Abbas’ Fatah party celebrated a brutal terror attack at a Jerusalem synagogue, yet the PA leader issued an official condemnation that was clearly two-faced.
Palestinian Authority Chair Mahmoud Abbas’s condemnation of the despicable terror attack at a Jerusalem synagogue Tuesday morning is dishonest, considering, for example, his recent praise for the would-be murderer of Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an activist for equal civil rights for people of all faiths at the Temple Mount.
Earlier this month, following a conference at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem organized by the Haliba Movement for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount, Islamic Jihad terrorist Muatez Hijazi shot Glick multiple times in the chest; Glick is miraculously recuperating at Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Abbas praised Hijazi and raged against Israeli security forces who killed the terrorist at the scene of the attempted assassination. “Muatez Ibrahim Hijazie…rose to the heavens as a martyr,” Abbas, who had been Israel’s partner in the failed U.S.-brokered peace negotiations, stated.
Many have noted the discrepancy, asking why the Palestinian leader would praise one deadly terror attack and condemn another. What is the difference between the two? Could the condemnation possibly be sincere?
Indeed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, immediately following the tragic murder of four innocent Jews praying at a synagogue, as well as the wounding of several others, accused Abbas of having played a significant role in the attack, notwithstanding the PA leader’s words of condemnation.
“This is the direct result of the incitement being led by Hamas and Abu Mazen [Abbas’s nom de guerre], incitement which the international community is irresponsibly ignoring. We will respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray and were met by reprehensible murderers,” Netanyahu declared.
The Palestinian Leader’s True Sentiments
The Israeli prime minister’s Facebook page on Tuesday displayed a poster showing what appears to represent the true sentiments of the Palestinian leader, who is also chair of Fatah, the PA’s main political party. The poster, which Netanyahu notes is “from the official page of Fatah – led by President Abbas,” states:
“Congratulating the terrorists responsible for the brutal murder of worshipers at a synagogue in Jerusalem – calling it ‘a blessed operation.’”
Netanyahu certainly is not the only Israeli leader to challenge the sincerity of Abbas’s remarks. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, for instance, said on Facebook:
“An attack which is perpetrated in a synagogue during prayers is the biggest indicator that for all of these despicable acts of murder by terrorists, the responsibility lies entirely with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.”
“Abbas has deliberately turned the conflict into a religious one between Jews and Muslims, and the systematic campaign that he leads against Jews, including his definition of who isn’t pure and should not be allowed go on the Temple Mount, is instructing these attacks,” Liberman said.
International Community Must Condemn Abbas
Referring to Abbas’s openly inciteful remarks two weeks ago, encouraging Palestinians to use any means, including violence, to prevent Jews from ascending the Temple Mount, Liberman added:
“It is incumbent upon the international community to condemn Abbas’s anti-Semitic remarks, which lead to massacres such as what happened this morning, and to clarify to him that someone who leads in this way cannot be a legitimate political leader.”
So the question remains: Why the official condemnation from Abbas on Tuesday? Do you agree that it is a façade, in order to fool the West into believing that he truly desires peace as opposed to a base from which to attack and destroy the State of Israel?
Author: United with Israel Staff