Palestinians bombarded with unsolicited accident compensation texts
Thousands of Palestinians are having the misery of living under perpetual subjugation further compounded by incessant texts offering compensation for any accident they had or exploded home theyâre under. The texts, whilst initially appearing to offer a no-win no-fee ray of hope for many inside the besieged territory, simply direct respondents to various American and Israeli premium-rate lines. âItâs just a scam!â says Rashid Nasser, whose home was destroyed for being within 60 yards of a sandwich shop occasionally frequented by men that an Israeli spy-plane suspected might know a Palestinian journalist. âIâm never calling those things again. I was hoping for some help but I just got redirected to a grainy recorded message of some men laughing.â âIt was the second text Iâd received in as many minutes. The first one said âYou and your family are entitled to be murdered for that region you live inâ.â âI replied with âSTOPâ but I can only assume they didnât get it as moments later my house was destroyed.â âNow, that one text and phone call have bankrupted me. And Iâve been told that the Israelis will be coming to repossess my rubble tomorrow.â Despite being a blatant contravention of international law, President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has said they are powerless to do anything about the texts. âPut it this way, we donât generally have much luck in the courts. Besides, weâve been inundated with these too.â âIâve had seven texts in the last few days telling me I could claim for being mis-sold Palestinian Persecution Insurance; or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as I think itâs more widely known.â âAlas,â he continued, âthat too just redirects me to an expensive foreign number for another organization thatâs of no use whatsoeverâ¦ called The UN, or something.â