Trump is “the copy of Hitler,” says official PA daily op-ed
Trump is "the copy of Hitler,"
"colonialist, neo-racist, Hitleresque,
[and] Balfouresque"
[and] Balfouresque"
- official PA daily op-eds
By Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Following the US veto of a UN resolution, which called for "international protection" for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over Israel's response to the violent March of Return riots, US President Trump was described as "the copy of Hitler" and a "racist" in an op-ed in the official Palestinian Authority daily: "This racist [Trump], the copy of Hitler, does not want to see us free but rather dead, uprooted, expelled, and captive. He is happy to see us hungry, chasing the American sack of flour and leaving the principle of freedom thousands of miles behind us."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 3, 2018]
This is how writer Muwaffaq Matar, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, interpreted the American motives behind the decision to veto the Kuwaiti resolution that was brought to a UN Security Council vote on June 1, 2018. The resolution did not mention Hamas' rule over the Gaza Strip or the violent demonstrations and attempts to breach the border into Israel, nor the recent escalation of rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. The same columnist stated that Trump is "colonialist, neo-racist, Hitleresque, [and] Balfouresque" in an op-ed condemning the missile strikes on Syrian chemical weapons facilities by the US, the UK, and France in April this year:
"I do not believe that colonialist, neo-racist, Hitleresque, Balfouresque [US President Donald] Trump is interested in the welfare of a single Syrian and his right to live, since the same Trump justifies the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the officers of the occupation's army, its soldiers, and its settlers, and he defends these crimes."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 15, 2018]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented numerous Palestinian statements that demonize and mock Trump, particularly since the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital - a decision that the Palestinian leaders have condemned. The following is a longer excerpt of the op-ed demonizing Trump:
Excerpt of an op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily
Headline: "Trump's veto is fitting, because the dictator does not defend the victim"
"[US President Donald] Trump's representative at the [UN] Security Council [US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley] was completely honest and coordinated with her master and president's policy when she said: 'Of course we will vote against a resolution to defend the Palestinians' (sic., PMW found no record of such a statement in Haley's condemnation of the Kuwaiti resolution -Ed.). This is because this racist [Trump], the copy of Hitler, does not want to see us free but rather dead, uprooted, expelled, and captive. He is happy to see us hungry, chasing the American sack of flour and leaving the principle of freedom thousands of miles behind us."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 3, 2018]
Explaining the US veto, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said: "When the United Nations sides with terrorists over Israel, as the Kuwait resolution does, it only makes a peaceful resolution to this conflict harder to reach. It is resolutions like this one that undermine the UN's credibility in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." [United States Mission to the United Nations, Office of Press and Public Diplomacy, June 1, 2018]
"The March of Return" refers to massive violent riots in Gaza in which thousands of Palestinians are rioting on the border with Israel and attempting to cut through the security fence, attacking with firebombs, flaming kites, and gunfire. The riots began on March 30, 2018, and were scheduled to last for 6 weeks until Palestinian "Nakba" Day on May 15. On the day the US embassy opened in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018, the Palestinian attacks escalated and 62 Palestinians were killed. A senior official of the terror organization Hamas, Salah Bardawil, stated that 50 of the 62 belonged to Hamas, while Islamic Jihad identified 3 others as belonging to it.The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, an Israeli research institute, published research documenting that from the start of the riots on March 30 until May 15, 93 of the 112 Palestinians killed in the riots (approximately 83%) were members of terrorist organizations.
Petitions against the IDF's use of live fire to combat the rioting submitted by organizations that advocate for Palestinian rights were rejected by Israel's Supreme Court on May 24, 2018. The court accepted the state's argument that the riots were "organized and directed" by Hamas, a terrorist organization, and thereby rejecting the claim that the riots were peaceful and civilian in nature. PMW reports were referred to in the Supreme Court's decision.
Excerpt of an op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily
Headline: "The aggression against Syria - Israel is the fourth in number and benefits the most"
"Is there one Arab or free person in the world who doubts that Syria... is the colonialist quartet's target after Iraq?
What happened early yesterday morning [April 14, 2018] was not tripartite aggression against Syria (refers to missile strikes by the US, the UK, and France on Syrian chemical weapons; see note below -Ed.), but rather four-way, because one cannot ignore the name of the colonialist occupation state (Israel) [parentheses in source] or omit it from the list of attackers. Whoever does so is joining the attack on the truth, because the colonialist and settlement occupation state, Israel, is the fourth [participant] in the aggression, and it also benefits the most from it...
I do not believe that colonialist, neo-racist, Hitleresque, Balfouresque [US President Donald] Trump is interested in the welfare of a single Syrian and his right to live, since the same Trump justifies the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the officers of the occupation's army, its soldiers, and its settlers, and he defends these crimes. He knows with certainty that these are orders of the political and military elite in the occupation state's government. He is joining Israel in a rebellion against the international institutions, and is activating the terror of a superpower against those opposing his policy - so what brainless person would believe his claims that he cares about the Syrians' right to live and is protecting them from chemical weapon attacks?"
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 15, 2018]
Western strikes on Syrian chemical weapons - The US, the UK, and France launched missile strikes on three chemical weapons facilities in Syria on April 14, 2018, in response to Syrian President Bashar Assad's chemical attacks on civilians in Douma on April 7, 2018. Russia, a key backer of Assad's regime, condemned the Western strikes. The US warned that it is ready to strike again if Assad continues to use chemical weapons. The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that "His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate "responsible for putting into effect the declaration," which led to the UN vote in 1947 and the establishment of the State of Israel.