American student organizations are fundraising for the mothers of “martyrs” to supplement a Palestinian Authority payment program after the PA supposedly withheld financial support.
City College of New York (CCNY) Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), John Jay College SJP, City University of New York (CUNY) for Palestine, and CUNY Stoop Sales for Gaza organized a bake sale on Sunday to raise funds for the “Mothers of martyrs in Jenin” in Washington Square Park.
“Jenin Camp has been under brutal siege by the occupation for over a year. All of its residents have been displaced and many of the families have members who have ascended to martyrdom,” CCNY SJP explained in a Saturday Instagram post. “Recently, the treacherous Palestinian Authority has refused to provide the financial support that was previously allotted to families of martyrs.”
The organizations did not detail exactly under which program the funds were being denied by the PA, but according to Reuters, last February PA President Mahmoud Abbas faced criticism over a decree to alter the program of payments to the families of Palestinians killed or jailed by Israeli forces. The financial support program has been described by critics as providing stipends to the families of terrorists, and dubbed by many “pay to slay.”
“Mothers of Martyrs in Jenin” fundraiser raises $1,667
On April 1, CCNY SJP, CUNY for Palestine, and Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition began fundraising for that same cause. According to Columbia SJP, the fundraiser was part of a mutual aid week of action. The Mothers of Martyrs in Jenin fundraiser garnered $1,667, according to an April 4 Columbia SJP X/Twitter post. The post also noted that the total funds raised, which included funds for other causes in Lebanon and Gaza, were matched with $600 by faculty.
The payment accounts for the fundraiser are owned by a person bearing the same name as a John Jay alum who signed a 2021 CUNY pro-Palestinian solidarity letter.
The US State Department said in an end-of-April report that while the PA had changed the mechanisms for payments and benefits to Palestinian terrorists and their families, the program continued through a social welfare agency.
