Trump - "America's crazy man" - is the new Balfour
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Fatah Secretary: "Nothing left but to return to confrontation"
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Palestinians burn Trump effigy and US flags
- PA and Fatah leaders view US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as a repetition of the Balfour Declaration 100 years ago
- PA official: "[It] was the second Balfour Promise or the Trump Promise, [in] which one who is not the owner gave to one who has no right"
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- PA Minister of Religious Affairs:
"The American administration's decision against the holy city constitutes a blatant provocation towards the Arabs and Muslims... [It is] the second Balfour Promise, which was given by one who has no ownership to one who has no right"
- Official PA daily: "The colonialist slap on the cheek of the century - Trump, Balfour's successor"
- Fatah Secretary before Trump statement: "Nothing left but to return to confrontation" if the US recognizes Jerusalem
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By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Although it is too early to say if there's any connection, today’s attempted terror attack in NY follows intense Palestinian Authority incitement against Israel and the US including calls for violence, in response to Pres. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital last week has by PA leaders been compared to what they call "the ominous Balfour Promise" - the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which then British foreign minister Arthur Balfour expressed Britain's support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."
Trump's declaration is seen by the PA as "a second version" of the Balfour Declaration, and they describe Trump's "crime" in the same terms: "One who is not the owner gave to one who has no right":
"[PA] Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida'is said that the American administration's decision against the holy city [of Jerusalem] constitutes a blatant provocation towards the Arabs and Muslims, and described it as the second Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration), which was given by one who has no ownership to one who has no right. He emphasized that Jerusalem is Arab, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is an Islamic mosque by virtue of a divine decision, and is not subject to any decision such as this or another."
[Ma'an, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 7, 2017]
Secretary-General of the PA Islamic-Christian Council for Jerusalem and the Holy Places and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Hanna Issa also reiterated this analysis of the American recognition:
"Yesterday was the second Balfour Promise or the Trump Promise, [in] which one who is not the owner gave to one who has no right."
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Dec. 7, 2017]
The official PA daily wrote:
"After 100 years, it seems that there is a second version of the [same] ominous promise [the Balfour Declaration]... a month after the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Promise in which the British gave the Jews a national home in Palestine, US President [Donald Trump] issues an additional version of this promise."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 7, 2017]
The official PA daily also portrayed Trump as a caveman killing peace:
The cartoon shows US President Donald Trump as a caveman with a club in hand dragging an unconscious or dead dove representing peace, after evidently clubbing it. [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 11, 2017]
As Palestinian Media Watch reported, PA and Fatah leaders warned that Trump's speech would lead to violence and "push the region into the furnace of violence, chaos,extremism, and bloodshed." Fatah Movement Central Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad echoed this after Trump's speech, stating that "Trump's decision regarding Jerusalem is a type of kindling of a religious conflict and encouraging of terror and violence." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 8, 2017]
Immediately following Trump's declaration and until Sunday's terror attack in which a Palestinian stabbed and critically injured an Israeli security guard in Jerusalem, Palestinian leaders condemned Trump while some Palestinians protested or rioted. Others showed their disdain for Trump and the US by burning Trump dolls, others by burning the American and the Israeli flag:
An effigy of US President Donald Trump being burned by a crowd of Palestinians in Nablus. Posted text: "Nablus today"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 7, 2017]
An American flag is being burned, and an Israeli flag being hung next to it by masked men also to be burned.
Posted text: "#Picture
Fatah Movement activists a short while ago locking up a club in Jericho that was funded by American institutions and burning the flag of the US and of the Israeli occupation"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 8, 2017]
Fatah posted a video of protesters in Bethlehem who chanted slogans against the US and trampled on pictures of US President Donald Trump:
Protesters: "The US - as usual;
The US - the head of the snake;
The US - a terror state;
And we are not afraid of it;
(The next two lines are in English -Ed.)
No good morning, no good night;
O America, we will fight;
The US - as usual;
The US - the head of the snake;
The US - a terror state, and we are not afraid of it;
Millions of Martyrs (Shahids) are marching to Jerusalem"
[Facebook page of the Fatah Movement - Bethlehem Branch, Dec. 6, 2017]
Fatah Movement Central Committee member, [Fatah Commissioner of Mobilization and Organization in the West Bank, and PLO Central Council member] Jamal Muhaisen interpreted the reactions of the Palestinian street as their rejection of "the crazy man's decision":
"From Al-Usoud Square in the heart of Ramallah and El-Bireh, these masses have come to say to America's crazy man [US President Donald Trump] that his decision is completely rejected, has no legal or practical value, and Jerusalem will never be Jewish and will remain Arab Palestinian and Islamic-Christian."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 8, 2017]
A regular columnist of the official PA daily, Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, called on other Arab states to "take responsibility" and confront Israel, the common "enemy." He further claimed Israel and the US are responsible for Middle East terror:
"I call on all the Arab brothers - if they want peace and war on terror. After all, Israel is their enemy [too], and not [just] the enemy of the Palestinian Arab people. It not only targets the Palestinian Arab people, but it targets all the Arab states. ISIS and [Jabhat] Al-Nusra and all the Jihadi and Takfiri organizations are an Israeli-American product. If [the Arabs] are true brothers and consider the Palestinian issue the central issue of the Arabs, they must take responsibility."
