Terror Insurance...

Some time back [ed: that would be July of ‘05] , we reported on a horrific sales contest that rewarded insurance agents who adopted a “Bin Laden strategy” in their sales efforts. Although it was beyond tasteless, it was an essentially harmless bit of corporate stupidity; the only ones hurt were the managers who came up with this idiotic scheme.

Unfortunately, life has imitated art, after a fashion: Jordan’s Arab Bank has set up a quasi-insurance plan for families of Palestinian homicide-bombers. The “deal” is fairly simple, if not disgusting:

“In February 2002, a similar ad was placed in another publication, Al Hayat Al Jadeeda, again asking families of "martyrs" to go to the Arab Bank in order "to receive the tenth payment, totaling $5,316 for each family, donated by the Saudi committee." The generous donors ended up giving $1,594,980 to some 300 families in the occupied territories via the Arab Bank.”

Basically, the terrorists’ families are instructed to open an account at their local branch, into which will be deposited some $5,000. It’s not really “life insurance,” since there’s no underwriting or an actual policy (among other issues). But since someone has to die in order for a “beneficiary” to collect, it certainly mimics such a plan.

Words fail me.