Fatah claims responsibility for murder of young Israeli couple in front of their children
Fatah claims responsibility for murder
of young Israeli couple in front of their children
Abbas at UN opened with PA libel
that Israel is planning to destroy
Muslim and Christian sites
PA libel spreading to rest of Islamic world
Abbas: Israel has "plans to undermine
the Islamic and Christian sanctuaries in Jerusalem,
particularly its actions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque"
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
A senior official of Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement posted on his Facebook Page that Fatah was accepting responsibility for yesterday’s murder of a young Israeli couple, Eitam and Naama Henkin, in front of their four children.
Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul posted:
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the Palestinian Authority has led a vicious incitement campaign against Israel calling for violence in recent weeks. Palestinians are fed a steady diet of statements by senior PA and Fatah leaders, claiming that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is "in danger," and that Palestinians must defend it through Ribat, a religious war to liberate or defend what is claimed to be Islamic land.
Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul posted:
“Palestine Today: The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement Fatah, accepted responsibility for the Itamar operation (i.e., murder of Eitam and Naama Henkin), carried out against settlers, leading to their deaths.”
[Official Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member
Mahmoud Al-Aloul, Oct. 1, 2015]
Mahmoud Al-Aloul, Oct. 1, 2015]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the Palestinian Authority has led a vicious incitement campaign against Israel calling for violence in recent weeks. Palestinians are fed a steady diet of statements by senior PA and Fatah leaders, claiming that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is "in danger," and that Palestinians must defend it through Ribat, a religious war to liberate or defend what is claimed to be Islamic land.
PA Chairman Abbas chose to open his speech Wednesday at the UN with this PA libel. Specifically, he stated that Israel is scheming to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Abbas called "on the Israeli government, before it is too late, to cease its use of brutal force to impose its plans to undermine the Islamic and Christian sanctuaries in Jerusalem." Abbas threatened that unless Israel stops its "scheme" and its "actions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque," the conflict will change from political to religious, "creating an explosive situation in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory." [Abbas at the UN, the UN's website, Sept. 30, 2015] (See excerpt below)
israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said today that Palestinian incitement surrounding the Temple Mount directly led to the murder of the young Israeli parents.
The PA libel is now spreading around the Muslim world, which could potentially lead to international terror against Jews, as has been witnessed in the past. The PA media has reported on statements like the following by the Grand Muftis of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon and others, thereby lending more "credibility" to the false accusations that Israel is destroying the Muslim holy site.
The official PA daily reported on comments by the Imam and preacher at the holy sanctuary of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Saleh Bin Hamid, who "stated that 'the attacks of the Zionists on the Al-Aqsa Mosque constitute a declaration of war on its Islamic identity'." He "condemned the criminal attacks, the barbaric actions and racist policy being implemented against it." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 19, 2015]
The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh stated that "the Al-Aqsa Mosque is complaining to Allah today, and then to the Islamic nation, that the Jews defile it and drive away [Muslim] worshippers, hurt them and place obstacles in their way." He added: "Oh servants of Allah, be alert." [Al-Quds, Sept. 24, 2015]
Similarly, the Grand Mufti of Lebanon Abd Al-Latif Daryan said that "they" - Israelis/Jews - "want to destroy the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] or to divide it, saying that they want Palestine to be a homeland and a state for Jews only, and that they want to destroy the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] in order to search for the alleged Temple!" [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 24, 2015]
Abbas made similar comments at a recent visit to Moscow when he "called on the international community to provide protection to the holy places of Christianity and Islam in Jerusalem and ensure the freedom of religion." [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 23, 2015] Likewise, PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has stated that Israel is trying to "to erase [Jerusalem's] Arab and Islamic identity" and "salute[d] the legendary resoluteness of the sons and daughters of occupied Jerusalem, who are still dealing with the Judaization attack." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 17, 2015] The PA prime minister also has stated that Palestinians "will not concede one speck of land in Jerusalem, and Israel's plan to divide Al-Aqsa will not pass, and Israel does not scare our people with its racist resolutions." [Al-Quds, Sept. 20, 2015]
The demonic image of "Jews defiling the holy places" has been reiterated extensively by PA leaders lately. PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi stated that "Israel is playing with fire with its desecration of the holy places." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 15, 2015] A reporter from official PA TV spoke of Israel's "defilement, Judaization, and invasion" of the mosque, [Official PA TV, Sept. 13, 2015] while the Ambassador of the State of "Palestine" to Kazakhstan Muntasir Abu Zaid updated a Kazakh official "about the desecration of the Islamic and Christian holy places in East Jerusalem by the occupation, and about the fact that the extremist settlers are being allowed to invade the Al-Aqsa plaza and defile it." [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 20, 2015] PMW reported on Abbas' statement that Palestinians will not allow "Jews with their filthy feet" to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza.
