The blood spilled for [your] sake is insignificant. Our lives are for your sake, O Jerusalem” – PA TV host promotes the violent riots
Abbas’ speech used by Fatah to incite more riots:
“They’ve gone too far! Leave us alone! Get off our chests! Get off our chests! Get off our chests! We’ll continue to be a thorn in your sides”
In a broadcast on the violent Arab riots in Jerusalem, the official PA TV host encouraged more violence and urged Palestinians to “sacrifice” themselves for Jerusalem. In an implicit call to Palestinians to seek martyrdom-death, the host stated that “the blood spilled for [your] sake is insignificant. Our lives are for your sake, O Jerusalem”:
Official PA TV host: “Because the hearts and eyes yearn for Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is the capital of the independent Palestinian state… and because the hearts of not just the Palestinians alone but of all the Muslims and Arabs have connected to it: Therefore, the blood spilled for its sake is insignificant. Our lives are for your sake, O Jerusalem. Our lives, all we have, are for your sake, O Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
[Official PA TV, May 11, 2021]
In addition, Fatah today released a video using a speech from yesterday by PA and Fatah Chairman Abbas to incite more violent riots. In the speech, Abbas stated that Israel has “gone too far” and vowed that Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem “won’t surrender” and “won’t calm down”:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “They’ve gone too far! Leave us alone! Get off our chests! Get off our chests! Get off our chests! We’ll continue to be a thorn in your sides. The Sheikh Jarrah [neighborhood of Jerusalem] won’t leave, won’t surrender, won’t calm down, and won’t be silent.”
[Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, May 13, 2021]
The mention of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood refers to Arab riots in response to planned eviction of Arabs illegally living in properties owned by Jews who were expelled in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the Arabs living in the buildings can stay if they pay rent, but the Arabs have refused.
As Palestinian Media Watch has exposed in the last few weeks, Abbas, his Palestinian Authority and Fatah Movement have supported the riots from the start and even encouraged violence and urged Palestinians to expand the riots beyond Jerusalem.
One such call was made by PLO Executive Committee member Bassam Al-Salehi who labeled the violent Palestinian riots “a comprehensive popular intifada of the Palestinian people” and called to expand the riots into an all-out “intifada” against Israel:
“Secretary-General of the Palestinian People's Party and PLO Executive Committee member Bassam Al-Salehi… said that our obligation now is to develop the current situation to the point of a comprehensive intifada of the entire Palestinian people against the racist Zionist project.”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, May 12, 2021]
The PLO official further stressed that the riots are coordinated with Israeli Arabs
“The Follow-Up Committee of the Arab Public in the Interior (i.e., The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, an extra-parliamentary umbrella organization that represents Arab citizens of Israel) is a central partner in leading this intifada, and a central partner in the Palestinian response to its consequences.”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, May 12, 2021]
Another call for escalation and expansion of the riots was made by Qadura Fares, Chairman of the PA-funded Prisoners’ Club, who called on Palestinians “to expand the scope” of the “popular resistance” – a term PMW has shown Palestinians use to also refer to the use of violence and terror. He also advocated that “the battle in Jerusalem not remain the battle of the Jerusalem residents alone,” explaining that “the more the scope of the popular resistance expands, the more the cost to the occupation increases”:
Chairman of the PA-funded Prisoners’ Club Qadura Fares: “The battle in Jerusalem must not remain the battle of the Jerusalem residents alone. From here, the Palestinian national movement is being called on now more than ever in the past to consolidate a path of struggle based on the idea of popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror), and to expand its scope… The more the scope of the popular resistance expands, the more the cost to the occupation increases - If we succeed in strengthening the state of the popular resistance and consolidating it in every single district, in the end the occupation will completely change its calculations…
What is happening in Jerusalem is the greatest justification, and this could cause a rebellion, but in every piece of territory in the entire land of Palestine there are reasons connected to the residents there [for which] they will rise up (the verb “rise up” comes from the same root as “intifada” -Ed.), come out, and confront the occupation. In order to organize this and give it collective significance, the national movement is being called on as soon as possible to formulate viewpoints that we will unite around. We will unite in organizing them, we will lead them, and in the end creating this environment and this climate will certainly lead the Israeli political, security, and military institution to change its calculations…”
[Official PA TV, May 2, 2021]
