PA threat to Israel: “I’m taking my enemies down with me… Either [we get] Palestine, or a fire [will burn] generation after generation”
Claiming that the US and Israel are planning to “redesign” the Middle East via “normalization” and US President Trump’s peace plan, the PA threatened “anarchy, violence, and instability” in an editorial in its official daily. The PA lashed out at the Arab states that have recently signed peace agreements with Israel, while stating that “a fire [will burn] generation after generation” unless the PA gets “Palestine”:
“Let the American administration and those doing its bidding not be deluded that it is possible to erase the strong Palestinian number from the equation of the conflict, whether by alternatives (!!) [parentheses in source] or by other means. This is because the option of ‘I’m taking my enemies down with me’ remains a Palestinian option regarding which there is no disagreement, if the battle becomes a battle of life or death. The meaning of ‘I’m taking my enemies down with me’ will only be as follows: Either peace for everyone, or anarchy, violence, and instability. We have always emphasized, and we still emphasize: ‘Either [we get] Palestine, or a fire [will burn] generation after generation.’”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida editorial, Oct. 13, 2020]
The PA defines “Palestine” to include all of the State of Israel – regardless of their claims to the international community that they are only interested in the West Bank and Jerusalem. This has been documented many times by Palestinian Media Watch and was repeated recently by PA Chairman Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs who is also the PA’s Supreme Shari’ah Judge, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, who posted maps of British Mandate Palestine with the text:
Posted text: “It was called Palestine, it is called Palestine, and it will be called Palestine until the promise of Allah arrives”
[Facebook page of Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Sept. 19, 2020]
“Until the promise of Allah arrives” apparently refers to Al-Habbash’s interpretation of “the final promise,” see note below.
Text on top left of image in Arabic and English: “The [British Mandate’s] Governorates division in Palestine before 1948”
Text on bottom right of image: “Palestinian National Information Center – PNIC
Palestinian [official PA] news and information agency WAFA”
Continuing the PA/Fatah opposition to the Arab peace treaties with Israel, Fatah Jerusalem Branch Secretary-General Shadi Mattour was upset at the prospect of a delegation from the UAE visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which he called “an assault on all the Arab and Islamic values and an outrageous blow to the Arab principles.” Likewise, he called such visits by Arab states “invasions,” and threatened that they would be met with “resistance”:
“Any visit to Jerusalem that is not carried out in coordination with it, the Jordanian and Palestinian Waqfs, and the national authorities is tantamount to an invasion and not a visit, and it will run into resistance from all those affiliated with the land and the national principles.”
[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, Oct. 18, 2020]
Mattour predicted that Israel will cease to exists, as has “every occupation that has passed over this holy land.”
Regarding Al-Habbash’s reference to “the final promise”:
The final (other) promise - The second half of Sura 17:7 of the Quran - “Then when the final promise came, [We sent your enemies] to sadden your faces and to enter the temple [in Jerusalem], as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction.” [Sahih International translation] - can be understood as either past or future tense due to the ambiguity of the Arabic "idha ja'a" referring to “the promise” that can be understood as “when it came” or “when it comes,” and the Arabic “al-ahera,” also referring to the promise, which can mean “other” or “final.” Many religious scholars understand it as past tense referring back to the destruction of the Second Temple. But some understand it as future tense, prophesizing some future destruction befalling the Jews. Al-Habbash presents it as prophesizing a final war in which Israel will be destroyed.
The following are longer excerpts of the statements above:
Headline: “The geography of the Middle East is the geography of Palestine”
“We think… that the current American administration – after it has become completely clear that it is Zionist – is striving through [US] President Donald Trump’s [peace] deal (see note below –Ed.) not only to eliminate the Palestinian cause, but also to redesign the region through normalization, and this is in the framework of ‘The New Middle East’ that [former Israeli President] Shimon Peres spoke about and espoused in the 1990s! This is a Middle East that has no connection to Arabness – not in everything concerning identity, not in everything concerning history, and naturally also not in everything concerning the future! …
If we’re speaking objectively, it may be that this ‘New Middle East’ has a train, but this train will not be able to reach where it wants to, even if the states that are carrying out normalization [with Israel] (see note below –Ed.) will increase and spread out for it like a track. In the end, it will be nothing but a track of regret, because simply put, it is a track of delusions, since this Middle East has no possible track that is open for movement other than the Palestinian track, and also because the geography of the Middle East today – and specifically the political geography – is the geography of Palestine with its cause, the sacrifices of its people, their resolve, their struggles, and their aspirations. [Palestine] will not allow the train to pass over it without being the one directing the tracks of this train so that it will continue in the direction of its safe station, the one that has no [foreign] hegemony, subjugation, or Israelization, but rather security, peace, and stability…
We are explaining this fact in order to debunk the misleading claim that we are the ones who are squandering the opportunity for peace, which those who are normalizing [their relations with Israel] are talking about, and also to emphasize that we are in favor of any realistic and actual opportunity for peace, if it will grow skin and bones on the basis of the international institutions’ resolutions (refers to former Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar bin Sultan’s criticism of the Palestinian leadership for squandering opportunities in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV in early October 2020 –Ed.)…
Let the American administration and those doing its bidding not be deluded that it is possible to erase the strong Palestinian number from the equation of the conflict, whether by alternatives (!!) [parentheses in source] or by other means. This is because the option of ‘I’m taking my enemies down with me’ remains a Palestinian option regarding which there is no disagreement, if the battle becomes a battle of life or death. The meaning of ‘I’m taking my enemies down with me’ will only be as follows: Either peace for everyone, or anarchy, violence, and instability. We have always emphasized, and we still emphasize: ‘Either [we will receive] Palestine, or a fire [will burn] generation after generation.’”[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida editorial, Oct. 13, 2020]
The Trump peace plan – US President Donald Trump announced his Israel–Palestinian peace plan "Peace to Prosperity" – commonly known as “the deal of the century” - on Jan. 28, 2020. Main points of the plan: 1- Israeli sovereignty would be applied to the Jordan Valley and all Israeli towns and cities in the West Bank. 2- Jerusalem, including all its holy sites, would remain under Israeli sovereignty with accommodations made to enable access for Palestinians. 3- The remainder of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and part of what is currently Israeli land in the Negev, the Galilee, and Jerusalem - creating a territory almost equal in size to the West Bank and Gaza Strip - would form the Palestinian state, with its capital in neighborhoods in East Jerusalem that are outside of Israel's security wall. 4- The Palestinian state would be demilitarized, with Israel responsible for external security and controlling all airspace. 5- All Palestinian prisoners except murderers, and those who attempted or conspired to murder would be released. 6- Palestinians in refugee camps would be absorbed into their host countries and, subject to certain limitations, into the Palestinian state. 7- Before becoming a state, the Palestinians would have to carry out extensive reform of their laws and institutions, including implementing a new governing system; granting its people due process and basic human rights and freedoms; end all incitement to and incentivizing of terror; end all glorification of terror and martyrdom; disarm Hamas; and adopt a culture promoting peace. The goal of the plan is to create a Palestinian state beside Israel, living in peace and security. The implementation would be facilitated through extensive international investment.
