Top PA official threatened: Whoever accepts Trump’s peace plan - "the filth of the century" - "will pay the price of treason"
- Top PA official encouraged Martyrdom:
Better to fight and die as Martyrs than to accept Trump’s deal – “We welcome death for Allah”
A few days prior to US President Trump’s revelation of his peace plan, top PA official Mahmoud Al-Habbash, who is Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice, warned that acceptance of Trump’s deal is “humiliating,” and “shameful,” and even threatened that whoever does accept it “will pay the price of treason.” Moreover, he taught that to fight the deal and die as a Martyr is far better than to accept the “filth of the century,” as he scornfully termed the plan, which is commonly known as “the deal of the century”:
Al-Habbash: “Trump and those who are with him… will reach the dustbin of history! …Palestine will remain Palestine, regardless of how long it takes... This land – by Allah’s decree, will spit out its refuse, and no oppressor will last long in it… Allah willing… this land will return to its owners... All of this aggression, arrogance, and tyranny – their result will be a tragedy befalling them, by the force of Supreme Allah... We will not accept the deal of shame, we will not accept the Trump deal, we will not accept the so-called deal of the century, or slap of the century, or shame of the century, or filth of the century… The Arabs and Muslims will not accept it… Whoever accepts it – he will pay a heavy price for it. Yes, he will pay the price for accepting it. He will pay the price of treason. [Accepting] this deal is the way to treason.”
[Official PA TV, Jan. 24, 2020]
Al-Habbash: “Might we accept this [the deal of the century]? …We will stand before two choices: Either we will succumb on our own and humiliate ourselves, and we will receive shame for eternity – or we will say, as our chosen beloved [Prophet Muhammad] said: ‘I will fight them… until my head falls and I am dead.’ …There is no one among us who can choose the first option… They say that they will declare the ‘plot of the century’ within days… The Palestinian leadership has said clearly and definitely: If they harm our rights in this deal of shame – then the [PA] leadership will take steps... Die – but upright like a tree… Die while you are honorable, die with your head held high… Their goal [in the past] was that the Palestinians would sign on their agreement to the occupation of Palestine… No, this will never happen… We welcome death for the sake of Allah. If death is the price of dignity, sovereignty, and honor, then death is welcome – if it is for Allah and in the way of Allah’s Messenger [Muhammad] who swore to fight the infidels until he died… The Palestinian hand has not yet been created that can sign this deal of shame.”
[Official PA TV, Jan. 24, 2020]
Upon Trump’s revelation of the deal, Al-Habbash followed up on his statements and called on Islamic scholars and preachers to use their Friday sermons to speak against the deal, which he defined as “a crime”:
“Al-Habbash called on the Islamic nation’s religious scholars and preachers to dedicate the Friday sermon to the topic of Jerusalem, the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the dangers surrounding them as a result of the continuation of the Israeli occupation and the consequences of ‘the deal of the century.’ He called to declare a decisive position against this crime that will satisfy Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad].”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 30, 2020]
After Trump’s revelation of the plan, Abbas’ Fatah called on Palestinians to “defend Palestine with their blood and soul,” as exposed by Palestinian Media Watch. In addition, one of Fatah’s spokesmen, Osama Al-Qawasmi, called for “escalation of the popular struggle” – a term Palestinian Media Watch has documented is used by PA leaders at times to refer to peaceful protest and at times to refer to deadly terror attacks and terror waves.
Al-Qawasmi: “The basic principles of our struggle rely on national unity, escalation of the comprehensive popular struggle, strengthening the boycott, rising up against the Zionist-American colonialist plot at all levels – popular, political, and legal – and fully adhering to our rights.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 31, 2020]
The official PA daily dedicated an entire page to photos of Palestinians protesting “the deal of the century”:
Protesters in the northern Israeli Arab city of Baqa Al-Gharbiya wave Palestinian flags, as a man in sunglasses holds a sign written in English.
Text on sign in English: “(All errors in source –Ed.) Mr. President [Donald Trump].
You can push the plan into your ass.
Warning
Don’t mess with Palestinian”[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 2, 2020]
A female protester in El-Bireh with her face masked in a keffiyeh (Arab headdress) uses a slingshot to fire a rock.
Two protesters in El-Bireh in the West Bank, one wearing a Palestinian flag and the other with his head masked, use slingshots to shoot smoldering objects.
Protesters in Gaza burn a torn picture of Trump.
