How Palestinian Leaders Are Deceiving Americans

by Bassam Tawil
July 13, 2021 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17557/palestinian-leaders-deceiving-americans

Translations of this item:

The Palestinian Authority does not want the world to know that it has a law that prohibits the sale of property to the Israeli "enemy."
This is the same Palestinian leadership that is now telling the Biden administration that it is keen on resuming the peace process with Israel.
It is also safe to assume that the Congressmen are not aware of the Islamic religious decrees banning Muslims from even attempting to engage in such deals [selling land to Jews].
The Congressmen do not know about these matters because the mainstream media in the West rarely reports about the apartheid policies of the PA leadership, including the ban on selling properties to Jews.
Abbas knows that if he makes such concessions, he will never enjoy the privilege of being buried in a Muslim cemetery, according to the ruling of his mufti and Islamic religious bodies.
In the meantime, Abbas has no problem telling the Biden administration and members of the Congress what they like to hear (about a peace process with Israel and the so-called two state solution) in order to receive US financial aid.
Abbas will take the money while at the same time his security forces are chasing Palestinians who do business with Jews.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has no problem telling the Biden administration and members of the Congress what they like to hear in order to receive US financial aid. Abbas will take the money while at the same time his security forces are chasing Palestinians who do business with Jews. Pictured: Abbas consults a card with a written statement during a visit from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah, on May 25, 2021. (Photo by Alex Brandon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

A Palestinian man was sentenced on June 30 to seven years in prison with hard labor after he was convicted of attempting to sell land to Israeli Jews. The man, whose identity was not revealed, was sentenced by a Palestinian Authority (PA) court in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians.

"The Ramallah Court of First Instance, represented by Judges Ramez Jamhour, Ramez Musleh and Amjad al-Sha'ar, issued a ruling convicting the defendant of attempting to carve out part of the land of the State of Palestine in favor of the enemy," the PA's official news agency Wafa reported. "He was sentenced to 7 years in prison with hard labor."

"Carve out" is the term the PA uses to describe the transfer of ownership of real estate from a Palestinian to an Israeli Jew. The "enemy," needless to say, refers to Israel.

The PA resorts to this kind of vague terminology to avoid criticism from the international community over its policy of punishing any Palestinian who sell his land or house to an Israeli Jew. The PA does not want the world to know that it has a law that prohibits the sale of property to the Israeli "enemy."

In 2014, PA President Mahmoud Abbas amended Article 114 of the Jordanian Criminal Code (1960), which is in effect in the PA-controlled areas in the West Bank. According to the Jordanian law, a person who attempts to sever any part of the Jordanian territory to annex it to a foreign state will be subject to at least five years in prison with hard labor.

Abbas raised the maximum punishment to life imprisonment with hard labor for any Palestinian who is found guilty of selling or leasing "part of the Palestinian lands to a foreign country or a hostile state or any of its citizens."

In 2018, a PA court sentenced an American-Palestinian to life imprisonment for violating the law. The defendant, Issam Akel, who holds an Israeli ID card in his capacity as a resident of Jerusalem, was accused of attempting to sell property in Jerusalem to Israeli Jews.

He was sentenced in spite of protests from Israel and the US. Then US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that Akel's incarceration was "antithetical to the values of the US and all those who advocate the cause of peaceful coexistence." The PA was eventually forced to release Akel in January 2019 under pressure from the US government.

Akel was lucky to be released because he held an American passport. Other Palestinians who have faced the same charges, however, remain in PA prisons because they are not US citizens.

The June 30 court ruling shows that the PA is determined to continue punishing Palestinians who are caught selling property to Israeli Jews. The verdict also aims to send a warning to Palestinians that anyone who even tries to engage in real estate transactions with Israeli Jews will be thrown into prison.

The PA's war on Palestinians suspected of selling property to Israeli Jews is not only limited to legal measures. In the past few years, the Palestinian religious authorities have issued a number of edicts banning Muslims from engaging in such deals.

In 2018, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, the Palestinian mufti of Jerusalem, issued a fatwa (Islamic ruling) calling the "land of Palestine" an inalienable religious endowment that cannot be sold to "the enemies." The fatwa bans Muslims from "facilitating the transfer of ownership of any part of Jerusalem or the land of Palestine to the [Israeli] enemy." It also calls on Muslims to boycott those who violate the fatwa and prevent them from being buried in Muslim cemeteries.

In 1996, Dar al-Ifta, the Palestinians' Islamic advisory body responsible for issuing religious guidelines, ruled that it is forbidden for a Muslim to sell land to Jews. It too urged Muslims to boycott anyone involved in such deals: they are considered "heretics and traitors."

Since the ruling, several Palestinians have been killed for allegedly brokering land sales to Israeli Jews. Dozens of others have been arrested by the various branches of the PA security forces. Three suspects, who were not identified, have been sentenced to 15 years in prison, with hard labor.

According to the PA's Preventive Security Service (PSS), the crackdown on suspected land dealers is being carried out in accordance with instructions from the Palestinian political leadership. "The sale of properties [to Jews] poses a dangerous threat to [Palestinian] national security," the PSS said in a statement.

