Jibril Rajoub, Chairman of Palestine Olympic Committee, promotes terror

Jibril Rajoub, Palestine Olympic Committee Chairman - in his own words:
Rajoub praised the terrorist murderers during the 2015-2016 terror wave: “I say that whoever carried out individual acts of heroism, we in the Fatah movement bless and encourage them. We consider them heroes and a crown on the head of every Palestinian… beginning with our brother Muhannad Halabi (who murdered 2 – Ed.).”

[Official PA TV, Jan. 2, 2016]

Muhannad Halabi stabbed 2 Israelis to death in Jerusalem’s Old City on Oct. 3, 2015. Rajoub endorsed the killing by sponsoring a tournament named after Halabi, a month and a half after the murder.

(Picture of the murderer Muhannad Halabi)

Banner: “Under patronage of the leader Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestine Olympic Committee. Palestine Cup – Martyr Muhannad Halabi Table Tennis Tournament 2015”

[Ma’an (independent Palestinian news agency), Dec. 19, 2015]

Rajoub: “And from here we say to the 145 Martyrs (Palestinians killed from Oct. 2015 – Jan. 2016, most during their terror attacks –Ed.) – you are heroes and we bless you and strengthen your families, and say to you: You are a crown on our heads.”

[Official PA TV, Jan. 6, 2016]

Rajoub: “These are individual acts of bravery, and I am proud of them. I congratulate everyone who carried them out. …The international community does not agree to a bus exploding in Tel Aviv. But the international community does not ask what happens to a settler or soldier in the occupied territories at the wrong time and in the wrong place. No one asks about him! Therefore, we want to fight in a way that the world and the international community will remain by our side.”

[Official PA TV, Oct. 17, 2015]

At a PA memorial in 2013, Rajoub praised the terrorist Abu Sukkar, who murdered 15 people, detonating a refrigerator full of explosives in 1975.

Rajoub: “Abu Sukkar, the legend who walked on earth, Abu Sukkar, who with the sweat of his brow, with his faith, with his sincere belonging outlined a path for us and wrote a page [of history] that is unforgettable and indescribable… you lost a hero… and we in Fatah and in the Palestinian National Movement, lost a beacon.”

[Official PA TV, Sept. 26, 2013]

Rajoub has supported violence and terror for many years.

Rajoub: “Listen. We as yet don't have a nuke, but I swear that if we had a nuke, we'd have used it this very morning.”

[Al-Mayadeen TV (Lebanon), April 30, 2013]

Rajoub: ”We will not return the sword to its sheath until there is a state... Resistance is Fatah's strategic right - in all its forms.”

[Official PA TV, Nov. 29, 2012]

Rajoub: “We still believe in all forms of the struggle. No one has removed the rifle from the equation.”

[Official PA TV, Nov. 5, 2012]

Rajoub: “If Hamas wants to kidnap soldiers, let them kidnap soldiers. Let them kidnap. …The Israelis need to understand. It's clear that kidnapping is the language they understand. On the contrary, we encourage them [Hamas]. When they kidnapped [Israeli soldier Gilad] Shalit, we congratulated them. When they concluded the Shalit [exchange] deal, in spite of our having a few reservations about it, we also congratulated them."

[Official PA TV, Jan. 2, 2014]

Rajoub: “I say in the name of the Fatah Movement -- we salute those who dug the tunnel [to capture the Israeli soldier]; we salute those who captured the captive [Gilad Shalit], and salute those who guarded the captive until this deal was completed."

[Official PA TV, Oct. 30, 2011]

Rajoub and the Palestine Olympic Committee ban the use of sports as a bridge for peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Rajoub: “Anyone who joins any joint [sports] activity with the Israelis -- I'll take him off the [Palestinian Football] Association's lists, whether he is a player, coach, judge or, God forbid, a team... I won't allow and won't agree to any joint game between Arabs and Israel."

[Official PA TV, July 1, 2013]

Rajoub: “Something that has no place in the dictionary of Palestinian sportsmen is the subject of normalization with the occupation. Impossible, impossible, impossible… I understand by normalization that the relationship between me and you will be normal, that we'll play [sports] together and there'll be a joint program. I say to you: Under no circumstances will there be normalization. Next time we are prepared to bring the Executive Committee in helicopters… so they will see no Jews, no Satans, no Zionist sons of bitches. Come by helicopter and go back by helicopter."

[Official PA TV, May 17, 2012]

Rajoub: "They [the Barcelona football team] are coming to the occupied lands. All of Palestine - from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea (i.e., all of Israel) - it's all occupied."

[Al-Kass Sports Channel (Qatar), June 2, 2013]

Palestinian Media Watch is calling on the International Olympic Committee to:

• Demand Mr. Rajoub’s removal from the position of Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee

• Ban Mr. Rajoub from participating in any activities related to the International Olympic Committee, as well as meetings and events of the national Olympic Committees

• Prohibit Mr. Rajoub from using the title “Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee”

• Demand the appointment of a new Palestinian chairman who rejects terror, upholds Olympic values, and facilitates peacebuilding through sports

In addition to his role as chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, Rajoub holds the following positions: Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, and Head of the Supreme Council for Sport and Youth.