Those Palestinians who try to prevent Jews from praying at the Temple Mount are praised by Palestinian leaders, referred to as fighters of a holy war - Murabitin - those who carry out Ribat - i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic. Fatah spokesperson Osama Al-Qawasmi called them "heroes":
"Those carrying out Ribat at the Al-Aqsa Mosque are heroes, and a source of pride for all Palestinians... they protect the honor of the Arab and Islamic nations with their bare chests and with the words 'Allah is great,' ... the Palestinian people will not relinquish its land and holy sites, no matter what price it will have to pay."
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 20, 2015]
Al-Qawasmi also vowed that Fatah "will protect our Al-Aqsa at any cost" and "never relinquish our land, our Jerusalem, and our Al-Aqsa." He stated that "the Fatah movement will protect the holy places of Islam and Christianity in East Jerusalem, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its plaza." Al-Qawasmi also threatened that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "must know that when he approaches [the subject of] Jerusalem and the holy places, he sets the entire area on fire and ignites religious conflicts that will have impact on the entire world." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 18, 2015]
PA Parliament Member Mustafa Barghouti emphasized that continued Palestinian "defense" of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem at any price "until liberation": "We will protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, whatever the price may be, and Israel will fail to turn it into a religious conflict," he said, and stressed that "the Palestinian people... will continue to defend the 'Arabness' of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem until they are liberated." [Wattan News Agency, Sept. 18, 2015]
In a rally in support of Palestinian prisoners and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, "senior officials, leaders of factions and activists" were reported to "urge" Palestinians "to start an intifada against the occupation, its aggression and its policy by taking to the streets... to release the prisoners and protect Jerusalem and the holy places from the occupation's aggression and its settlers." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 23, 2015]
Palestinians are called upon by these same leaders to "protect" and "defend" the mosque and carry out Ribat and encouraged to continue to throw rocks at Israelis and sacrifice themselves for Al-Aqsa.
The following is the opening of Abbas' speech at the UN, repeating the libel that Israel is planning to harm the Al-Aqsa Mosque:
PA Chairman Abbas: "I come before you today from Palestine, compelled to sound the alarm about the grave dangers of what is happening in Jerusalem, where extremist Israeli groups are committing repeated, systematic incursions upon Al-Aqsa Mosque, aimed at imposing a new reality and dividing Al-Haram Al-Sharif temporally, allowing extremists, under the protection of Israeli occupying forces and accompanying ministers and Knesset members, to enter the Mosque at certain times, while preventing Muslim worshipers from accessing and entering the Mosque at those times and freely exercising their religious rights.
This is the scheme that the Israeli government is pursuing, in direct violation of the status quo since before 1967 and thereafter. By doing so, the occupying power is committing a grave mistake, because we will not accept this, and the Palestinian people will not allow the implementation of this illegal scheme, which is aggravating the sensitivities of Palestinians and Muslims everywhere.
I call on the Israeli government, before it is too late, to cease its use of brutal force to impose its plans to undermine the Islamic and Christian sanctuaries in Jerusalem, particularly its actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque, for such actions will convert the conflict from a political to religious one, creating an explosive in Jerusalem and in the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory."
The following are longer excerpts of the reports mentioned above:
Headline: "The president [Abbas] called to provide protection to the holy places of Islam and Christianity in Jerusalem at the inauguration of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque"
"President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas called on the international community to provide protection to the holy places of Christianity and Islam in Jerusalem and ensure the freedom of religion, as it existed before the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, especially at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
His honor stated during his speech today, Wednesday, [Sept. 23, 2015], at the inauguration of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque in the presence of President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, together with Arab and Islamic delegations and international personalities: 'The systematic aggression against the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first direction of prayer and the third holiest [Islamic] sanctuary, in occupied East Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine, cannot serve peace, coexistence and tolerance between the religions and nations. It provides an additional excuse for extremists around the world who use religions in their terror and their aggression against humanity.'
His honor emphasized that the Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to Muslims only, and it is the right of every Muslim in the world to visit it and hold religious ceremonies in its plaza. In addition, he expressed his strong opposition to any measure taken by the occupation, aimed at limiting Muslims' access to it and preventing them from holding their ceremonies freely inside it."
