalled its preparedness to replace the PLO by publicly supporting Trump in an article written in the Jordan Times...

The Trump administration late Friday announced that it had cut $200 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority until it can ensure this American taxpayer money will not be used to fund terrorism, according to U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.The announcement follows the recent passage of the Taylor Force Act in Congress, a bill aimed at providing greater oversight over how U.S. taxpayer dollars fund the Palestinians. The PA has for years been accused of using aid dollars to pay accused terrorists and their families annual salaries.President Donald Trump directed his administration to freeze $200...

JERUSALEM, Israel – The Palestinian Authority accused Australia of making a declaration of war following its decision to withhold financial aid to the PA if it continues to reward terrorists and their families. It's one more nation pressuring the PA to stop a policy many call "pay to slay." The controversial policy provides money to convicted Palestinian terrorists and their families for attacks on Israelis. The payments coming from this fund add up to more than $330 million each year. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop objected to the policy saying, "I am concerned that in providing funds for this aspect...

The U.S. has reportedly suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority amid ongoing Middle East peace talks. I24 News, which is based in Israel, reported Monday that the U.S. froze funding as part of the Taylor Force Act, which requires Palestinian officials to end payments to terrorist groups and take steps to stop those groups’ behavior. The news outlet, citing a White House official and a Senate aide, also reported that certain Palestinian programs have been put on hold because the West Bank and Gaza office of USAID have not received a budget for the coming year. USAID provides funding for...

Letter calls for suspension of aid to the Palestinians Members of Congress hope to compel the State Department to disclose the amount of U.S. aid money the Palestinian Authority has given to convicted terrorists and their families, according to a congressional communication viewed by the Free Beacon that calls for a complete freeze in U.S. aid to the Palestinian government. Reps. David McKinley (R., W.V.) and John Ratcliffe (R., Texas) are circulating a letter to Republican offices urging them to join an effort to compel the State Department to detail the amount of taxpayer money that has been used by...

President Trump signed the Taylor Force Act on Friday, which was attached to the omnibus spending bill and passed into law along with the rest of the legislation. Trump has been excoriated by conservatives for signing the omnibus, a bloated package that gave Democrats almost everything they wanted except amnesty for illegal aliens. But the passage of the Taylor Force Act is a milestone in foreign policy.. The Taylor Force Act will end U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as long as it pays stipends to Palestinian terrorists — either those in Israeli prisons, or the families of those...

One year ago this month, former President Barack Obama's administration was working behind the scenes at the United Nations to slip a resolution through the body’s General Assembly attacking Israel. It was one of Obama’s final, sneaky, and reprehensible acts in office. It put an exclamation point on his long, nasty, personal feud with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Previously, our president had gone so far as to interfere in an Israeli election and then unleashed his minions when Netanyahu had the gall to accept an invitation to address Congress. Fast forward to this Wednesday, Netanyahu was thanking Obama’s successor...

The Trump administration declared its firm support Thursday for a bill that would suspend U.S. financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it ends what critics have described as a long-standing practice of rewarding Palestinians who kill Americans and Israelis. The State Department announcement comes nearly six weeks after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed the measure. The legislation, which is named after an American who was stabbed to death in Israel by a Palestinian, reflects bipartisan outrage over what lawmakers have termed a “pay to slay” program endorsed by the Palestinian Authority. “The Trump administration strongly supports the Taylor...