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Abbas doesn't condemn killing Israelis; instead, expresses "opposition to any operation that harms civilians"

Itamar Marcus  |
         
Abbas doesn't condemn killing Israelis;
 instead, expresses 
"opposition to any operation
that harms civilians"
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Fatah: Israel to blame for "shooting operation"
i.e., terror murder of four
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by Itamar Marcus
.
Since October 2015, the PA and Fatah have honored and glorified all the terrorists who have carried out lethal attacks. At times, the Palestinian Authority did not immediately glorify the terrorists due to fear of international condemnation.
 
 As of today, the process of public honoring has not yet begun for the Palestinian terrorists who killed four Israelis yesterday in Tel Aviv. However, the PA and Fatah have made their opinions clear in the careful language they have chosen to report on the terror attack.

It should not be forgotten that the Palestinian Authority's clearest affirmation of terror is that the two terrorists who murdered the Israelis yesterday in Tel Aviv and who were apprehended by Israeli police will be rewarded with a monthly salary from the Palestinian Authority starting immediately. This is PA law.
 
Since the terror attack was immediately condemned in strongest terms by many governments and by world leaders including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Mahmoud Abbas has issued a statement, not of condemnation of yesterday's terror attack, but of his "opposition to any operation that harms civilians by anybody, regardless of the justifications." [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), June 9, 2016] His statement does not even refer directly to the attack.

He also implicitly blamed Israel, as his Fatah party did earlier in the day explicitly, (see below) when he added: "Achieving peace requires everyone stop carrying out operations that are likely to increase the tension and resorting to violence." The implication is that some "operations" forced these people to "resort to violence."

However, when Abbas wants to send an honest message to condemn terror he knows how to do it. Two days ago, when 5 Jordanians were killed by terrorists, Abbas was explicit: "The president condemned this terror event, which desecrated the sanctity of the blessed month of Ramadan." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 7, 2016]

Abbas is clear:
  • Murdering Jordanians is "terror"
  • Murdering Israelis is an "operation that harms civilians by anybody"
  • Response to murdering  Jordanians: "The president condemned this terror"
  • Response to murdered Israelis, Abbas expresses "opposition to any operation that harms civilians."
The following are the two complete statements by Abbas in response to terror attacks in Jordan and in Israel:

Abbas in response to terrorists'
murdering Jordanians

Abbas in response to terrorists'
murdering Israelis

Headline: "The president consoled the king of Jordan over the victims, and Palestine condemned the terror attack in the Al-Baq'a refugee camp"
 
"[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas called King of Jordan Abdullah II last night [June 6, 2016] and consoled him over the victims of the terror attack that took place yesterday morning in the Palestinian Al-Baq'a refugee camp and took the lives of five members of the Jordanian General Intelligence [Service] (attack on security force headquarters at Al-Baq'a refugee camp in Jordan, 3 intelligence officers and 2 civil employees murdered -Ed.).
 
The president condemned this terror event, which desecrated the sanctity of the blessed month of Ramadan and the sanctity of the Jordanian security. He emphasized our great solidarity with the Jordanian people, its government, and its king against all acts of terror, and that our people and leadership stand alongside Jordan, and his wish that the kingdom continue along the path of security, stability, and prosperity." 
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
June 7, 2016]
Headline: "The presidential office condemned the violence against civilians, regardless of its source"
 
"The presidential office said that 'it has emphasized again and again its opposition to any operation that harms civilians by anybody, regardless of the justifications.'
 
The presidential office added in a statement: 'The achievement of a just peace and the creation of a positive atmosphere are what will contribute to the cancellation and reduction of reasons for tension and violence in the region.'
 
It concluded by saying: 'Achieving peace requires everyone stop carrying out operations that are likely to increase the tension and resorting to violence.'"
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), June 9, 2016]

In addition, Fatah's official reporting on the murder of the 4 Israelis in Tel Aviv last night put the blame on Israel, saying that the shooting of 4 innocent civilians in the restaurant was a "natural response" to Israeli behavior:

"Israel is reaping the results of adopting the choice of violence against our Palestinian people."
[Official Fatah Facebook page, June 9, 2016]

And in another post on the Fatah Facebook page, from the same day:

"Israel is reaping the results of its choosing force against our Palestinian people...
The Fatah Movement stated in a notice from the Mobilization and Organization Commission" that the Tel Aviv operation (i.e., terror attack, 4 murdered) which occurred last night is a private and spontaneous natural response to Israel's choosing force...
Head of the Information Committee of the Fatah Mobilization and Organization Commission Munir Al-Jaghoub said: 'Israel needs to understand the results of its actions..."
[Official Fatah Facebook page, June 9, 2016]

The reporting of yesterday's murders by Fatah and the PA have not been referred to as a terror attack. The terms used were:
  • "A shooting operation" [Official Fatah Facebook page, WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), and the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 8, 2016]
  • "The Tel Aviv operation" [Official Fatah Facebook page, June 9, 2016]
The murderers themselves were not called terrorists but were referred to as "young people." [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency) and official PA TV, June 9, 2016]

PA TV today presented the story of the Tel Aviv murders as merely background information to its main news story about the Israeli authorities "invading" the town of Yatta, where the terrorists are from, after "claiming that two young people carried out the Tel Aviv operation."

