Fatah: US embassy reinstated Fatah Facebook page
Fatah claims US embassy made Facebook reinstate Fatah's Facebook page
- Fatah's Facebook continues to promote terror and glorify terrorists
- One of Fatah's reinstated posts honors murderer of American Taylor Force
- Fatah uploads posts glorifying terrorist murderers and removes them shortly afterwards:
- Suicide bomber who murdered 11 is "heroic Martyrdom seeker"
- Sniper who murdered 10 "carried out a quality operation"
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Last month, Facebook closed Fatah's official page, only to reinstate it a day later. Now the head of information at the Fatah Commission of Mobilization and Organization Munir Radi Al-Jaghoub, who is responsible for the page, claims that it was the American embassy that intervened, making Facebook reopen the page:
"I contacted the international media, and then I received a call from the American embassy, which got involved and resolved the problem with the Facebook administration, and the page returned to action on Monday evening, Feb. 27, and they apologized and explained that what happened was a mistake."
[Website of the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms MADA, March 5, 2017]
The US State Department has "firmly" denied intervening with Facebook on Fatah's behalf. [Washington Free Beacon, March 20, 2017]
Palestinian Media Watch reported on the closure of the page, and has documented hundreds of posts by Fatah glorifying violence and terror, and praising murderers.
PMW questions the truthfulness of Fatah's claim. For were the US to have been responsible for Fatah's Facebook being reinstated, the American government would be declaring its stamp of approval for Fatah's terror promotion and glorification of murder, which includes glorifying the murderer of an American citizen.
Palestinian Media Watch reported on the closure of the page, and has documented hundreds of posts by Fatah glorifying violence and terror, and praising murderers.
PMW questions the truthfulness of Fatah's claim. For were the US to have been responsible for Fatah's Facebook being reinstated, the American government would be declaring its stamp of approval for Fatah's terror promotion and glorification of murder, which includes glorifying the murderer of an American citizen. One of the posts still appearing on the reinstated page today is this (right) which includes Fatah's glorification of the murderer of American citizen Taylor Force. The post, which is primarily Fatah criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu's spokesman, includes a drawing with the name "Bashar Masalha" - the terrorist who murdered Taylor Force and injured 11 in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on March 8, 2016.
The drawing is part of Fatah's original post from the day of the murder, when Fatah rushed to honor the killer, posting this drawing:
Text on arm: "The heroic Martyr (Shahid)"
Text on map is name of Taylor Force's murderer:
"Bashar Masalha"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, March 9, 2016]
Fatah uploads posts glorifying terrorist murderers and removes them shortly afterwards:
Fatah's page administrator Al-Jaghoub claimed that for six months Facebook has been "banning" Fatah's pictures of "Martyrs" - most of whom PMW has shown are terrorists who have murdered or attempted to murder Israelis.
Following the closure and reopening of Fatah's Facebook page, Fatah has uploaded posts glorifying terrorists, and quickly removed them. A suicide bomber who murdered 11 and a sniper who shot and killed 10 have been glorified by Fatah in such posts, some of which appeared on Fatah's Twitter account as well:
"The 15th anniversary of the death as a Martyr (Shahid) of heroic Martyrdom-seeker Muhammad Daraghmeh (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 11), an activist of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing"[Official Fatah Twitter account and Fatah Facebook page,
March 2, 2017]
"Fatah's Wadi Al-Haramiya sniper
Prisoner Thaer Hammad: born in
the village of Silwad. On March 3, 2002, he carried out a quality operation (i.e., terror attack) that led to the death of 11 Israeli soldiers and 1 settler (sic., he murdered 3 civilians and 7 soldiers) and the wounding of 9, while using an M1 rifle and just 26 bullets. The old rifle blew up immediately afterwards.
The sentence: 11 life sentences."
Text on image: "The Wadi Al-Haramiya sniper"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, March 3, 2017]
The image shows murderer Thaer Hammad.
"Prince of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (i.e., Fatah's military
wing), as he was called by our leader Marwan Barghouti(i.e., terrorist who orchestrated three shooting attacks in which 5 were murdered)
Thaer Kayed Qadura Hammad From the story of Thaer Hammad, hero of the [Wadi Al-Haramiya] operation (i.e., terror attack)"
[Official Fatah Twitter account and
Fatah Facebook page, March 4, 2017]
The tweets above include links to the original posts with the texts and images on the official Fatah Facebook page, which have since been removed.
At the same time, terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi who led the most lethal attack in Israel's history - the Coastal Road massacre - in which 37 civilians were murdered, including 12 children, was praised as "the legend that will not die" in a different post which Fatah has not removed from its page:
"Fatah Movement Deputy Chairman [and Fatah Central Committee member] Mahmoud Al-Aloul 'Abu Jihad' participates in the graduation ceremony of the Al-Ta'ayush (i.e., "Coexistence") [Training] Camp that was held by the Nablus branch of the Fatah Movement on the anniversary of the death as a Martyr (Shahida) of Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., terrorist who led murder of 37, 12 of them children), the legend that will not die."
