As violent Arab riots rampage, PA President Abbas “salutes” the “blessed and heroic uprisings”

Headline: “The [PLO] Executive Committee emphasizes that the diplomatic activities to implement the international institutions’ decisions regarding the Palestinian cause are continuing”

“The PLO Executive Committee held a meeting led by [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas at the [PA] presidential headquarters in Ramallah yesterday evening, Monday [June 7, 2021]. The president began the meeting by reading the Al-Fatiha Sura [from the Quran] for the souls of our people’s Martyrs throughout the homeland, who ascended [to Heaven] while defending Jerusalem and the holy sites there (refers to violent Arab riots; see note below -Ed.).

The president reviewed at length the contacts that were held with the Arab and international sides and the efforts that are being made to stop the attacks on Jerusalem by extremist settlers who are being supported by the Israeli occupation forces…

He saluted the resolve of our people and our young people in Jerusalem and their blessed and heroic uprising, whose goal is to defend Jerusalem and its sites that are holy to Islam and Christianity, and foremost among them the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque…

The Executive Committee expressed its appreciation for the extensive popular participation in the popular resistance activities with its various manners and means (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror).”

Fatah/Hamas Riot and Rocket War 2021 – On April 30, 2021, facing certain electoral defeat, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas cancelled the first PA elections scheduled in 15 years. Hamas, which expected to win the elections, denounced it as a “coup.” In need of a conflict to divert public discontent, Abbas artificially generated a crisis over Jerusalem. His Fatah party called for "raising the level of confrontation,” and Abbas' spokesman told Palestinians "the battle of all battles is here.” Jerusalem Arabs responded by attacking Jews with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Hamas, Abbas' political rival, could not allow Abbas to lead the battle, so on May 10, 2021, Hamas launched rocket barrages targeting Israeli population centers including Jerusalem. Over the next 11 days, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired over 4,300 rockets into southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 9 Israelis and 3 foreign nationals, and wounding hundreds. In response, Israel launched Operation Guardian of the Walls to target Hamas terror leaders and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Already in mid-April, a planned eviction of some Palestinian families illegally living in Jewish-owned buildings in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem had led to clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli police. This dispute provided Palestinians with a pretext for violent rioting. Adding to the crisis, Israeli Arabs started rioting throughout Israel, especially in cities with a mixed Jewish and Arab population. Two Jews were murdered and many were wounded. According to Walla, an independent Israeli news site, 10 synagogues were wholly or partly burned down; fires were set in 112 Jewish homes and 1 Arab home mistaken for a Jewish home; 386 Jewish homes were plundered and 673 were damaged; 849 cars were set ablaze; and there were 5,018 rock-throwing attacks. In response, Jews started attacking Arabs and their properties as well, but on a much smaller scale. No mosques were burned; 13 Arab homes were damaged; 13 Arab-owned cars were burned; and there were 41 rock-throwing attacks by Jews. [Walla, May 16, 2021] The fighting between Israel and Hamas ended with a ceasefire on May 21, 2021.

The terms "peaceful uprising/resistance,” and “popular uprising/resistance" are used by PA leaders at times to refer to peaceful protest and at times to refer to deadly terror attacks and terror waves. For example, ‎Mahmoud Abbas defined as “peaceful popular” the murderous terror during the 2015-2016 ‎terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean) and hundreds wounded in stabbings, shootings, and car ramming attacks. Abbas said: "We want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is." https://palwatch.org/page/9276