Israeli peace agreements with the UAE and Bahrain (the Abraham Accords), Sudan, and Morocco – an agreement normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was announced on Aug. 13, 2020, under the mediation of US President Donald Trump. Following the UAE, Bahrain reached a similar peace agreement with Israel, as was announced on Sept. 11, 2020. The agreements were signed at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020, by Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani. Pursuant to the Abraham Accords, Israel and the UAE will discuss bilateral cooperation on a number of topics. In exchange for the agreement, Israel agreed to suspend its previously announced plans to apply Israel's civilian law to parts of Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley as per the Trump peace plan. The US announced that “Muslims throughout the world who wish to come in peace to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque, will now be able to fly to Tel Aviv through Abu Dhabi to do so and will be welcomed.” On Oct. 23, 2020, Sudan also formally agreed to normalize relations with Israel. Israel reached a similar normalization agreement with Morocco on Dec. 10, 2020.
Headline: “The Fatah Jerusalem branch warns against the UAE money ‘that is soaked in Palestinian blood ’”
“The Fatah Jerusalem branch warned against the UAE money that is soaked in Palestinian blood, which is arriving through the occupation at a time when the doors are closed to the Palestinian leadership, and Palestinian [political] activity in Jerusalem is banned.
In a statement issued today [Oct. 18, 2020] by Fatah Jerusalem Branch Secretary-General Shadi Mattour, he said that these dubious visits by Arab delegations, and foremost among them the UAE delegations, are tantamount to a dagger in the Palestinian heart. He pointed out that opposing them and standing as a barrier against them is a national and religious obligation in order to defend our holy sites and our lands, which have begun to become Israeli under an Arab guise.
Mattour explained that a new UAE state invasion is anticipated to take place next Tuesday [Oct. 27, 2020], led by the UAE Minister of Economy [Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri] and [Minister of] Finance [Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum] who will be carrying with him many arrows directed against the Palestinian body, particularly in light of the cooperation agreements between the occupation municipality and the UAE government around settlement projects that are planned to be built on the lands of Sheikh Jarrah, Musrara, and Wadi Al-Joz (i.e., predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem). These are the projects that the [Arab] Jerusalem residents have dealt with ceaselessly, and now they are passing on a pretext that should have been Arab and not ‘disguised as Arab.’
The Fatah Movement secretary-general in Jerusalem asked the free Arab peoples and the friendly governments to take a serious position that will put an end to this UAE exaggeration of throwing themselves into the occupation’s embrace. He noted that this is an assault on all the Arab and Islamic values and an outrageous blow to the Arab principles…
Mattour said: ‘We are betting on the unity of our people and it being whole, particularly in the capital city Jerusalem that has dealt with and is still dealing with the most dangerous plans, but it is standing firm and refusing to be broken.’ He said that the legal and tribal cover will be removed from anyone who wants to directly or indirectly cooperate with these projects.’
Mattour emphasized that our legitimate leadership is the legitimate and exclusive representative of the Palestinian people, and any visit to Jerusalem that is not carried out in coordination with it, the Jordanian and Palestinian Waqfs, and the national authorities is tantamount to an invasion and not a visit, and it will run into resistance from all those affiliated with the land and the national principles.
He mentioned that history will not forgive all those who plot against Jerusalem, and that every occupation that has passed over this holy land went away, and the land and the Palestinian national identity have remained. He also said that the fate of this occupation and those who are cooperating with it will be identical to that of their predecessors. He said that the Arabs who are normalizing relations [with Israel] (see note below –Ed.) have exposed their shame, embarrassed themselves, and will find no one in Jerusalem who will welcome their lowly approach…
‘Allah would not leave the believers in that [state] you are in [presently] until He separates the evil from the good. Nor would Allah reveal to you the unseen. But [instead], Allah chooses of His messengers whom He wills, so believe in Allah and His messengers. And if you believe and fear Him, then for you is a great reward’ [Quran 3:179, Sahih International translation].”[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, Oct. 18, 2020]
The PA and its leaders misrepresent all of the Temple Mount as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Therefore, they vilify any presence of Jews on the mount as an "invasion." It should be noted that Jews who visit the Temple Mount only enter some sections of the open areas, and do not enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. Israeli police ban Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount because of threats of violence by Palestinians.