When the PSS talks about the Palestinian leadership, it is referring to Abbas and the PA government in the West Bank. The PSS is actually admitting that Abbas and the PA leadership ordered the Palestinian security forces to arrest any Palestinian suspected of selling properties to Jews.

This is the same Palestinian leadership that is now telling the Biden administration that it is keen on resuming the peace process with Israel.

While the PA security forces were continuing to hunt down Palestinians on suspicion of engaging in real estate transactions with Jews, Abbas told visiting US Congressmen on July 8 that he is committed to a "just and comprehensive peace through negotiations [with Israel] under the auspices of the Quartet members," the US, European Union, Russia, and United Nations.

The members of Congress are undoubtedly unaware that Abbas's law punishes Palestinians for allegedly selling lands to Jews. It is also safe to assume that the Congressmen are not aware of the Islamic religious decrees banning Muslims from even attempting to engage in such deals. The Congressmen do not know about these matters because the mainstream media in the West rarely reports about the apartheid policies of the PA leadership, including the ban on selling properties to Jews.

Even if Abbas returns to the negotiating table with Israel, he will not be able to make any territorial concessions to Israel because of the Palestinian law and edicts.

Abbas knows that if he makes such concessions, he will never enjoy the privilege of being buried in a Muslim cemetery, according to the ruling of his mufti and Islamic religious bodies.

In the meantime, Abbas has no problem telling the Biden administration and members of the Congress what they like to hear (about a peace process with Israel and the so-called two state solution) in order to receive US financial aid.

Abbas will take the money while at the same time his security forces are chasing Palestinians who do business with Jews.

Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.

© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Related Topics: Palestinian Authority

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Comment on this item

12 Reader Comments

Lawrence Weiswasser • Jan 13, 2022 at 02:08

This all goes along with the unwritten concept that it is politically incorrect to criticisize Muslim atrocities.

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Selma Soss • Jul 14, 2021 at 12:46

I have never felt that I could trust Palestinian leaders. The stupidity of this situation is that we have had leaders in our Administration in the past and now, who continue hold on to this false view. A terrible betrayal to our country.

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Michael Taylor • Jul 14, 2021 at 02:46

Biden should be taking the same tough stance with the PA, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as he appears to be taking with the CCP.

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Barry Panensky • Jul 13, 2021 at 18:29

Biden should take American tax money and keep it in America. Small businesses need it more then some damn terrorists. Take Iran - you going to give this millions to a bunch of fanatics? Come on. Let the EU take care of these pigs.

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David • Jul 13, 2021 at 18:18

In this era of cyber technology, the accessing of information is so easy and almost
instantaneous. The more difficult step is to distinguish between essentially false sites and truthful ones. The next step is also more difficult which is to analyse and be aware of the implications as based on information contained in the truthful site.
There are innumerable truthful websites covering middle east and Israel. Yet there are also innumerable people living in Western democratic countries who choose to believe and peddle outright lies, half-truths about Israel e.g. that it is an apartheid state. Why?

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Lawrence Weiswasser • Jul 13, 2021 at 14:04

I wonder, is it only the Biden administration that ignores Palestinian corruption?

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Maggie • Jul 13, 2021 at 12:16

This is the whole problem in the middle east. Islam holds that land it once owned can never revert back to another religion. It is forbidden. That's why they will never rest until Israel is under Islamic control again. They also want Spain and parts of Europe back that they once controlled. Peace plans won't work until negotiators in the West understand that this is a spiritual war.

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elias hagooli • Jul 13, 2021 at 11:41

The precursor to this: After 1950, in Arab countries it was perfectly legal and in fact encouraged to create false accusations against Jews and seize their properties. The sad part is that the Jew's Muslim neighbor could even be secular but used the religious fatwas for the chance to seize the property of his long-time Jewish neighbor -- even with known false pretense. This began in the 1950's -- and yes the state stepped in and even confiscated some of their lives -- where was the so called UNRWA for them ? They were one million Jews -- clearly many more than the Palestinians who relocated --and the world is paying for the Palestinians till now -- but where is the money going ? Where is the audit ? In Iran -- where I come from -- Jewish property was seized for little or no reason. I recall that the advice from those who clearly wanted to do nothing with these behaviors was simple: do not go after getting your property back -- you will be playing with your life. They were absolutely correct. The shame lies with the West -- they never held them to account, but -- perhaps -- Islam is 1400 years old, the West was not exactly friendly or fair to Jews after 1400 years of Christianity. So the cycle of Abrahamic religions repeat themselves.

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David

elias hagooli • Jul 14, 2021 at 11:54

And the Jewish property which was seized.
It would not surprise me if the new owners were exclusively existing powerful, wealthy businessmen, politicians, religious and military leaders of Iran. No doubt the religion of peace would justify this orgy of theft and violence.

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stevenl • Jul 13, 2021 at 10:45

The Middle East needs Trump!

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Agnes • Jul 13, 2021 at 07:18

I simply do not believe that the Biden administration, or indeed any administration, eastern, western or any on the compass, is unaware of the propaganda &/or intent of the Arabs who would, now, like to be known as Palestinians.

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Hamish MacDonald • Jul 13, 2021 at 06:17

Taqiyya.

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