PLO Executive Committee Secretary and PLO Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat commented on the peace plan, stating it is really Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan that is merely covered in “American wrapping”:
“Erekat said that the deal of the century is a plan of [Israeli] occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the settlement council without changing even a single comma of it, but it is wrapped in an American name. He added that US President Trump and Netanyahu’s words are an official declaration of their withdrawal from the international bodies, the Oslo Accords, and the agreements that were signed.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 31, 2020]
The PA has previously expressed this notion of Israeli control over the US, when a song aired on official PA TV presented Netanyahu as “darkness” sending Trump and US Senior Presidential Advisor Jared Kushner as his “messengers.” The music video showed visuals of Trump and Netanyahu accompanied by lyrics telling of "a monster with horns dragging a tail." Abbas, in the song nicknamed as the "Son of the Sun," is instructed to "break [the monster’s] horn and cut off its tail":
It is not surprising that the Palestinian Authority, PLO, and Fatah have announced their rejection of US President Trump’s peace deal. For the last few years – since the Trump administration first mentioned they were working on it – the PA has been busy rejecting the plan outright, even before anyone had a clue as to its exact contents.
By adamantly rejecting the peace deal in advance, PA leaders have not only climbed a high tree from which there is no way down, but have also brainwashed the Palestinian people into believing that the peace plan is pure evil, that Trump is the enemy, and that his plan is “the Deal of the Devil.” Combined with the complete absence of any Palestinian discourse discussing – even at a theoretical level – possible Palestinian concessions or compromises, this indoctrination makes it virtually impossible for the PA to accept any plan whatsoever – now or in the future.
The following are longer excerpts of the statements cited above:
Headline: “Al-Habbash calls on the Muslim religious scholars and preachers to dedicate the Friday sermon to resisting the deal of the century”
“Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine [and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice] Mahmoud Al-Habbash called on the Islamic nation’s religious scholars and preachers to dedicate the Friday sermon to the topic of Jerusalem, the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the dangers surrounding them as a result of the continuation of the Israeli occupation and the consequences of ‘the deal of the century’ (i.e., refers to US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, which he revealed together with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Jan. 28, 2020). He called to declare a decisive position against this crime that will satisfy Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad]…
The supreme Shari’ah judge emphasized that the deal of the century is actually ‘the American-Israeli fraud deal.’ He added: ‘It is not worth the cost of the ink with which it was written, and its only place is in the dustbin of history. Anyone who has a different opinion about it needs to reexamine his mind and conscience, because Jerusalem will only be Palestinian-Arab-Muslim, and it will be the capital of Palestine alone.’
Al-Habbash added: ‘This deal has a clause that is liable to be the most dangerous in all that has been published. It determines that it will be permitted for believers of all of the religions to pray at the Noble Sanctuary (i.e., the Temple Mount; see note below), and what this means, in short, is a division of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. This is something that no Muslim who believes in Allah and Judgment Day can accept.’”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 30, 2020]
The mention of a clause on prayer at the Temple Mount in US President Donald Trump’s peace plan refers to the following passage on page 16 of the plan: “Jerusalem’s holy sites should remain open and available for peaceful worshippers and tourists of all faiths. People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion, taking into account the times of each religion’s prayers and holidays, as well as other religious factors.”
Headline: “Erekat: The deal of the century is Netanyahu’s plan in American wrapping”
“PLO Executive Committee Secretary [and PLO Chief Negotiator] Saeb Erekat said that the deal of the century (i.e., refers to US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which he presented with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Jan. 28, 2020) is a plan of [Israeli] occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the settlement council without changing even a single comma of it, but it is wrapped in an American name. He added that US President [Donald] Trump and Netanyahu’s words are an official declaration of their withdrawal from the international bodies, the Oslo Accords, and the agreements that were signed.
Erekat emphasized during a press conference he held at the [PLO] Department for Negotiations building in Ramallah yesterday, Thursday [Jan. 30, 2020], that subjugating the peoples’ will by force of weapons reaches the level of war crimes, and that our people and its leadership will oppose the deal that [US Senior Presidential Advisor] Jared Kushner considers a source of authority for all future peace negotiations…
He also emphasized that ‘Those who strive for peace must understand that there are demands for peace, and our position is clear as defined by [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas; we strive for peace and want peace, but our peace will not be at any cost. The peace that we want is through the end of the occupation and the realization of the State of Palestine’s independence in the 1967 borders whose capital is East Jerusalem, and it includes the permanent resolution issues including the issue of the refugees and prisoners.’”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 31, 2020]
Saeb Erekat also serves as Fatah Central Committee member.
Headline: “Fatah calls to bear responsibility and implement the boycott against the Israeli goods”
“The Fatah Movement called on all our people to bear national responsibility in words and actions of popular resistance, to implement the boycott on the Israeli goods, to unify the ranks, and to block the path of the fifth column and those creating strife and rumors.
Fatah Revolutionary Council member and [official Fatah] Spokesperson Osama Al-Qawasmi added yesterday [Jan. 30, 2020] that the basic principles of our struggle rely on national unity, escalation of the comprehensive popular struggle, strengthening the boycott, rising up against the Zionist-American colonialist plot (apparently refers to US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which he presented with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Jan. 28, 2020 –Ed.) at all levels – popular, political, and legal – and fully adhering to our rights.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 31, 2020]