Pro-Palestinian groups are accused of funding a “pay for slay” program which donated $300 million to the families of terrorists in a new lawsuit, The Post has learned.
Terrorists convicted of atrocities and assassins are profiting from the scheme’s blood money, according to the legal filing in Manhattan federal court.
The action has been brought by Americans who have lost family members in terrorist attacks and is against the Palestinian Liberation Organization, an international group, and the Palestinian Authority, located on the West Bank and headed by Mahmoud Abbas.
The lawsuit claims last year the PA Martyrs’ Fund gave out the staggering sum, which effectively equates to a “lucrative bounty” on the heads of foreign nationals, including Americans, “by paying millions in salaries or compensation,” annually to imprisoned terrorists and their families, according to the legal papers.
“By establishing financial incentives for imprisoned terrorists and the families of dead terrorists, the PA and PLO have created a terrorism turnstile—rewarding terrorists who are either imprisoned or killed, thereby creating the space and monetary incentives for new would-be terrorists to take their place,” the court papers say.
The lawsuit cites the example of Abdullah Barghouti, a bomb-building member of Hamas whose explosives killed 67 people — among them Israeli, Americas, Dutch and French citizens — at various locations in Israel in 2002 and 2011.
Barghouti is currently serving 67 life sentences in an Israeli prison, but his family has received nearly $400,000 in payouts, the lawsuit claims.
Among the plaintiffs are members of the Gez family, who are dual-American and Israeli citizens. They lost their mother, Tzeela Gez, and her infant, Ravid Gez, to a Palestinian terrorist in May 2025.
Mother of three Tzeela, 30, was shot and killed while she was on her way to a hospital with her husband to give birth to her son near their home in the West Bank.
Her husband, Hananel Gez, was wounded but survived the shooting. Doctors performed an emergency cesarean section and delivered the baby, but were unable to save the mother’s life. The baby died 15 days later, according to the court papers.
Another plaintiff is Stuart Force, the father of Taylor Force, an MBA student at Vanderbilt University and a West Point graduate who was stabbed to death by Bashar Massalha, a 22-year-old Palestinian, in March 2016.
According to the complaint one of the killers received a payment of nearly $2,000 after the attack, and continues to receive more than $400 a month from the Palestinian Authority.
“Defendants PLO and PA have openly celebrated and rewarded acts of terrorism against civilians in Israel,” says the lawsuit, brought by the National Jewish Advocacy Center, a nonprofit combating antisemitism.
“Defendants glorify those who die while committing terrorist attacks against Israel — labeling them shahids (i.e., martyrs) — as well as celebrate imprisoned terrorists, singling them out for special treatment, benefits, and tribute.”
