Fatah brags it murdered 20 Israelis in 2022 and 90% of terrorist “Martyrs” were Fatah members

• Fatah glorifies PA Security Forces’ participation in terror, among them one member who murdered an Israeli
   
• Top Fatah official: “To those who accuse the Fatah Movement of not fulfilling its duty, of abandonment, and of defending the occupation – we say these are the heroic members of the prisoners’ movement… including many, many [PA] Security Forces members”

When a terrorist is killed during his/her attack against Israelis it is PA policy to claim Israel summarily executed an innocent victim. This is in order to maintain the demonic image of Israel as a “barbarian” and “evil entity” that randomly kills Palestinians, and to convince the international community of Palestinian victimhood.

But at the same time, the PA and Fatah need to keep the so-called “resistance” alive – in other words, terror against Israel. So in order to convince more Palestinians to choose terror and “Martyrdom-death,” the PA and Fatah promote terrorists as heroes and role models for society. The PA and Fatah do this to secure their internal image as bodies that “fight the occupation” so as not to seem weak in comparison to the terror organization Hamas, which is steadily gaining popularity over PA Chairman Abbas’ Fatah.

The following statement by Fatah Revolutionary Council member Muhammad Al-Lahham is an expression of such image polishing. Talking about violent confrontations in Jenin during which Israel killed 4 terrorists, Al-Lahham stressed Fatah’s great participation in terror. He bragged that “90%” of the terrorist “Martyrs” of 2022 “were Fatah members” and also credited Fatah with murdering “20 Israelis,” commenting that “this is a source of honor” for Abbas’ Movement: 

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Muhammad Al-Lahham: “The four Martyrs (i.e., terrorist murderers),yes, it’s painful. The ascent [to Heaven] of these Martyrs is painful, but they are ammunition… If we speak about 2022, around 170 Martyrs ascended [to Heaven]… Most of those who died as Martyrs while resisting, 90% of them were Fatah members. Yes. If the number of those killed among the occupation (i.e., Israelis) was 20, Fatah is the one that carried out these operations (i.e., lethal terror attacks). This is a source of honor for Fatah… Fatah even emphasizes the need to punish the occupation, and the need to take revenge for the lives of the Martyrs through its military wings, and particularly the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades… Also all the current incidents (i.e., terror attacks) confirm that the members of the [PA] security establishment have a pure self-sacrificing national faith.They are a continuation of the Palestinian revolution.They are a continuation of Yasser Arafat, Salah Khalaf, Khalil Al-Wazir, and Saad Sayel (i.e., all terror leaders).”

[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Sept. 28, 2022]

Fatah official Al-Lahham also noted the key role in terror against Israel played by members of the PA Security Services. Palestinian Media Watch has exposed that the PLO and Fatah celebrate the terrorists who are part of the PA Security Forces – forces that are trained with US funding, among others.

The PA Security Forces’ role in terror against Israel was openly acknowledged by PLO Executive Committee member and Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad at a ceremony commemorating former PA and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. He reminded the audience that PA Chairman Abbas had warned Israel that his security forces would “take action” against Israel:

“[Al-Ahmad] added that two months ago President Mahmoud Abbas even asked the Palestinian [PA] Security Forces to inform the occupying government: ‘Do not be surprised if you discover that the Palestinian Security Forces are the ones who are taking action against you during your invasions of any refugee camp, or any village, or any farm, and during the theft of olives.’”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 14, 2022]

Fatah expressed its pride in the double role of the PA Security Forces in a video that highlights a member of the PA military intelligence who murdered one Israeli, and a member of the PA Preventive Security Forces who shot at Israeli soldiers together with other terrorists. During the exchange of fire one Israeli soldier was killed.

The video shows PA Security Forces members being given weapons and setting out on an operation. Text on the screen clarifies the primary task of the forces: “The Palestinian Security Forces: sacrifice, self-sacrifice, glory.” “Self-sacrifice” is the term used for terror attacks, as the terrorists are willing to “sacrifice themselves” and die for “Palestine” while attacking Israelis. In text posted with the video, Fatah underscored the PA Security Forces’ participation in terror: 

Posted text on Fatah Facebook page: “Let us recall our Martyrs together, the Martyrs of the Palestinian National [PA] Security Forces, who ignited the tunnel uprising (i.e., the Western Wall Tunnel Intifada; see note below) and the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered), and who to this very day are participating in the confrontation with the occupation from point-blank range  ”

Text on screen: “[PA] military intelligence Martyr Ahmed Abed (i.e., terrorist murderer)

[PA] Preventive Security Forces Martyr Daoud Zubeidi (i.e., terrorist)

Military intelligence Martyr Tayseer Ayaseh

Military intelligence Martyr Adham Aliwi”

 

Text on screen: “The Palestinian Security Forces: sacrifice, self-sacrifice, glory.”