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 23, 2015]
Headline: "Palestinian and Arab condemnations of the occupation's actions in Jerusalem and at the Al-Aqsa Mosque"
"PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi stated: 'Israel is playing with fire with its desecration of the holy places. Its invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza and the coercion of its division according to times and areas through its [Israel's] military establishments and branches, are all part of the completion of its Judaization scheme to annex the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings, and to impose facts on the ground by gradually imposing its security control over them and implementing its vision concerning what it calls the third Temple."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 15, 2015]
Headline: "Al-Qawasmi: 'Those carrying out Ribat at the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] are heroes, and the settlers are terrorists'"
"Fatah Spokesperson Osama Al-Qawasmi said that those carrying out Ribat(i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) at the Al-Aqsa Mosque are heroes, and a source of pride for all Palestinians, and that they protect the honor of the Arab and Islamic nations with their bare chests and with the words 'Allah is great,' with their iron will, and with the fact that they trust first and foremost in Allah, and their absolute faith in our full right to our Jerusalem and the blessed [Al-Aqsa] Mosque.
Al-Qawasmi emphasized in a statement to the press tonight [Sept. 20, 2015] that the true terrorists are the herds of settlers and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's extreme government which protects them and eases the way for their acts of invasion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as preparation for its division by areas and times. Likewise, he emphasized that the Palestinian people will not relinquish its land and holy sites, no matter what price it will have to pay."
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 20, 2015]
The PA considers any presence of Jews on the Temple Mount an "invasion."
"Division according to areas and times" refers to a proposed law (May 2013) being reviewed in Israeli Parliament that would allow for both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount. The law seeks to designate separate prayer times and areas of the site for Muslims and Jews.
Headline: "Al-Qawasmi : 'We will protect our Al-Aqsa at any cost'"
"Fatah spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi stated: 'The Fatah movement will protect the holy places of Islam and Christianity in East Jerusalem, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its plaza. We are determined to remain on our land, and we will not leave it despite the ethnic cleansing war being carried out by the occupation state.'
Al-Qawasmi continued in a statement to the press: '[Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu's racist decisions will never scare our people, and we will not raise a white flag, regardless of the price we have to pay. He must know that when he approaches [the subject of] Jerusalem and the holy places, he sets the entire area on fire and ignites religious conflicts that will have impact on the entire world.'
Al-Qawasmi added that Netanyahu and his government are playing with fire as they Judaize East Jerusalem and strive to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its plaza according to times and areas, and we in the Fatah movement will never relinquish our land, our Jerusalem, and our Al-Aqsa."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 18, 2015]
"[PA] Prime Minister [Rami Hamdallah] emphasized that the main focus of the [PA] government at this sensitive stage in the history of the Palestinian cause is on strengthening the resoluteness of the Palestinian people and their establishment on their land, especially in Jerusalem...
This was during a speech he gave at the dedication of the new departments in the government hospital in Beit Jala...
The prime minister added: 'I salute the legendary resoluteness of the sons and daughters of occupied Jerusalem, who are still dealing with the Judaization attack and most despicable [ethnic] cleansing, to which the city and its holy sites are being subjected, and going out against the actions of the Israeli occupation, whose soldiers are invading the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in an attempt to force a division by times and areas and to erase its Arab and Islamic identity."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 17, 2015]
Headline: "Hamdallah: 'Israel's plan to divide the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] will not pass, and we will not concede one speck of land in Jerusalem'"
"PA Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah stated: 'In the name of the Palestinian leadership, led by Mahmoud Abbas, I emphasize that we will not concede one speck of land in Jerusalem, and Israel's plan to divide Al-Aqsa will not pass, and Israel does not scare our people with its racist resolutions.'
These things were said during his speech yesterday [Sept. 19, 2015] at the graduation ceremony of the third class of first degree students, the 'belonging class,' at the Al-Istiqlal University in Jericho, in the presence of the president of the university, Dr. Al-Nasser Al-Qaddumi, and head of the board of trustees [and Fatah Central Committee member] Tawfiq Tirawi."
[Al-Quds, Sept. 20, 2015]
Headline: "Ambassador of Palestine briefed Kazakh diplomat regarding the occupation's attacks against the Al-Aqsa [Mosque]"
"Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Kazakhstan Muntasir Abu Zaid briefed the head of the Asia and Africa Department of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry BakhitAristan regarding all the developments of the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
During his meeting with the Kazakh official, Abu Zaid updated him about the desecration of the Islamic and Christian holy places in East Jerusalem by the occupation, and about the fact that the extremist settlers are being allowed to invade the Al-Aqsa plaza and defile it."
