The Palestinian Authority considers land sales to Israeli Jews to be treason and even punishable by death.
By United With Israel Staff
A Palestinian prisoner who had committed what is considered a crime in the Palestinian Authority (PA) – selling land to Israeli Jews – has died in a hospital run by the PA in Ramallah.
Media reports cite PA Police spokesman Louay Arzeikat as saying that the man, who had been convicted in 2012 for “trading land with the enemy,” died on Sunday after a two-week bout with an “illness.” The identity of the prisoner was not released.
“The PA Police spokesman did not respond to several phone calls seeking clarification” about the death, reported Times of Israel.
The PA considers land sales to Israeli Jews to be treason and even punishable by death. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has been viewed as shying away from publicly authorizing the execution of someone who violates the law. His approval is required under the terms of the law.
While the Palestinians may avoid the death penalty and the outcry it might produce among allies in Europe, a Palestinian court sentenced an Arab man from eastern Jerusalem to life in prison with hard labor in December 2018 for trying to sell property in the Old City to an Israeli group.
This harsh and unjust criminal law applies not only to land in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, but also eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City, where Judaism’s holiest shrine, the Temple Mount, is located.
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