Palestinian Authority rebuilds monuments to terrorists “immediately”
The Palestinian Authority makes the glorification of terrorists one of its core values. Besides doing so in speeches, media, and its education system, it invests public resources to ensure that monuments honoring terrorists are put up in the public space so that everyone should know that the PA reveres terrorists. When monuments to terror leaders are damaged or removed, restoring them becomes an immediate priority. The PA sees these monuments as a means of elevating terrorists as Palestinian national heroes and passing their terror legacy to future generations.
When Israeli forces demolished a terror-glorifying monument in Tulkarem honoring Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) founder George Habash, the municipality wasted no time. According to its spokesman, the mayor issued explicit instructions to begin repairing it "immediately":
Tulkarem Municipality spokesman Muhannad Matar: "We were surprised when bulldozers entered the city of Tulkarem, and they initially congregated at George Habash Square… The occupation forces actually began to destroy the memorial bearing the name of Martyr George Habash [...] Immediately after the completion of the systematic destruction and ruin by the occupation forces, clear instructions were sent from the honorable mayor to immediately begin maintenance and repair of what the occupation forces destroyed, and teams from the Tulkarem Municipality immediately began maintenance and restoration activities."
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Aug. 5, 2026]
The same day, the PA's official daily highlighted other terrorist monuments and memorials that Israeli forces had destroyed in the Tulkarem area:
"Israeli occupation forces destroyed two monuments to Martyrs and national symbols in the city of Tulkarem yesterday...
A WAFA correspondent reported that the occupation forces destroyed a monument to leader George Habash... in the northern neighborhood of the city and a monument to Martyr Ziyad Da'as (i.e., terrorist, involved in murder of 8) on Kadoorie University Street in the western neighborhood of the city."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 5, 2026]
A columnist in the same official PA daily explained the ideological importance of preserving terror monuments, describing Palestinian "Martyrs" as "lauded symbols" of the Palestinian "national struggle" whose commemoration forms part of the Palestinian "national narrative."
In 2025, while a senior Abbas advisor urgently begged for $200 million in foreign aid, the PA was simultaneously funding the renovation and expansion of the "Martyrs' Cemetery," which is not even located in the PA areas but in Syria. Among those whose graves were being renovated were Abu Jihad—responsible for the murder of 125 people, Abu Al-Abbas—the Achille Lauro hijacking mastermind and murderer of wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer who was thrown into the sea in his wheelchair, and Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shaqaqi.
Omar Abu Laila was an unknown 19-year-old Palestinian teenager until he murdered Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, a father of 12, and Israeli soldier Gal Keidan. Within weeks, the PA and Fatah had transformed him into a Palestinian household name: a monument, a public square, a football tournament, a street, a mosque, and more were all named in his honor. The PA and Fatah also lavished praise on Abu Laila for his murderous attack, including the following:
"A source of inspiration for our children"
"We are following in your footsteps"
"A national model"
"Glorify his heroism and courage"
"A hero"
"Honor and pride"
"Continue [his] path"
"Perpetuate the memory"
"Heroic Martyr"
"The Jihad fighter"
"The perfect person"[Official Fatah Facebook page, March 30, 2019]
In 2021, the Jenin Municipality and Fatah, which is the PA's ruling party, erected a monument honoring terrorist murderer Kamal Abu Wa'er. In 2020, Jenin and Fatah partnered to establish a square and monument honoring Dalal Mughrabi, who led the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in which 37 Israelis, including 12 children, were murdered. The Jenin mayor explained that the monument was intended to keep Mughrabi "alive in the memory of the generations" and stressed Palestinian "adherence to the path of the Martyrs."
Palestinian Media Watch has also documented a PA municipality erecting a memorial naming a road after terrorist Muhannad Halabi, who murdered two Israelis and triggered a deadly terror wave.
The PA and Fatah use these monuments to place terrorists physically in Palestinian public space, preserve them as national heroes, and present them as role models for future generations.
And when one of those monuments is destroyed, the message from PA officials is clear: rebuild it immediately.