PA daily incited against "rabbis" prior to synagogue attack

Official PA daily incited against

"rabbis of the secret societies"

prior to murder of rabbis in synagogue

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

A week before the brutal murders of four rabbis during prayer and a policeman in a Jerusalem synagogue, the official Palestinian Authority daily published an op-ed that demonized Israel and Jews. It specifically singled out "the rabbis of the secret societies" as the ones giving the instructions to Israel to "set the foundations for an eternal hegemony":

"The danger posed by Israel remains the greatest and most significant of all, and the first [threat] we must come out against. For the Zionist settler ideology does not seek temporary influence or gains, and does not strive to exploit and exhaust resources, but rather sets the foundations for an eternal hegemony based on the instructions of the 'rabbis' of the secret societies. And all this is in order to take revenge on history and their minority and false persecution complex."

                                               [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 12, 2014]

Having established that Israel is "the greatest and most significant danger," the writer of the op-ed repeated the PA libel that Israel is planning and working at destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque - a libel that PA leaders are presenting as the main theme in the current terror promotion against Jews in Jerusalem:

"It is Al-Aqsa that they are desecrating, Al-Aqsa

- not the grave of a Turkish sultan or turbaned foreigner

- it is Al-Aqsa that is calling you."

To prove that Israel poses a great danger, the op-ed also reiterated the PA libel documented by Palestinian Media Watchthat accuses Israel of being behind all the world's dangers:

"These are [our] enemies, and they have a hand in everything that is happening: in the issue of ISIS [Islamic State] and its arming, in importing explosives to the Arab lands, in the spread of extremist ideas and the deepening of the doctrinal conflict between Sunnis and Shiites. In addition, they are the ones creating the crises. They are the ones igniting the civil wars."

The following is a longer excerpt of the article:

"Our crises are growing from day to day, and dangers surround us on all sides... Despite the fact that elements near and far have united to divide our land and resources between them... the danger posed by Israel remains the greatest and most significant of all, and the first [danger] we must come out against. For the Zionist settler ideology does not seek temporary influence or gains, and does not strive to exploit and exhaust resources, but rather sets the foundations for an eternal hegemony based on the instructions of the 'rabbis' of the secret societies. And all this is in order to take revenge on history and their minority and false persecution complex. These are [our] enemies, and they have a hand in everything that is happening: in the issue of ISIS [Islamic State] and its arming, in importing explosives to the Arab lands, in the spread of extremist ideas and the deepening of the doctrinal conflict between Sunnis and Shiites. In addition, they are the ones creating the crises. They are the ones igniting the civil wars. And they are the ones exploiting our troubles to change the characteristics of Palestine or of what remains of Palestine, and of Arab Jerusalem, all the way to the Al-Aqsa Mosque... And it is Al-Aqsa that they are desecrating, Al-Aqsa - not the grave of a Turkish sultan or turbaned foreigner - it is Al-Aqsa that is calling you."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 12, 2014]