PA libel: Israel killed 5,000 refugees in Sabra and Shatila massacre
Excerpt of a column by Fathi Al-Bis, regular columnist for the official PA daily
Headline: “The anniversary of the massacre and the shame of normalization”
“The [Arab] states that recently carried out normalization [with Israel] (refers to Abraham Accords; see note below -Ed.)… are competing with each other to celebrate a year since the agreement that the administration of [former US President Donald] Trump called the Abraham Accords…
This celebration is taking place in parallel… with the anniversary of the most despicable massacre that Israel committed in modern history, the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which approximately 5,000 refugees fell victim (sic., Israel was not involved in the massacre that was committed by Christian Phalangists, in which between 460 to 2,000 were killed; see note below).”
Israeli peace agreements with the UAE and Bahrain
Israel-UAE peace agreement (Abraham Accords) – an agreement normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which was announced on Aug. 13, 2020, under the mediation of US President Donald Trump. Pursuant to the agreement, the countries 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.”
Sabra and Shatila are Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. In 1982, during the first Lebanon War, Muslim residents of the camps were massacred by Christian Phalangists. The PA has a longstanding policy of falsely accusing Israel of committing the massacre or actively helping to carry it out.