PA seeks international recognition for "right" to kill Israelis

by Itamar Marcus

The Palestinian Authority has claimed for years that they have a right under international law, confirmed by UN resolutions 2336 and 3246 (see details below), to kill Israeli civilians in all places and at all times. Accordingly, those Palestinians who have killed Israelis are said to have done something positive and heroic. Palestinian murderers of Israeli civilians are presented as heroes and role models.

Now the PA is taking its ideology to the international forum and seeking recognition for these fundamental principles of PA ideology. They are asking that Palestinians have an internationally protected right to murder Israeli civilians, which will also be recognized as a positive act that should be awarded.

As a means to attain this recognition, the PA is asking the international community to award an imprisoned Palestinian terrorist with the Nobel Peace Prize. As the leader of the Tanzim, Fatah's terror wing, Marwan Barghouti orchestrated many terror attacks in which Israelis were murdered. He was convicted in an Israeli court and is serving 5 life sentences for murder.

According to the head of the PLO Commission of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake:

"The candidacy [of Barghouti] is essentially a call to recognize the legitimacy of the prisoners' struggle... and also a response to the claims and Israeli terms that do not recognize the legitimacy of their struggle, and treat them as 'terrorists and criminals'..."

[Donia Al-Watan (independent Palestinian news agency), April 14, 2016]

The PA's request of the world to "recognize the legitimacy of the prisoners' struggle" is the PA euphemism for "recognizing the legitimacy" of Palestinian killing of Israelis.

Barghouti was convicted of five murders - for the killings of the five people below. The PA wants the international community to "recognize the legitimacy" of their murders, by awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize:

Yoela Hen (45) was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in a shooting attack at a gas station in Givat Zeev near Jerusalem on Jan. 15, 2002, carried out on the orders of Marwan Barghouti.

Eli Dahan (53) was murdered in a shooting and stabbing attack at the Sea Food Market restaurant in Tel Aviv on March 5, 2002, carried out on the orders of Marwan Barghouti.
 

Yosef Habi (52) - was stabbed to death during a shooting and stabbing attack at the Sea Food Market restaurant in Tel Aviv on March 5, 2002, carried out on the orders of Marwan Barghouti. 

Police officer Sergeant-Major Salim Barakat (33) charged the terrorist during the attack at the Sea Food Market restaurant in Tel Aviv, and was stabbed to death. The attack was carried out on the orders of Marwan Barghouti.  

(No picture) Greek monk Tsibouktsakis Germanus was murdered in a shooting attack on his car, carried out on the orders of Marwan Barghouti on June 12, 2001.

In addition to these five murders, dozens of other Israeli civilians were murdered by Tanzim terrorists during the period Barghouti headed Tanzim, although he was not tried for those murders.

As stated above, the PA claims it has the right to kill Israeli civilians, and they quote UN resolution 3236 of 1974 and 3246 of 1975 which recognize the right of the Palestinian people to regain rights "by all means" and "by all available meansincluding armed struggle.” The PA interprets "all means" as including violence and killing of civilians. Significantly, it has chosen to ignore the continuation of the resolution which states that the use of "all means" should be "in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations..." The UN Charter prohibits targeting civilians, even in war. Furthermore, chapter 1, Article 1, opens by saying that "international disputes" should be resolved "by peaceful means."

The Palestinian Authority and Fatah have enlisted many leaders to promote awarding Barghouti the Nobel Peace Prize. Note while reading these sources that the PA uses the euphemism "struggle" when referring to the terror and murder of Israelis:

Mahmoud Al-Aloul,Fatah Central Committee member: Barghouti "source of pride"

"Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul said that [Marwan Barghouti is] a source of pride for the Palestinian people, being one of the founders of the Palestinian national path of struggle. He emphasized that they will continue on this path of national struggle... [Al-Aloul]: 'The fighter Barghouti is a source of pride for the Palestinian people and one of the founders of the Palestinian path of struggle'... He stressed that Palestine's youth draw inspiration from the struggle experience and the ideas of their leaders, the Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners in their confrontation with the Israeli occupation."

[Donia Al-Watan (independent Palestinian news agency), Apr. 14, 2016]

Issa Karake, Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners' Affairs:

"We, the Palestinian people, support this initiative, and we think this initiative carries several messages... a judicial message, which is a response to the Israeli claims accusing the prisoners of being terrorists and criminals."

[Official PA TV, April 12, 2016]

Issa Karake, Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners' Affairs: Support for "their legitimate struggle"

Karake: "The nomination of Barghouti for the prize means support for the just rights of the Palestinian people in its struggle for freedom and independence, and support for the prisoners' cause, as well as their legitimate struggle for freedom and honor, as prisoners of freedom who sacrificed and fought for their land and in order to end the injustice the occupation is causing to our people"...

"Karake stated that this campaign is a response to the wave of Israeli measures and acts against the prisoners, to deny their legal status as fighters, and the non-recognition of the legitimacy of their struggle against the occupation."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2016]

Headline: "National campaign for the candidacy of the prisoner Marwan Barghouti for the Nobel Peace Prize"

"At the press conference, Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake, Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam, head of the Fatah parliamentary faction Azzam Al-Ahmad, Coordinator of the National and Islamic Forces in the Ramallah and El-Bireh District and Secretary of Foreign Relations of the Supreme Council for Monitoring Prisoners' Affairs Issam Bakr, and Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories Sheikh Muhammad Hussein spoke one after the other, while Secretary-General of the People's Party and head of the Al-Badil list Bassam Al-Salhi gave a speech in the name of the national forces... Al-Salhi called to increase the efforts and widen the scope of the campaign through the launch of a popular campaign to gather as many signatures as possible in support of Marwan Barghouti's candidacy for the prize, out of an understanding of its significance in refuting the false Israeli version which attempts to define Barghouti and the prisoners as criminals."

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 13, 2016]

Fatah calls the terrorist Barghouti's arrest an "abduction"

"The Fatah parliamentary faction saluted the [PA] Parliament and Fatah Central Committee member, prisoner Marwan Barghouti yesterday [April 14, 2016] on the 14^th anniversary of his abduction, and praised his resolve in the face of the hangmen.

The faction made a statement calling to organize a widespread popular campaign of solidarity and support for the candidacy of MP Barghouti for the Nobel Peace Prize because this candidacy is of the entire Palestinian people, all of the freedom fighters, and the just Palestinian cause..."

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 15, 2016]