[Official Fatah Facebook page, March 12, 2017]
However, it would seem Fatah has become cautious regarding its official page as the movement did not post any glorification of terrorist Mughrabi on the annual day of her attack, which is rare. Palestinian Media Watch has documented Fatah's celebration of this day in previous years.
This does not mean Fatah has stopped glorifying Mughrabi and her attack. PMW documented this year's praise for her by several members of the Fatah Central Committee, and expressions of admiration and esteem on both the website and the Facebook page of Fatah's Information and Culture Commission.
Fatah has stated that it was a photo of former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat holding a rifle seized from a captured Israeli soldier in the 1980s and Mahmoud Al-Aloul, current Fatah Deputy Chairman, which caused Facebook to close Fatah's page in February.
Meanwhile, Fatah has reposted this photo, which still appears on the page:
[Official Fatah Facebook page, March 7, 2017]
The following is a longer excerpt of the statements by Fatah's Facebook page administrator:
"On Feb. 26, [2017], the Facebook company closed the page of the Fatah Movement, claiming that it transgressed Facebook's regulations. The following day it reinstated the page, claiming that it was just a mistake. It should be noted that it had already removed the page - which has over 70,000 followers - more than once during the last six months. Head of Information at the Fatah Commission of Mobilization and Organization Munir Radi Al-Jaghoub, 41, who is responsible for the page, reported to the [Palestinian] Center [for Development and Media Freedoms] MADA that 'For nearly six months the Facebook administration has been banning [the activity of] those responsible for posting pictures (the administrators) [parentheses in source] on the Fatah Movement page, which has over 70,000 followers. The ban continued a number of days, and the pictures they (i.e., Facebook) mean are, for example, pictures of Martyrs (Shahids).'
He added: 'On Feb. 16, [2017], we posted an old picture of [former] President Yasser Arafat, and next to him leadership member Mahmoud Al-Aloul (current Fatah Deputy Chairman and Fatah Central Committee member -Ed.), as he examines a Kalashnikov weapon that belonged to an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped in Beirut in the 1980s. This is an old picture that has already been posted on the page more than once. Likewise, at the same time a picture of Martyr (Shahid) [Qusai] Al-Amour, masked and with a rock in his hand, was also posted. Ten days later, on Feb. 26, [2017,] we were surprised to receive a letter from the Facebook administration informing us of the closure of the page, claiming a transgression of Facebook's regulations, and every one of the page's administrators was distanced [from Facebook] for 30 days.
Al-Jaghoub said: 'I contacted the international media, and then I received a call from the American embassy, which got involved and resolved the problem with the Facebook administration, and the page returned to action on Monday evening, Feb. 27, and they apologized and explained that what happened was a mistake.'"
[Website of the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms MADA, March 5, 2017]
Qusai Al-Amour - a 17-year-old Palestinian rioter who threw rocks at an Israeli border police officer during violent clashes with the Israeli army near the village of Tuqu' next to Bethlehem on Jan. 16, 2017. The officer responded by shooting and wounding Al-Amour with small metal Ruger bullets, which are considered to be non-lethal and meant for crowd dispersal. Al-Amour later died of his wounds.
Additional descriptions of terrorists mentioned above:
Muhammad Daraghmeh Al-Shou'ani - a terrorist of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (Fatah's military wing) who carried out a suicide bombing at the entrance to a yeshiva (religious studies academy) in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem on March 2, 2002, shortly after a Bar Mitzvah celebration had taken place there. 11 people were murdered in the attack, among them children and babies, and 50 were injured.
Marwan Barghouti - Palestinian terrorist who is serving 5 life sentences for orchestrating three shooting attacks that killed 5 people: one attack in Jerusalem (June 12, 2001) in which Greek monk Tsibouktsakis Germanus was murdered by terrorist Ismail Radaida and another unidentified terrorist, another attack at a gas station in Givat Zeev near Jerusalem (Jan. 15, 2002) in which Yoela Hen, 45, was murdered by terrorists led by Mohammed Matla, and one shooting and stabbing attack at the Sea Food Market restaurant in Tel Aviv (March 5, 2002) in which Eli Dahan, 53, Yosef Habi, 52, and Police Officer Sergeant-Major Salim Barakat, 33, were murdered by terrorist Ibrahim Hasouna. When arrested by Israel in 2002, Barghouti headed the Tanzim (Fatah terror faction). After he was convicted and imprisoned, he was re-elected member of the Palestinian Authority parliament.
Thaer Hammad - Palestinian terrorist serving 11 life sentences for murdering 3 Israeli civilians and 7 soldiers by shooting them with a sniper rifle from a hilltop in Wadi Al-Haramiya between Ramallah and Nablus on March 3, 2002.