Do-nothing workers in Gaza complain that their salaries were cut

We have noted for years that most of the Palestinian Authority workers in Gaza are being paid to do nothing, after Hamas took over, to show that the PA did not accept Hamas' political leadership.

Of course, these salaries come from Western funds.

The EU finally woke up with a report in 2013 noting how much money was being wasted, and this year the EU finally said that it would cut the salaries for PA workers in Gaza who do nothing.

It looks like something happened.

Gaza do-nothing employees of the PA are bitterly complaining about a cut in their salaries to stay home and twiddle their thumbs. The salaries have been reduced by about 30% according to Arab media articles.

Fatah leaders in northern Gaza offered their resignations over this issue.

This is part of the Palestinian culture of entitlement, where so many people believe that the world owes them everything and they have no responsibility for their own actions. In this case the PA was partially at fault for instructing their employees not to work for Hamas in 2007 and saying that they would be paid indefinitely. A huge portion of the PA budget goes towards Gaza salaries.

Perhaps the most interesting reaction to the salary cut came from Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group,
which issued a statement saying "we pledge to use all available means in order to stop these measures against the backbone of the Palestinian National Authority employees."

I don't think there is an immediate danger of civil war within Fatah - the Al Aqsa Brigades are mostly based in Gaza, so there is only so much they can do - but this is one of those stories that the West ignores until something explodes.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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