Earlier, the efforts of the Palestinian rioters in Jerusalem were praised in an op-ed in the official PA daily that also referred to all of “Palestine” as encompassing the entire State of Israel – “between the [Mediterranean] Sea and the [Jordan] River.” The writer praised the entire Palestinian people’s “willingness to sacrifice that which is most precious to it in order to defeat the Zionist forces of evil” and spoke of Palestinian rioters as “victorious”:
“The pictures of glory and pride are continuing to arrive one after the other from Jerusalem, from the Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas, from the Sheikh Jarrah [neighborhood of Jerusalem], from the Damascus Gate [of Jerusalem’s Old City], and from all the arenas of confrontation with the occupation soldiers and the settler herds. Men, women, elderly, young people, and children are walking like lions with their heads held high, with defiant smiles, among cowards armed from head to foot…
The picture from Friday [May 7, 2021], in which tens of thousands of Palestinians are seen clearing the road to Jerusalem from all the Palestinian cities and villages between the [Mediterranean] Sea and the [Jordan] River is incredible, and heralds the unity of the people, its sensibilities, its fate, and its willingness to sacrifice that which is most precious to it in order to defeat the Zionist forces of evil. When the checkpoints of aggression stopped their buses they did not turn back, but rather got off of them and continued on their way by foot (refers to Israeli Arabs blocking the main highway to Jerusalem after Israeli police prevented them from traveling to the Temple Mount following Arab rioting there -Ed.)…Throats broke into calls for the sake of Palestine’s Arabness – a scene of victory on the ground – and the points of confrontation with the occupier ignited, which set the occupation army into a state of preparedness, and the settler herds into a state of fear from which they cannot get free, and the occupation forces also are not giving them a feeling of security. This is not a life of calm, and it will not be, regardless of how great their number may be, and regardless of how large the armies that protect them may be – simply because they are on stolen land whose owners are defending it and sacrificing their lives to take it back.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 10, 2021]
The following are longer excerpts of the statements cited above:
Headline: “Al-Salehi: We are witness to a comprehensive intifada of the Palestinian people against racism and occupation”
“Secretary-General of the Palestinian People's Party and PLO Executive Committee member Bassam Al-Salehi said that we are witness to a comprehensive popular intifada of the Palestinian people against racism, fascism, and occupation. He said that this intifada is different from its predecessors in being a comprehensive intifada from the beginning of all our people in Jerusalem, in the Interior (i.e., Palestinian term for Israel), in the West Bank, and in the Gaza Strip, and of our people in the diaspora, and with them all those expressing solidarity with our cause and with our just rights.
Al-Salehi emphasized that the urgent mission of the entire Palestinian national movement is to formulate a comprehensive and united goal that will be appropriate for the scope of this activity…
He said that our obligation now is to develop the current situation to the point of a comprehensive intifada of the entire Palestinian people against the racist Zionist project against our people, and to completely eliminate the deal of the century (i.e., US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan)…
He also said that the Follow-Up Committee of the Arab Public in the Interior (i.e., The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, an extra-parliamentary umbrella organization that represents Arab citizens of Israel) is a central partner in leading this intifada, and a central partner in the Palestinian response to its consequences.”
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, May 12, 2021]
The Trump peace plan – US President Donald Trump announced his Israel–Palestinian peace plan "Peace to Prosperity" – commonly known as “the deal of the century” - on Jan. 28, 2020. Main points of the plan: 1- Israeli sovereignty would be applied to the Jordan Valley and all Israeli towns and cities in the West Bank. 2- Jerusalem, including all its holy sites, would remain under Israeli sovereignty with accommodations made to enable access for Palestinians. 3- The remainder of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and part of what is currently Israeli land in the Negev, the Galilee, and Jerusalem - creating a territory almost equal in size to the West Bank and Gaza Strip - would form the Palestinian state, with its capital in neighborhoods in East Jerusalem that are outside of Israel's security wall. 4- The Palestinian state would be demilitarized, with Israel responsible for external security and controlling all airspace. 5- All Palestinian prisoners except murderers, and those who attempted or conspired to murder would be released. 6- Palestinians in refugee camps would be absorbed into their host countries and, subject to certain limitations, into the Palestinian state. 7- Before becoming a state, the Palestinians would have to carry out extensive reform of their laws and institutions, including implementing a new governing system; granting its people due process and basic human rights and freedoms; end all incitement to and incentivizing of terror; end all glorification of terror and martyrdom; disarm Hamas; and adopt a culture promoting peace. The goal of the plan is to create a Palestinian state beside Israel, living in peace and security. The implementation would be facilitated through extensive international investment.