Official PA TV News host: "Occupation forces invaded the town of Yatta, south of Hebron, and began to destroy and search a number of residents' homes, after claiming that two young people from the town carried out the Tel Aviv operation (i.e., terror attack, 4 Israelis murdered). The occupation forces closed the entrances to the town and declared it a closed military zone."
[Official PA TV, June 9, 2016]

WAFA, the official Palestinian Authority news agency, portrayed Israel's investigation of the murders in the town where the terrorists came from as Israel increasing its "steps of oppression:"

"Israeli occupation forces increased the steps of oppression last night [June 8, 2016] in the area of the town of Yatta, south of Hebron.
The coordinator of the [PA] Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Yatta told WAFA that the occupation forces closed the entrances to the town, and increased their presence around the town... after receiving news of the shooting operation in Tel Aviv by two young people from the village... 'It was noted that Israel said that those who carried out the shooting operation last night in the establishment in Tel Aviv, which caused the death of 4 Israelis, are two young people from the town of Yatta, and that one of them was seriously injured.'"
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), June 9, 2016]

The killings, which happened at a restaurant in a market near Israeli army headquarters, was referred to on the official Fatah Facebook page as happening next to the "Israeli war office":

"3 killed and 6 injured in a shooting operation next to the Israeli war office (sic., Israeli military headquarters)"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, June 8, 2016]

The following are longer excerpts of reports in PA and Fatah official media covering yesterday's terror attack in Tel Aviv:
 
Text posted on the official Fatah Facebook page on June 8, 2016:
Posted text: "Latest developments in Tel Aviv:
3 killed and 6 injured in a shooting operation next to the Israeli war office (sic., Israeli military headquarters)"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, June 8, 2016]
Text posted on the official Fatah Facebook page on June 9, 2016:
Posted text: "Israel is reaping the results of adopting the choice of violence against our Palestinian people"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, June 9, 2016]

Text posted on the official Fatah Facebook page on June 9, 2016:
Posted text: "Headline: Al-Jaghoub: Israel is reaping the results of its choosing force against our Palestinian people"

"The Fatah Movement stated in a notice from the Mobilization and Organization Commission" that the Tel Aviv operation (i.e., terror attack, 4 murdered) which occurred last night is a private and spontaneous natural response to Israel's choosing force...

Head of the Information Committee of the Fatah Mobilization and Organization Commission Munir Al-Jaghoub said: 'Israel needs to understand the results of its actions, [which are] a continuation of the promotion of the option of violence and the policy of demolishing homes and expelling residents of Jerusalem, and the ongoing invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza by the herds of settlers... and the cold blooded murder of Palestinians at their checkpoints, which are spread through the territories occupied since 1967.'

He added in regard to the Tel Aviv operation, that it comes after all the Israeli voices silenced all the calls for peace, and the lack of the realization of any vision that guarantees the Palestinian people's rights. He emphasized the Israeli occupation's clear turn toward the option of disproportionate military force, which does not differentiate between a Palestinian old man, women, or child...

Al-Jaghoub emphasized that Israel's refusal to obey all the international conventions and agreements which obligate it to cease the criminal settlement on our Palestinian land, and its last declared refusal of the French initiative, have strengthened its vision that leads it to its goals of expansion and the realization of its racist projects, against all the principles of recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people...

[He said that] Israel must end the occupation of our lands and leave them, and that to believe in a true peace - far from the daily violence and humiliation.
#Ramadan_operation
#Palestine"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, June 9, 2016]

Headline: "3 Israelis killed and 8 injured in a shooting operation in Tel Aviv"
"The Israeli police said tonight that 3 Israelis were killed and 8 injured following a shooting operation next to the Sarona Market in the center of Tel Aviv.
Sources said... that the shooters were caught and are from the town of Yatta, near Hebron."
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), June 8, 2016]

Headline: "The occupation increases its presence in the Yatta Hebron area"
"Israeli occupation forces increased the steps of oppression last night [June 8, 2016] in the area of the town of Yatta, south of Hebron.
The coordinator of the [PA] Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Yatta told WAFA that the occupation forces closed the entrances to the town, and increased their presence around the town... after receiving news of the shooting operation in Tel Aviv by two young people from the village... 'It was noted that Israel said that those who carried out the shooting operation last night in the establishment in Tel Aviv, which caused the death of 4 Israelis, are two young people from the town of Yatta, and that one of them was seriously injured.'"
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), June 9, 2016]

Headline: "4 killed and 5 seriously injured in shooting next to the army office in Tel Aviv"
 "4 Israelis were killed and 5 more were seriously injured in a shooting operation last night [June 8, 2016] next to the area of coffee houses and restaurants, across from the Israeli army office (i.e., Israeli military headquarters) in Tel Aviv."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 9, 2016]

Muhammad Ahmad Musa Makhamreh and Khaled Muhammad Musa Makhamreh - 21-year-old Palestinian terrorists and also cousins, who carried out a shooting attack in Tel Aviv on June 8, 2016, murdering 4 Israelis and injuring 16. The terrorists ordered desert in the Max Brenner restaurant in the Sarona Market, before they began shooting at people. Muhammad Makhamreh and Khaled Makhamreh were both apprehended by the Israeli police, one of them shot and wounded before being caught and brought for treatment in an Israeli hospital.


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