[Official PA TV, special broadcast after US President Trump's
recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Dec. 6, 2017]
The Fatah Movement's military wings in the Gaza Strip published a statement condemning "Trump's crime," and called it "a kind of mercy killing of the peace process." They further stated that the American decision "is a declaration of war not only against the Palestinians, but also against the Arabs and Muslims throughout the world," and they called on the Fatah members and the masses of the Palestinian people to wage "an armed confrontation against the occupation in [all] places where it is located." [Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 7, 2017]
Similar to the military wings of Fatah in Gaza, the Islamic Jihad Movement Spokesman Daoud Shihab "called on the Palestinian masses to escalate the Jerusalem intifada, integrate all of the national and Islamic activity factions into it, and strengthen and escalate the resistance throughout our occupied land, particularly in the West Bank." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 8, 2017]
In anticipation of Trump's statement, the Secretary of Fatah in Jerusalem Shadi Mattour explained that Fatah had already made plans for "escalating struggle activities" if US recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, stating that there's "nothing left but to return to confrontation":
Secretary of Fatah in Jerusalem Shadi Mattour: "The Fatah Movement has always led the defenders of our Palestinian people and will not hesitate when it sees the danger surrounding our Palestinian capital Jerusalem. Yesterday we were called to a meeting of branch secretaries in the presence of [Fatah] Commissioner Jamal Muhaisen, and prepared plans for escalating struggle activities on the ground if the US makes such a decision that will blow up the peace process... When the patron of peace [the US] comes and kills the peace process and kills our dream to establish our Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem, we in Fatah have nothing left but to return to confrontation with this occupation."
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Dec. 5, 2017]
Earlier this year, PMW exposed Mattour saying that Fatah had made plans for a "fierce popular intifada" to prevent US embassy move.
Following Trump's announcement, PA officials have also declared that US Vice President Pence is not welcome in the PA, and that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas refuses to meet with him when he will be in the region.
Advisor to Abbas on Diplomatic Affairs Majdi Al-Khaledi stated that "there will be no meeting with Pence," and that "the issue is greater than a mere meeting because the US - in its decisions relating to Jerusalem - has crossed red lines that it should not have crossed." [Official PA TV, News, Dec. 9, 2017]
As part of the PA's protest against the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, newsreaders and hosts on official PA TV have since Trump's announcement been wearing black t-shirts with the logo of the TV channel and the text: "Jerusalem - the capital of the State of Palestine." [Official PA TV, News, Dec. 9, 2017 and Dec. 12, 2017]
The following are longer excerpts of the reports mentioned above:
US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel - On Dec. 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump gave a speech formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and stating that he had instructed the State Department to begin preparations to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump concluded by stating that the US is still fully committed to the peace process in the Middle East. Following his speech, Trump signed the waiver to delay the transfer of the embassy, and apparently will continue to do so until preparations for the transfer have been completed.
Official PA TV News, on the cancellation of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence
Official PA TV newsreader: "Advisor to [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas] on Diplomatic Affairs Majdi Al-Khaledi emphasized that President Abbas will under no circumstances receive American Vice President Mike Pence, who will visit the region in the second half of [December 2017]. Al-Khaledi said in a statement to [official PA radio station] The Voice of Palestine that there will be no meeting with Pence, and that
the issue is greater than a mere meeting because the US - in its decisions relating to Jerusalem (i.e., to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and transfer the US embassy there; see note below) - has crossed red lines that it should not have crossed. Al-Khaledi rejected the American warnings regarding the consequences of cancelling this meeting, and emphasized that our people and its leadership reject any threat from anywhere."
Visual: The official PA TV newsreader is wearing a black shirt with the logo of the official PA TV channel on it and the text: "Jerusalem - the capital of the State of Palestine."
[Official PA TV, News, Dec. 9, 2017]
Headline: "Jerusalem from the Balfour Promise to the Trump Promise"
"After 100 years, it seems that there is a second version of the [same] ominous promise [the Balfour Declaration]; 100 years after British General Edmund Allenby took control of Jerusalem, a month after the [100th anniversary of the Balfour Promise in which the British gave the Jews a national home in Palestine, US President [Donald Trump] issues an additional version of this promise."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 7, 2017]
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.