Official PA TV, special broadcast on violent Arab riots in Jerusalem
Chairman of the PA-funded Prisoners’ Club Qadura Fares: “The Palestinian people everywhere needs the battle in the Sheikh Jarrah [neighborhood of Jerusalem] (refers to riots in response to planned eviction of Arabs illegally living in properties owned by Jews who were expelled in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence -Ed.) to not remain the battle of Sheikh Jarrah, and the battle in Jerusalem must not remain the battle of the Jerusalem residents alone. From here, the Palestinian national movement is being called on now more than ever in the past to consolidate a path of struggle based on the idea of popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror), and to expand its scope so that the occupation will be unable to isolate a group of families in Sheikh Jarrah, or isolate this village, or this [refugee] camp, or this city, and the like. The more the scope of the popular resistance expands, the more the cost to the occupation increases- If we succeed in strengthening the state of the popular resistance and consolidating it in every single district, in the end the occupation will completely change its calculations…
First of all, [we must] expand the territory of the confrontation with the occupation so that the occupation will not choose the site of its battle. Therefore, if the battle will be in Sheikh Jarrah, it is known that [the occupation] brings 500 police officers, carries out a number of additional actions of preparation, and they take control. And if the territory of the confrontation expands- and we have sufficient justifications and reasons; it is true that what is happening in Jerusalem is the greatest justification, and this could cause a rebellion, but in every piece of territory in the entire land of Palestine there are reasons connected to the residents there [for which] they will rise up (the verb “rise up” comes from the same root as “intifada” -Ed.), come out, and confront the occupation. In order to organize this and give it collective significance, the national movement is being called on as soon as possible to formulate viewpoints that we will unite around. We will unite in organizing them, we will lead them, and in the end creating this environment and this climate will certainly lead the Israeli political, security, and military institution to change its calculations…
We are monitoring the conduct of the Israeli border police [at the Al-Aqsa Mosque] – in other words, what brought you to this site? In other words, Palestinian residents are carrying out religious ceremonies. What is the security problem and what are the consequences of marking a religious event? They know that this has no consequences. But they have an inferiority complex. They know that for dozens of years they have been excavating under the Al-Aqsa Mosque and searching for something that will connect them historically to this site. In the end, the result is: Nothing (sic., an abundance of archaeological evidence proving the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount has been found)…
The battle for Jerusalem began a while ago, and we as Palestinians must be at the appropriate level for the battle of Jerusalem. In other words, yes, we bless the people who are expressing solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah, and we bless the people of Jerusalem for their positions. But I think that they are looking at us with great hope that we will be part of their battle in a practical manner, on the ground. In another few days, on the 28th of the [Muslim fasting] month of Ramadan (i.e., Jerusalem Day, May 10, 2021), there will be the greatest break-in that forces are preparing for”
Official PA TV host: “Yes, and there is a call for this.”
Qadura Fares: “Okay, we know that it will be on the 28th of Ramadan. Therefore, I call on all the forces and all the factions, and particularly the branch secretaries, the Fatah Shabiba [Youth Movement], to start in all districts of the homeland in coordination together with all the working forces of the society, with the communal institutions, with the political parties, with the forces – let us be [ready] on the night before Qadr Night (i.e., the night when the Quran was received according to Islam), before the [Israeli] break-in. We are directing a message first of all to our Palestinian people in Jerusalem: You are not alone. And also to the world: The continuation of these systematic crimes under different headlines and slogans that are all lies is liable to blow up the situation here. Perhaps this will bring international pressure on the occupation government and force it to implement a different kind of policy. The world needs to accept that the battle for Jerusalem is a battle of all the Palestinians first of all, and secondly a battle of all the Palestinians and all the Arabs.”
[Official PA TV, May 2, 2021]
The terms "peaceful uprising/resistance,” and “popular uprising/resistance" are used by PA leaders at times to refer to peaceful protest and at times to refer to deadly terror attacks and terror waves. For example, Mahmoud Abbas defined as “peaceful popular” the murderous terror during the 2015-2016 terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean) and hundreds wounded in stabbings, shootings, and car ramming attacks. Abbas said: "We want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is." https://palwatch.org/page/9276
The PA and its leaders misrepresent all of the Temple Mount as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Therefore, they vilify any presence of Jews on the mount as an "break-in." It should be noted that Jews who visit the Temple Mount only enter some sections of the open areas, and do not enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. Israeli police ban Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount because of threats of violence by Palestinians.