[Official Fatah Facebook page, Sept. 18, 2022]

Similarly, top Fatah official and Central Committee member Abbas Zaki bragged about Fatah’s “heroic members of the prisoners’ movement” – i.e., imprisoned terrorists - and stressed that “many, many [PA] Security Forces members” were and are among them:

Posted text: “To those who accuse the Fatah Movement of not fulfilling its duty, of abandonment, and of defending the occupation – we say these are the heroic members of the prisoners’ movement who have spent dozens of years, including many, many [PA] Security Forces members, including those who have been released and those who are waiting for release soon. This is Fatah, which has sacrificed prisoners, wounded, and Martyrs for liberation and independence.”

[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, Nov. 26, 2022]

When a Palestinian terrorist was killed during violent confrontations recently, the official PA daily highlighted the “genes of heroism” the “Martyr” shared with his “heroic” imprisoned uncle. The uncle was a member of the PA Preventive Security Forces and responsible for numerous shooting attacks during the PA’s 5-year terror campaign, the second Intifada, in which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered in Palestinian terror attacks:

“Heroic prisoner Zafer Al-Rimawi (i.e., terrorist and PA Preventive Security Forces member, responsible for numerous shooting attacks) is a name connected to the chronicles of heroism during the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered). [He is] a self-sacrificing fighter and Fatah member who filled the paths of Ramallah with lessons of giving and sacrifice – and here history is repeating itself 20 years later with his brother’s son, Martyr Zafer Al-Rimawi (i.e., killed while participating in violent confrontations with Israeli soldiers north of Ramallah on Nov. 29, 2022), who was named after his uncle and was a scion of the fighting family. These are the holy genes of struggle… Prisoner Zafer was arrested on April 2, 2002, and was sentenced to 32 years of imprisonment. Brave and strong Zafer, who is daring and tenacious and does not know the meaning of submission, planted love of the homeland in his family and illuminated the path to freedom for it.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2022]

“The four Martyrs” referred to by Fatah Revolutionary Council member Muhammad Al-Lahham were: Abd Al-Rahman Hazem, Ahmed Alawneh, Muhammad Al-Wanneh, and Muhammad Abu Na’seh – Palestinian terrorists killed on Sept. 28, 2022 during a shootout with Israeli forces who were in Jenin to arrest Hazem and Al-Wanneh – wanted terrorists belonging to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (Fatah’s military wing) responsible for a series of shooting attacks. Hazem was the brother of terrorist Ra’ad Hazem who murdered 3 Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv on April 7, 2022. Alawneh was a PA Security Forces member.

The following are longer excerpts of the statements cited above:

Posted text: “In a speech he gave at the welcoming ceremony for released prisoner and member of the [PA] General Intelligence forces Murad Khalil Qaisiya (PMW was unable to determine the nature of his crimes -Ed.), [Fatah Central Committee member Abbas] Zaki emphasized: ‘To those who accuse the Fatah Movement of not fulfilling its duty, of abandonment, and of defending the occupation – we say these are the heroic members of the prisoners’ movement who have spent dozens of years, including many, many [PA] Security Forces members, including those who have been released and those who are waiting for release soon. This is Fatah, which has sacrificed prisoners, wounded, and Martyrs for liberation and independence.’”

The images show Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki at the welcoming ceremony for the released prisoner.

[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, Nov. 26, 2022]

Abbas Zaki also serves as Fatah Commissioner for Arab and China Relations.

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Muhammad Al-Lahham: “The national conscience is what motivates them…Ra’ad Hazem (i.e., terrorist, murdered 3), Diya Hamarsheh (i.e., terrorist, murdered 5), and the beautiful moons Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi (i.e., terrorist, responsible for shooting attacks) and all the beautiful names in Palestine, they taught you lesson after lesson. The four Martyrs, yes, it’s painful. The ascent [to Heaven] of these Martyrs is painful, but they are ammunition… The Fatah Movement is on the ground… Fatah is taking action nationally, providing a response to the occupation everywhere and at all times. Specifically, if we speak about 2022, around 170 Martyrs ascended [to Heaven]… Most of those who died as Martyrs while resisting, 90% of them were Fatah members. Yes. If the number of those killed among the occupation was 20, Fatah is the one that carried out these operations (i.e., lethal terror attacks). This is a source of honor for Fatah… Fatah even emphasizes the need to punish the occupation, and the need to take revenge for the lives of the Martyrs through its military wings, and particularly the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. And the brigades, when they speak, they act! Yes, they have done this, and they imposed a curfew on Tel Aviv (i.e., Hazem’s terror attack). If the occupation’s chief of staff thinks that he can do as he pleases in Jenin… he is wrong…  Fatah will not let him do this, rather it will turn to the [territorial] depth there [in Israel], as happened in more than once. If he thinks that eternal Martyr Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., terrorist who led murder of 37, 12 of them children) imposed a curfew on Tel Aviv in 1978 and that was that – no! Afterwards many Martyrs came back who imposed a curfew on the streets of West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and in the depth, within the [Zionist] entity… Here are the sons of Palestine, and the Fatah members are at the front of them. Yes, we in Fatah are proud that we are leading the struggle against this occupation. And also all the current incidents confirm that the members of the [PA] security establishment have a pure self-sacrificing national faith, they are a continuation of the Palestinian revolution, they are a continuation of Yasser Arafat, Salah Khalaf, Khalil Al-Wazir, and Saad Sayel (i.e., all terror leaders).”

