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Abbas unable to defend Fatah ‎when presented with PMW report of Fatah leader praising murder

Cnaan Liphshiz‎  |
Abbas unable to defend Fatah ‎
when presented with PMW report
of Fatah leader praising murder

Abbas’ answer: “We the Palestinians are not perfect”‎


On a tour to Europe, Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas was confronted with ‎Palestinian Media Watch’s report documenting that one of Abbas’ fellow Fatah officials glorified ‎the murder of two parents in front of their four children, calling it “a national duty.” ‎

Abbas’ only response, as reported in the Jerusalem Post was: ‎
‎“We the Palestinians are not perfect,” Abbas replied, “but these things need to be ‎discussed as a whole.” [The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 4, 2015]‎

The following is a longer excerpt of the report in the Jerusalem Post:‎

Headline: On Europe trip, Abbas gets red carpet – and some hard questions

by Cnaan Liphshiz, Nov. 4, 2015‎

The Hague, Netherlands – On his way to several meetings with Dutch parliamentarians last ‎week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his entourage passed 300 ‎demonstrators flying Israeli flags.

Like the Israeli government, the protesters, who convened outside at the urging of Dutch Jewish ‎and Christian pro-Israel groups, accuse Abbas and his government of supporting deadly ‎attacks against Jews.

Incitement by Abbas and others, they charge, is a major catalyst for the recent wave of ‎Palestinian terrorism in which 11 Jewish-Israelis have been killed and more than 50 Palestinians ‎have died, including dozens identified by Israel as assailants, in Israel’s attempt to stem the ‎violence.

Their argument echoes one Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his European ‎envoys have been making regularly since September when the latest round of unrest began…‎

“We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem,” Abbas said on Palestinian television in ‎September… [Exposed in PMW bulletin, “Abbas: We won't allow Jews' ‘filthy feet,’” Sept. 17, ‎‎2015]

At the CIDI meeting [the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, the Dutch Jewish ‎community’s main pro-Israel lobby and watchdog on anti-Semitism], the delegation patiently ‎listened to Abbas’s complaints about Netanyahu. When he was finished, Joep de Geus, the 22-‎year-old chairman of CIDI’s youth department, read to him a quote [exposed by PMW] from ‎Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen who, on October 7, said the murder of a ‎settler couple the previous week in front of their children was a case of “one fulfilling his ‎national duty voluntarily, as best as one can.” [PMW bulletin, “Fatah officials: Killing ‘settlers’ is ‎legal and ‘national duty,’” Oct. 8, 2015]

Looking at Abbas, de Geus asked: “Your excellency, do we really need a trilateral committee to tell ‎us whether this is incitement?”

‎“We the Palestinians are not perfect,” Abbas replied, “but these things need to be discussed ‎as a whole.”‎

[http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/On-Europe-trip-Abbas-gets-red-carpet-and-some-hard-questions-431952]‎

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