Excerpt of an op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily
Headline: "The colonialist slap on the cheek of the century - Trump, Balfour's successor"
"The most important thing at this historical moment is that the Palestinian and Arab public, and also the friends of Palestine and free people of the world, know that from our perspective, [that of] the Palestinians,
[US President] Donald Trump will be [former British Foreign Secretary Arthur] Balfour's successor; he has taken down Great Britain and taken its place as a colonialist country in order to complete the Zionist enterprise that began with the British Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) 100 years ago...
We must always remember that the biggest losers will be the US and its pawn, the occupation state Israel, because through the crime of blowing up the bridges to peace... they are declaring war on dialogue and negotiations as a means to resolve disputes and establish peace between warring states."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 7, 2017]
Picture and text posted on the official Fatah Facebook page
The picture shows an effigy of US President Donald Trump being burned by a crowd of Palestinians. This follows Trump's official recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and statement of intent to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; see note below.
Posted text: "Nablus today"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 7, 2017]
Text and picture posted on the official Fatah Facebook page
The picture shows an American flag being burned, and an Israeli flag being hung next to it by masked men also to be burned. This comes after US President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and stating his intention to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; see note below.
Posted text: "#Picture
Fatah Movement activists a short while ago locking up a club in Jericho that was funded by American institutions and burning the flag of the US and of the Israeli occupation"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 8, 2017]
Headline: "Ida'is: The American administration has given that which does not belong to it to one who has no right to it"
"[PA] Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida'is said that the American administration's decision against the holy city [of Jerusalem] constitutes a blatant provocation towards the Arabs and Muslims, and described it as the second Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration), which was
given by one who has no ownership to one who has no right. He emphasized that Jerusalem is Arab, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is an Islamic mosque by virtue of a divine decision, and is not subject to any decision such as this or another."
[Ma'an, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 7, 2017]
Headline: "Local rage over 'Trump's sin'"
"Fatah Movement Central Committee member, [Fatah Commissioner of National Relations (i.e., between Hamas and Fatah), and Fatah Commissioner for Relations with Lebanon] Azzam Al-Ahmad said that American President Donald
Trump's decision regarding Jerusalem is a type of kindling of a religious conflict and encouraging of terror and violence...
Al-Ahmad referred to the fact that this American step comes at the
same time as the decision published by Congress regarding reducing the amount of American aid to the PA (i.e., referring to the Taylor Force Act; see note below), in an attempt to apply pressure to stop the aid to the families of the courageous Martyrs (
Shahids) and prisoners, and said: 'The Martyrs and prisoners are equal in value to the sanctity of the Palestinian land, and taking care of and aiding them cannot be neglected under any pressure."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 8, 2017]
The Taylor Force Act - a bill named after US citizen Taylor Force who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv on March 8, 2016, which calls to cut almost all funding to the PA if it continues paying salaries to terrorists and allowances to families of "Martyrs." It was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Aug. 3, 2017, the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Nov. 15, 2017, and the House of Representatives on Dec. 5, 2017. The bill still needs to be approved by the Senate, and then the president.
"More than 14 civilians were wounded by live fire and rubber bullets, and dozens were wounded by tear gas during violent confrontations with occupation forces at the northern entrance to El-Bireh...
Fatah Movement Central Committee member, [Fatah Commissioner of Mobilization and Organization in the West Bank, and PLO Central Council member] Jamal Muhaisen said: 'From Al-Usoud Square in the heart of Ramallah and El-Bireh,
these masses have come to say to America's crazy man [US President Donald Trump] that his decision is completely rejected, has no legal or practical value, and Jerusalem will never be Jewish and will remain Arab Palestinian and Islamic-Christian.'
Muhaisen called on the American administration and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's government to again review history and learn lessons from it, as the occupation's American arsenal has not succeeded during 70 years of aggression in eliminating the identity, right, and struggle, and these strides will also not break the will of the Palestinian people."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 8, 2017]
Text posted on the Facebook page of Official Spokesman of the PA Security Forces and General Political Commissioner of the PLO Political and National Guidance Authority Adnan Al-Damiri
Posted text: "[Secretary-General of Hezbollah] Mr. Hassan Nasrallah asked the young Arabs and Muslims to continue to condemn and reject [US President Donald] Trump's decision on social media, as this has great impact.
Thank you resistance!!!"
[Facebook page of Official Spokesman of the PA Security Forces Adnan Al-Damiri, Dec. 7, 2017]
Headline: "Rajoub: The US vice president is not welcome in Palestine"
"Fatah Movement Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub said that American Vice President Mike Pence, who is supposed to visit the region this month, is not welcome in Palestine. Rajoub said: 'I say on behalf of Fatah that we will not welcome [US President Donald] Trump's vice [president] in the Palestinian territories. He asked to meet with [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas on Dec. 19 [2017] in Bethlehem, but this meeting will not take place. We ask the rest of the Arab capitals not to meet with an American leader so long as he says that united Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel.'"