[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Sept. 28, 2022]

Ra'ad Hazem - 28-year-old Palestinian terrorist and PA Security Forces member who shot and murdered 3 Israeli civilians - 27-year-olds Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini and 35-year-old Barak Lufan - and wounded 14 others when he opened fire on a crowded bar on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv on April 7, 2022. Hazem escaped the scene of the attack and was found hiding near a mosque in Jaffa by Israeli security forces several hours later. He opened fire on them and was killed in the ensuing shootout.

Diya Ahmed Hassan Hamarsheh - Palestinian terrorist and Fatah member who shot and murdered 5 people - Israeli civilians Rabbi Avishai Yehezkel and Ya'akov Yisrael Shalom, Israeli police officer Amir Khoury, and 2 foreign workers from Ukraine identified as Alexander and Dmitry - in Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv on March 29, 2022. An Israeli police officer shot and killed Hamarsheh, ending the attack. Hamarsheh, from Ya'abad near Jenin, had been working in Israel illegally. He was imprisoned for 6 months in 2015 for dealing in illegal weapons and membership in a terror organization.

Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi – Palestinian terrorist and member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (Fatah’s military wing) who was responsible for a series of shooting attacks targeting Israeli soldiers. Al-Nabulsi resisted arrest and shot at Israeli soldiers who returned fire and killed him in Nablus on Aug. 9, 2022. Al-Nabulsi was a member of a Fatah terror cell that was attacked while planning an imminent attack on Feb. 8, 2022; while Al-Nabulsi escaped, three other members of the cell were shot and killed: Adham Mabrouka Al-Shishani, Muhammad Al-Dakhil, and Ashraf Mubaslat.

Dalal Mughrabi – female Palestinian terrorist who led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, known as the Coastal Road massacre, in 1978, when she and other Fatah terrorists hijacked a bus on Israel's Coastal Highway, murdering 37 civilians, 12 of them children, and wounding over 70.

Yasser Arafat – Founder of Fatah and former chairman of the PLO and PA. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s Arafat was behind numerous terror attacks against Israelis. Although he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 together with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" after signing the Oslo Accords peace agreement, Arafat launched a 5-year terror campaign - the second Intifada (2000-2005) – in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Arafat died of an illness in 2004.

Abu Iyad (Salah Khalaf) - PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat’s deputy, one of the founders of Fatah, and head of the terror organization Black September, a secret branch of Fatah. Attacks he planned include the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics (Sept. 5, 1972) and the murder of two American diplomats in Sudan (March 1, 1973). It is commonly assumed that his assassin, a former Fatah bodyguard, was sent by the Abu Nidal Organization, a rival Palestinian faction.

Abu Jihad (Khalil Al-Wazir) - was a founder of Fatah and deputy to Yasser Arafat. He headed the PLO terror organization's military wing and also planned many deadly Fatah terror attacks in the 1960’s - 1980’s. These attacks, in which a total of 125 Israelis were murdered, included the most lethal in Israeli history - the hijacking of a bus and murder of 37 civilians, 12 of them children.

Saad Sayel - Senior Fatah commander. He led the PLO forces that were based in Lebanon during the early 1980s.

Headline: “The holy genes of struggle”

“These are the genes of heroism, which pass as an inheritance from generation to generation…

Heroic prisoner Zafer Al-Rimawi (i.e., terrorist and PA Preventive Security Forces member, responsible for numerous shooting attacks) is a name connected to the chronicles of heroism during the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered). [He is] a self-sacrificing fighter and Fatah member who filled the paths of Ramallah with lessons of giving and sacrifice – and here history is repeating itself 20 years later with his brother’s son, Martyr Zafer Al-Rimawi (i.e., killed while participating in violent confrontations with Israeli soldiers north of Ramallah on Nov. 29, 2022), who was named after his uncle and was a scion of the fighting family. These are the holy genes of struggle. Zafer bore the name of his uncle, prisoner Zafer Al-Rimawi, and thus was connected to him in a holy connection in his heart and in his image, in his awareness and in his soul. The Martyr grew up while hearing about the heroism of his prisoner uncle, his stories, and his love for the homeland and its soil.

Prisoner Zafer was arrested on April 2, 2002, and was sentenced to 32 years of imprisonment. Brave and strong Zafer, who is daring and tenacious and does not know the meaning of submission, planted love of the homeland in his family and illuminated the path to freedom for it.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2022]

Zafer Al-Rimawi – Palestinian terrorist and member of Fatah and the PA Preventive Security Forces who was responsible for several shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and aided other Fatah terrorists from 2001-2002 during the PA terror campaign (the second Intifada, 2000-2005). Al-Rimawi was arrested in 2002 and is serving 32 years in prison.

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