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 20, 2015]
Headline: "Barghuti to Wattan: 'We will protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, whatever the price may be, and Israel will fail to turn it into a religious conflict'"
"Despite the ban, [PA] Parliament Member and Secretary-General of the National Initiative Movement Mustafa Barghouti managed to go to Jerusalem today [Sept. 18, 2015], Friday, and to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to pray there.
Barghouti participated, along with thousands of worshippers, in a mass demonstration that took place after the Friday prayers in condemnation of the settlers' and occupation army's attacks against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Barghouti emphasized to Wattan that the steps of the Israeli occupation and government will not scare the Palestinian people, and it will continue to defend the 'Arabness' of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem until they are liberated."
[Wattan News Agency, Sept. 18, 2015]
Headline: "Leaders and officials call for popular intifada and struggle against the occupation's aggression towards Jerusalem and the prisoners"
"Senior officials, leaders of factions and popular activists urged our people to start an intifada against the occupation, its aggression and its policy by taking to the streets. This is to release the prisoners and protect Jerusalem and the holy places from the occupation's aggression and its settlers.
The call was made during speeches given by senior officials and leaders in a support rally for the prisoners and the Al-Aqsa [Mosque], held yesterday [Sept. 22, 2015] in Ramallah...
[District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh Laila] Ghannam stated that the prisoners are the guardians of the Palestinian dream and the soul of the land...
She added that defending our country, our lives and our dreams is a legitimate right, guaranteed by all international treaties. She also noted that Jerusalem is under an increasing attack in front of the entire world, and no one is lifting a finger.
The speakers called the Palestinian people to take part in the popular resistance to support the prisoners and to help the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and Jerusalem and defend them."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 23, 2015]
Headline: "Diliani: 'Netanyahu's escalating vendetta against the residents of Jerusalem will fail"
"Member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council and Secretary-General of the National Christian Coalition in the Holy Lands Dimitri Diliani stated: 'The escalating vendetta of the occupation state's government, headed by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu against the residents of Jerusalem, will fail as its predecessors did, and the occupation's defeat is the only guarantee to ensuring calm in Jerusalem.'
He added: 'In addition, the occupation imposes financial penalties on the parents of minors participating in the protests, and promotes an additional unjust law which sets a minimum punishment for those defending their rights (i.e., rock throwers)."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 22, 2015]
Law against rock throwing - The law (Penal Code 2015, section 332A), promoted by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, was passed by the Israeli Parliament on July 21, 2015. It imposes up to 10 years imprisonment for throwing rocks at civilian vehicles and up to 20 years when intent to injure is proven. On Sept. 24, 2015, the Israeli Security Cabinet voted in favor of a series of measures against those who throw rocks and firebombs, including a minimum 4-year prison sentence for adults, imprisonment for minors aged 14-18 and fines for parents of younger minors. The Cabinet also approved the use of live ammunition in life-endangering situations.
Headline: "The Imam of the holy sanctuary of Mecca: The Zionists' attacks on Al-Aqsa are a war declaration"
"The Imam and preacher at the holy sanctuary of Mecca, Sheikh Saleh Bin Hamid, stated that 'the attacks of the Zionists on the Al-Aqsa Mosque constitute a declaration of war on its Islamic identity.'
He condemned the criminal attacks, the barbaric actions and racist policy being implemented against it.
In the Friday sermon, which he gave at the Kaaba (i.e., a cubic structure at the center of the Al-Masjid Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca and Islam's holiest site.) Bin Hamid condemned the world's silence and helplessness facing the Jews' plan to divide the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. He added that the Zionists have chosen to attack the Al-Aqsa Mosque at this time, due to the state of enmity, separation and terrorist sectarian war, in which the Islamic nation is presently engaged."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 19, 2015]
"Grand Mufti of Lebanon Abd Al-Latif Daryan stated during the holiday sermon that: 'The takeover and the expulsion [of Palestinians] from homes began with the occupation of Palestine, and that since 1967 we [Palestinians] are being religiously persecuted. They [the Israelis]divided the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron and now they want to destroy the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] or to divide it, saying that they want Palestine to be a homeland and a state for Jews only, and that they want to destroy the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] in order to search for the alleged Temple! ... What do people live and die for, if not for the homeland and for the religion?'"
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Sept. 24, 2015]
"Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh, stated yesterday during the sermon on Mount Arafah (i.e., a hill east of Mecca, an obligatory stop on the route of pilgrimage for Muslims coming to Mecca) that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is complaining to Allah today, and then to the Islamic nation, that the Jews defile it and drive away [Muslim] worshippers, hurt them and place obstacles in their way. [He added:] 'Oh servants of Allah, be alert.'"
[Al-Quds, Sept. 24, 2015]