Abbas: Terrorist murderers are “heroic brothers”
Abbas greets released terrorists:
"Our heroic brothers"
"Our heroic brothers"
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
embraced and kissed each murderer
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
On Tuesday, Israel released 26 Palestinian terrorist murderers, the second group of a total of 104 prisoners whom Israel has agreed to release, fulfilling the Palestinian Authority's precondition for renewing peace talks.
PA Chairman Abbas and many other senior PA and Fatah leaders welcomed 21 of the terrorists, celebrating their release. Greeting them as heroes on stage and kissing each one, Abbas addressed the audience and the terrorists, each of whom was convicted of murder:
"We welcome our heroic brothers who come from behind bars to the world of freedom. We congratulate ourselves and we congratulate all of you in this great celebration that unifies and returns our sons to us."
Click to viewAmong the released terrorists was murderer Issa Abd Rabbo, who was serving two life sentences for murdering two Israeli university students, Ron Levi and Revital Seri. They were hiking south of Jerusalem on Oct. 22, 1984 when he tied them up at gun point, put bags over their heads and then shot and murdered them both.
On stage, Abbas held up murderer Abd Rabbo's hand in front of the cheering crowd. Abd Rabbo made the sign of victory.In his speech, Abbas referred to this second group of 26 prisoners out of a total of 104 prisoners being released in four batches as "the second celebration," and promised a "third celebration, and then the fourth, and then the fifth, until the prisons are emptied." Abbas vowed that the PA will make no peace agreement with Israel unless all prisoners are released:
"There will be no agreement as long as there is one prisoner behind bars."
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that Abbas said he views all prisoners as soldiers who have carried out the "duty of resistance" and who were sent by the PA and merely followed orders given by the PA when they killed Israelis. At the ceremony, Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake praised the murderers:
"Each one of you prisoners is a sun lighting up Palestine's sky"
Many senior PA and Fatah leaders attended the reception, including: Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah,Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake, Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Head of the President's Office Hussein Al-A'araj, Fatah Central Committee members Mahmoud Al-Aloul and Mohammad Shtayyeh, and Governor of Ramallah Laila Ghannam.Click to view other examples of PA and Fatah glorifying terrorists.
The following is a longer excerpt from the celebration of the release of the terrorists:
Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake: "Even though the prisoners were released in the middle of the night, each one of you, the prisoners, is a sun lighting up Palestine's sky..."
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "We welcome our heroic brothers who come from behind bars to the world of freedom. We congratulate ourselves and we congratulate all of you in this great celebration that unifies and returns our sons to us. We assert that they will return to their homes and to no other place... Today is the second celebration, and in two months - the third celebration, and then the fourth, and then the fifth, until the prisons are emptied and our families return to us... I am telling you that there will be no agreement as long as there is one prisoner behind bars. Therefore, relax, we are here before you, Allah willing, for this noble cause, for which we have dedicated our lives, and we will continue the effort until the final moment."
[Official PA TV, Oct. 30, 2013]