Israeli radio interviews PMW about PA Security Services' terror involvement

Itamar Marcus on Israeli radio:

• “Not only are the security service members involved in terrorism, but neither the PA nor Fatah [both headed by Mahmoud Abbas] try to hide it. In fact, just the opposite is true – they glorify it.”
• “The PA reported last year … that 65% of the ‘Martyrs of the West Bank’ are from Fatah, and most of them are from the members of the Security Forces.”
• “They portray Israel as Nazis because from everyone’s perspective, the Nazis deserved to be fought, the Nazis deserved to be killed. If Israelis are Nazis, then everyone, every Palestinian, has a right to go out and to kill Israelis.”
• “Having been indoctrinated by the PA to hate and kill Israelis for so many years, the Palestinian masses believe that Hamas is doing what every Palestinian should be doing.”

Following PMW's release of its report “Terrorists in Uniform” documenting the widespread involvement of PA security services in terrorism, Israeli radio’s main Hebrew station (KAN Reshet B) and its KAN English language news both interviewed PMW director Itamar Marcus.
 

The following is the transcript of the English language interview:

PMW Director Itamar Marcus: “PMW has been following the PA security services’ involvement in terrorism for a number of years. What is significant is not only that the security service members are involved in terrorism, but that neither the PA nor Fatah [both headed by Mahmoud Abbas] try to hide it. In fact, just the opposite is true – they glorify it. They’ll say things on TV like ‘They are PA Security Forces officers by day, but they’re self-sacrificing fighters at night.’ In other words, they openly talk about the fact that the PA police have this double role. Fatah recently published a poster with the pictures of 23 PA security service officers, and the headline was ‘The Martyrs of the PA Security Services.’ All 23 were involved in fighting Israel. They didn’t hide it. Instead, they made a poster about it. The Western funded PA police who are supposed to fight terrorism are actively involved in terrorism.”

Kan English News Host Mark Weiss: “How widespread is this phenomenon?”

Itamar Marcus: “According to the PA and Fatah’s statistics, it’s absolutely central to the terrorism in Judea and Samaria. For example, the PA reported last year– this was before Oct. 7 [2023] – that 65% of the ‘Martyrs of the West Bank’ are from Fatah, and most of them are from the members of the Security Forces. Another statement on Fatah TV was that there were 1,500 ‘military operations’ last year led by Fatah and the security services. And in January 2024, Israel killed five terrorists because we knew that they were planning a terror attack. The PA published a poster with the pictures of the 5 terrorists, and one of them they titled ‘Capt. Abdallah Abu Shalal, member of the PA General Intelligence.’ The next day the [Israeli] army and Shabak (i.e., Israeli Security Agency) came out with a statement that he was considered one of the central terror leaders of Judea and Samaria. So, you have a central leader involved in terrorism all throughout Judea and Samaria, and he was a captain in the PA intelligence. The centrality of the PA security services to terrorism is absolutely clear from everything that the PA is publicizing and everything that the Israeli army is discovering.”

Mark Weiss: “And the most recent example of course was last week’s shooting at the gas station close to the settlement of Eli, where the perpetrator was a member of the Palestinian police force.”

Itamar Marcus: “Exactly, and again the PA media and newspaper were very proud to mention that he was a member of the security services. Nobody is trying to hide it. The PA population has been so radicalized by the PA, which has created great support for Hamas, and the support for terrorists is virtually 100%, so whenever a terrorist is a member of the security services, they rush to point out that they’re a member of the PA security services because this they hope will raise their stature amongst the Palestinian population.”

Mark Weiss: “And not only that. Of course, the PA continues to pay the salaries of the relatives of these Fatah or people affiliated with the PA security forces who carry out attacks and are killed.”

Itamar Marcus: “Absolutely. If a terrorist is caught and goes to jail, he starts to receive a monthly salary from the PA. The monthly salary will keep going up the longer he’s in jail, eventually reaching 12,000 shekels (over $3,300 -Ed.), which is 3.5 times the average PA salary. That’s how significant it is. And if they’re killed during the terror attack, like these five terrorists I just mentioned, their family gets an immediate 6,000-shekel grant (over $1,600 - ed.), and then they get 1,400 [shekels] (just under $400 - ed.) per month for life.”

Mark Weiss: “Now, your organization, PMW, has also carried out research recently regarding the use of Nazi terminology and Palestinian figures in the West Bank openly praising Adolf Hitler. Tell our listeners what you’ve discovered.”

Itamar Marcus: “On the one hand, individuals in the PA on official media have glorified Hitler. What we’re seeing even more now, and I would say it’s a number of times a week, is that the PA is comparing Israel to the Nazis. Mahmoud Al-Habbash, [Mahmoud] Abbas’ advisor, recently was on TV and said: ‘Everything that Israel is doing is worse than anything that ever happened in World War II.’ Jibril Rajoub, also a senior Palestinian leader, has said similar things, all of them in the last few weeks. They portray Israel as Nazis because from everyone’s perspective, the Nazis deserved to be fought, the Nazis deserved to be killed. If Israelis are Nazis, then everyone, every Palestinian, has a right to go out and to kill Israelis.”

Mark Weiss: “Now none of this bodes well for the US efforts to involve the PA in rebuilding the Gaza Strip or governance in Gaza after the war, does it? They talked about a ‘reformed’ PA. Have we seen any steps towards a reformed PA?”

Itamar Marcus: “Absolutely not. There’s this myth that seems to have been accepted by the American leadership that by changing the members of the PA government, by having PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh resign and put in what they call ‘technocrats,’ they’re going to have a reformed PA. However, I can say with certainty that the people may be different, but they will disseminate the same ideology, the same messages, the same teachings. Nobody in the PA is talking about stopping the glorification of terrorists, nobody is talking about stopping rewards for terrorism, nobody is talking about Israel having a right to exist. The Americans are fooling themselves by thinking that there will be a difference if they have a new finance minister paying the checks. It doesn’t make any difference. The fact is that the people who are going to be pulling the strings of the ideology and the hatred are going to be members of the PA leadership who are filled with hatred and disdain for Jews and Israelis. The Antisemitism isn’t going anywhere because it’s so deeply ingrained by the PA. The PA cannot be given control of Gaza because the PA, as far as I’m concerned, created the power of Hamas. The PA is teaching all the vile hate messages, and then a child reaches 16 or 17, and he says: ‘The PA is talking about this, but Hamas is doing something about it.’ So the PA really created the power of Hamas, both the terrorists themselves as well as the popular support for Hamas. Having been indoctrinated by the PA to hate and kill for so many years, the Palestinian masses believe that Hamas is doing what every Palestinian should be doing.”

[Kan English News, Israeli public radio, March 5, 2024]