Inciting PA TV filler calls to “stop the destruction of Jerusalem”
Official PA TV filler
Visual:
Images are shown of ongoing violent Arab riots; see note below.
Text on screen: “Supported by thousands of soldiers
Backed by decisions of the extremist [Israeli] government
Driven by fake court documents
The settlers are crossing the red lines
(the screenshot shows Israeli Parliament Member Bezalel Smotrich -Ed.)
They are defiling the sanctity of time and space
They are harming the sanctity of the places of worship and the sites that are holy to Islam and Christianity
They are challenging the free world and the human and international norms
With the green light that the international and world silence is providing them
To carry out all the acts of murder, oppression, racism, and extremism
Stop the slaughter – stop the destruction of Jerusalem”
[Official PA TV, May 17, 2021]
2021 violent Palestinian riots and Hamas rockets - On May 10, 2021, the terror organization Hamas launched numerous rocket barrages targeting Israeli population centers. Over a period of 10 days, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired over 3,500 rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 9 Israelis, and 3 foreign nationals (1 Indian caregiver and 2 Thai foreign laborers) and wounding hundreds. In response, Israel launched Operation Guardian of the Walls to target Hamas terror leaders and terror infrastructure. The Israeli army also confronted terror activity in the West Bank, and was deployed to maintain order in Israeli cities with a mixed Jewish and Arab population, where Israeli Arabs violently rioted and attacked Jews with guns, knives, and firebombs, killing 1 Israeli. In return, Jews started attacking Arabs and Arab businesses as well. Hamas’ launching of rockets followed weeks of violent Arab riots in Jerusalem. The PA’s ostensible pretexts for the wave of Arab violence were PA elections being prevented in Jerusalem; Israeli security barricades at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City to prevent disturbances (which were later removed following violent riots); and the planned eviction of several Arab families illegally living in properties in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem owned by Jews who were expelled in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.