Senior PA official Rajoub praises terrorists and murderers: “We all need to bow our heads before their greatness”
Official PA media on imprisoned terrorists:
“We are proud of you… all the blessings to our heroic prisoners” – PA TV
“The [PA] leadership will not abandon a single one of their rights… It will continue to adhere to defending them, because they are symbols of the national struggle, lights of freedom, and beacons of liberation, peace, and justice” – column in PA daily
Whether it is the Palestinian annual Prisoner’s Day or not, Palestinian Authority leaders need no special occasion to praise its imprisoned terrorists and murderers. Long time terror supporter and Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub reminded Palestinians that the “brave prisoners” – among them killers, bomb makers, and planners of numerous murderous attacks – deserve that all Palestinians “bow their heads before their greatness”:
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “Greetings to our people and the members of our people in the homeland and the diaspora, and to our brave prisoners. They are potential Martyrs and we all need to bow our heads before their greatness and the greatness of their families, the families of the Martyrs [and] our wounded.”
[Official PA TV, Pawns, April 8, 2022]
Similarly, official PA TV expressed the PA’s “pride” in all imprisoned terrorists, addressing them directly during Ramadan:
Official PA TV host: “To every prisoner who is seeing me now on the screen of [official] PA TV or hearing me through [the official PA radio station] The Voice of Palestine: We are proud of you. Your sacrifice is the secret of our continuation. We know how difficult prison is. Despite everything that is found there, it is difficult and remains a prison. How you long for the Ramadan [fast-breaking meal] table and to unite with family and loved ones. The matter is difficult but the most difficult thing is us leaving this homeland. Your sacrifice, your struggle, and the years of your life that have gone for the sake of this homeland have not gone in vain. Every second and every moment – not every year – is equal to millions of years in light of the magnitude of the sacrifice, the magnitude of your separation from your family, children, and loved ones. All the blessings to our heroic prisoners.”
[Official PA TV, Ramadan and the People, April 11, 2022]
On the occasion of Prisoner’s Day, the official PA daily printed a column that stressed what PA Chairman Abbas, PA PM Muhammad Shtayyeh and other PA leaders have emphasized numerous times; that the PA leadership won’t “abandon” the imprisoned terrorists and will continue to pay them salaries in reward for their terror attacks because they are “beacons of liberation, peace, and justice”:
“The prisoners’ cause… will remain a central matter. The Palestinian [PA] leadership will not abandon a single one of their rights, and foremost among them the right of their family members to receive a salary similar to the families of the Martyrs. The leadership will not agree to bargaining over this right and will not allow anyone to impose conditions on it. It will continue to adhere to defending them, because they are symbols of the national struggle, lights of freedom, and beacons of liberation, peace, and justice.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 18, 2022]
The following is a longer excerpt of the column by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, regular columnist for official PA daily and former advisor to former PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on national affairs:
Headline: “Freedom to the prisoners for [Palestinian] Prisoner’s Day”
“On brave Palestinian Prisoner’s Day, the world, human rights organizations, and the UN must again raise their voices to restore the honor to the cause of the prisoners of peace, justice, and freedom as prisoners of war who are not ‘terrorists.’ The situation is the complete opposite, because the prison guard, the murderer, the terrorist, and the one who is stealing the right, the homeland, and the freedom is the Zionist Israeli…
The prisoners’ cause was and still is one of the central issues in the conflict, and it will remain a central matter. The Palestinian [PA] leadership will not abandon a single one of their rights, and foremost among them the right of their family members to receive a salary similar to the families of the Martyrs. The leadership will not agree to bargaining over this right and will not allow anyone to impose conditions on it. It will continue to adhere to defending them, because they are symbols of the national struggle, lights of freedom, and beacons of liberation, peace, and justice.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 18, 2022]
Jibril Rajoub also serves as Head of the PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, and Chairman of the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA).
Palestinian Prisoner’s Day is celebrated on the anniversary of the release of Palestinian terrorist Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi on April 17, 1971, in an exchange deal with Fatah for Israeli Shmuel Rozenvassar who was abducted by Fatah terrorists in 1970.