Fatah: Violent Arab riots in Jerusalem and mixed Jewish-Arab towns show more “rage and self-sacrifice” than two previous intifadas

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Muhammad Al-Lahham: “What is happening inside the occupied land, the 1948 lands (i.e., riots by Israeli Arabs), is a true intifada… I’ve never seen one day of a situation [like this]. Not even in the 1987 [first] Intifada, the Stone Intifada, and the [second] Intifada of 2000. The situation and popular uprising did not have this rage, this noise, this self-sacrifice or sacrifice, whether in Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramle, Umm Al-Fahm, Nazareth, the Galilee, the Triangle, the Negev, Be’er Sheva (i.e., all Israeli cities and areas), and everywhere. There is a state of intifada, a feeling that there is an essential need for a Palestinian existence that expresses itself through all means of struggle that are available to the Palestinian people.”

The Fatah official made this statement during ongoing violent Arab riots in Jerusalem and other mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel, and while Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israeli population centers.

The first Intifada - Palestinian wave of violence and terror against Israel 1987-1993, approximately 200 Israelis murdered

The second Intifada – PA terror campaign (2000-2005) in which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered.

The terms “all means,” “all means of resistance,” “all forms,” are ‎used by PA leaders to include using all types of violence, including deadly terror ‎against Israeli civilians such as stabbings and shootings, as well as throwing rocks and Molotov Cocktails.

Fatah/Hamas Riot and Rocket War 2021 – On April 30, 2021, facing certain electoral defeat, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas cancelled the first PA elections scheduled in 15 years. Hamas, which expected to win the elections, denounced it as a “coup.” In need of a conflict to divert public discontent, Abbas artificially generated a crisis over Jerusalem. His Fatah party called for "raising the level of confrontation,” and Abbas' spokesman told Palestinians "the battle of all battles is here.” Jerusalem Arabs responded by attacking Jews with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Hamas, Abbas' political rival, could not allow Abbas to lead the battle, so on May 10, 2021, Hamas launched rocket barrages targeting Israeli population centers including Jerusalem. Over the next 11 days, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired over 4,300 rockets into southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 9 Israelis and 3 foreign nationals, and wounding hundreds. In response, Israel launched Operation Guardian of the Walls to target Hamas terror leaders and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Already in mid-April, a planned eviction of some Palestinian families illegally living in Jewish-owned buildings in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem had led to clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli police. This dispute provided Palestinians with a pretext for violent rioting. Adding to the crisis, Israeli Arabs started rioting throughout Israel, especially in cities with a mixed Jewish and Arab population. Two Jews were murdered and many were wounded. According to Walla, an independent Israeli news site, 10 synagogues were wholly or partly burned down; fires were set in 112 Jewish homes and 1 Arab home mistaken for a Jewish home; 386 Jewish homes were plundered and 673 were damaged; 849 cars were set ablaze; and there were 5,018 rock-throwing attacks. In response, Jews started attacking Arabs and their properties as well, but on a much smaller scale. No mosques were burned; 13 Arab homes were damaged; 13 Arab-owned cars were burned; and there were 41 rock-throwing attacks by Jews. [Walla, May 16, 2021] The fighting between Israel and Hamas ended with a ceasefire on May 21, 2021.