Fatah cartoon mocks 9/11
By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
On the 17th anniversary of the terror attack on 9/11, Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Movement posted the above cartoon, mocking the horrific attack in which nearly 3,000 Americans were murdered.
The cartoon shows US President Donald Trump about to fly a plane into a building shaped like the PA map of "Palestine" that presents all of Israel as "Palestine" together with the PA areas. The building is painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag and smoke is already rising from it.
Text on building: "The Palestinian cause"
Text on cartoon and in Facebook post: "[US President Donald] Trump's decision to eliminate the Palestinian cause"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Sept. 11, 2018]
The cartoon follows the US Administration's recent decision to cut all US funding to UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). The US sees UNRWA as an organization that perpetuates the human tragedy for millions of refugee camp residents, by imposing on them the status of "refugees" and preventing them from moving on to a productive life. The PA and Fatah prefer to impose the status of refugees on millions of people so they will see themselves as victims of Israel, demanding to "return" to "Palestine."Palestinian Media Watch has documented other Palestinian cartoons commenting on the terror attack on 9/11.
Another cartoon, published in the official PA daily, criticized Trump for being Israel's "puppet":
The cartoon portrays US President Donald Trump as a puppet being controlled by a caricature of an Israeli soldier depicted with a grotesquely large nose. [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 28, 2018]
Similarly, PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah stated that "the American administration is no longer a partner in establishing peace," but rather "a partner to the occupation and to undermining the stability - not only in Palestine, but in the entire region." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 28, 2018]
US President Donald Trump's administration announced on Aug. 31, 2018 that it was immediately cutting all $360 million of annual American funding to UNRWA. Explaining the decision, the US State Department said, "The fundamental business model and fiscal practices that have marked UNRWA for years - tied to UNRWA's endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries - is simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years. The United States will no longer commit further funding to this irredeemably flawed operation."
The move came after the US froze two planned payments to UNRWA in early January 2018 for more than $100 million, and the US administration spoke about the need to reexamine and conduct a reform of the UN body. This occurred after the PA refused to negotiate with Israel and cut diplomatic ties with America following US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Dec. 6, 2017.
The following is a longer excerpt of Hamdallah's statement and additional reports on the Palestinian "condemnation" of the US "extortion":
Headline: "Hamdallah: We refuse to surrender to the American extortion, the Trump administration is a partner of the occupation"
"[PA] Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah emphasized the refusal of the leadership - and primarily [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas and the [PA] government - to surrender to the American extortion and to the decisions that [US President Donald] Trump's administration has made and will make. He emphasized that it will not replace the firm national rights for political money.
Hamdallah... again emphasized that the American administration is no longer a partner in establishing peace, and that at the moment it is a partner to the occupation and to undermining the stability - not only in Palestine, but in the entire region."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 28, 2018]
Headline: "Palestinian condemnation of the American 'extortion' after the cutting of financial aid"
"The Palestinian National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO) viewed the American administration's decision to cancel $200 million in financial aid (s ee note below -Ed.) as a continuation of 'the financial sanctions war' that [US] President [Donald] Trump's administration is waging against our people and its leadership, so that they will agree to accept what is called 'the deal of the century' (refers to Trump's as yet unpublished Middle East peace plan -Ed.). The council emphasized our people's right to continue its legitimate struggle until it achieves all of its legitimate rights.
The Council said in a declaration from its chairman Salim Al-Za'anoun yesterday [Aug. 25, 2018] that 'The American policy of extortion and pressures will never succeed. The Palestinian people and its leadership are holding onto the fundamental principles of the cause, and prime among them the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the occupied land of Palestine with its capital of Jerusalem.'
The Palestinian National Council emphasized that 'The [Palestinian] people's dignity and rights are not up for negotiation and they are above every consideration. The American administration proves every day that it is a full partner of the Israeli occupation in its policy and in all of its crimes, and it will never be part of the solution but rather part of the problem, and in this way it is distancing itself once more from peace and is biased in favor of the settlements and the occupation...'
The council viewed Washington's decision to cancel the financial aid that is estimated at more than $200 million as 'cheap extortion meant to achieve political goals...'
PLO Executive Committee Secretary, [Fatah Central Committee member, and PLO Chief Negotiator] Saeb Erekat said yesterday that 'The aid is not a favor to our people, but rather an obligation of the international community, which bears responsibility for the continuation of the Israeli occupation that constitutes a fortified wall before the possibility of developing the Palestinian economy and society.' He said that Washington is evading this international commitment by having stopped this aid."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 26, 2018]
The US State Department announced on Aug. 24, 2018, that $200 million in aid to the Palestinians will be redirected to "high-priority projects elsewhere."