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 8, 2017]
Jibril Rajoub also holds the following positions: Head of the PLO Supreme Council for Sport and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, and Chairman of the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA).
Headline: "Fatah's military wings: We call on our people to [wage] an armed confrontation against the occupation"
"The Fatah Movement's military wings in the Gaza Strip published a statement in which they condemned what they described as [US President Donald] Trump's crime in declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel and transferring the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Fatah's military wings said that the American decision is worthless and is
a kind of mercy killing of the peace process and agreement, and that the Palestinian people will adhere to what deceased [PA] President Yasser Arafat said: '
There is not one among us who will concede an inch of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem will remain the eternal capital of Palestine.'
Fatah's wings explained that Trump's decision is a declaration of war not only against the Palestinians, but also against the Arabs and Muslims throughout the world, and they called on the Fatah members and the masses of the Palestinian people to [wage] an armed confrontation against the occupation in [all] places where it is located."
[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 7, 2017]
"The Islamic Jihad Movement yesterday [Dec. 7, 2017] demanded to act to end the [Fatah-Hamas] rift and unify the Palestinian ranks around the fundamental national principles, and to act to rebuild the PLO and [Palestinian] National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO).
[Islamic] Jihad Movement Spokesman Daoud Shihab said at a press conference yesterday in Gaza City that it is necessary to come out decisively, in force, and by all means (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror) against the plot to eliminate the Palestinian issue through what is called the American 'deal of the century,' which [US President Donald] Trump inaugurated in his declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
He added: 'We demand that the PLO, in light of this dangerous development, declare the failure of the attempts for a [peace] agreement,
annul the Oslo Accords, and refuse to obey the obligations deriving from it, and particularly through providing security cooperation with the enemy in all its forms.'
He called on the Palestinian masses to escalate the Jerusalem intifada, integrate all of the national and Islamic activity factions into it, and strengthen and escalate the resistance throughout our occupied land, particularly in the West Bank."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 8, 2017]
Secretary-General of the PA Islamic-Christian Council for Jerusalem and the Holy Places and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Hanna Issa: "Yesterday was the second Balfour Promise or the Trump Promise, [in] which one who is not the owner gave to one who has no right."
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Dec. 7, 2017]
Official PA daily columnist Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul: "I call on all the Arab brothers - if they want peace and war on terror. After all, Israel is their enemy [too], and not [just] the enemy of the Palestinian Arab people. It not only targets the Palestinian Arab people, but it targets all the Arab states. ISIS and [Jabhat] Al-Nusra and all the Jihadi and Takfiri organizations are an Israeli-American product. If [the Arabs] are true brothers and consider the Palestinian issue the central issue of the Arabs, they must take responsibility."
[Official PA TV, special broadcast after US President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem
as Israel's capital, Dec. 6, 2017]
Jabhat Al-Nusra is a branch of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization operating in Syria and Lebanon, formed in January 2012. It is an Islamic Sunni, Jihadist group fighting against the Syrian government forces in the Syrian civil war, in order to establish an Islamic state in Syria.
Takfiri - Muslim who accuses other Muslims of heresy.
Protesters in Bethlehem: "The US - as usual;
The US - the head of the snake;
The US - a terror state;
And we are not afraid of it;
(The next two lines are in English -Ed.)
No good morning, no good night;
O America, we will fight;
The US - as usual;
The US - the head of the snake;
The US - a terror state, and we are not afraid of it;
Millions of Martyrs (Shahids) are marching to Jerusalem"
Visual: The protesters are seen stepping on pictures of US President Donald Trump as the song "I am a son of Jerusalem, and I am from here" is played.
[Facebook page of the Fatah Movement - Bethlehem Branch, Dec. 6, 2017]
"Supreme Shari'ah Judge of Palestine, [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas'] advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs, [and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice] Mahmoud
Al-Habbash met yesterday [Dec. 5, 2017] with Vatican Prime Minister (sic., Secretary of State) Cardinal [Pietro] Parolin, and discussed with him the latest developments regarding Jerusalem and the consequences of the American administration's inclination to transfer its embassy to [Jerusalem] and recognize it as the capital of Israel. During the meeting, which was held in the Vatican,
Al-Habbash emphasized that the steps that the US intends to take against Jerusalem place the entire region on the boil, and pave the way to a deterioration of the situation in the region in a tragic manner whose results are unimaginable. He noted that the entire world will suffer from the consequences of this decision."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 6, 2017]
