Intifada-style violence follows Abbas' call
for religious "war for Allah,"
causing 9 Palestinians deaths
Senior Fatah official Tirawi:
"The big explosion is coming...
No one will say that weapons are forbidden
in the West Bank."
by Itamar Marcus
Palestinian Media Watch reported
on Thursday that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had
publicly declared the current conflict with Israel as a religious "war for Allah."
On Friday, the Palestinian news service Ma'an printed an opinion piece
that likewise interpreted the last lines of Abbas' speech as a call to
West Bank Palestinians to initiate violence:
"He gave the sign to let the [Palestinian] street in the West Bank
loose. Isn't the Quranic verse he quoted during his last speech,
'Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought,
because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them
victory' [Surah 22:39, trans. Sahih International] a clear sign to
loosen the reins of the street?"
Violence began immediately following Abba's speech and peaked on Saturday, as reported in the Jerusalem Post: "Nine
Palestinians were killed during clashes with the IDF and Border Police
over the weekend, in one of the deadliest days in the West Bank in the
last 10 years." [July 27, 2014]
A
cartoon published in the office PA daily today similarly indicated the
PA seeks violence. The picture showed two masked men throwing Molotov
cocktails and fire raging in the background. The
Arabic text is a saying attributed to Mohammed regarding the end of the
Ramadan fast: "The thirst has passed, and the throat is moist." In this
context, the cartoon indicates that the period of quiet is over, and
violence has returned.
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 26, 2014]
The
Ma'an journalist cited above explained that Abbas chose to encourage
the West Bank to join in the violence for political reasons:
"Abbas
realized that by staying outside the arena, he would be excluded from
the political game. He also knows that the [Palestinian] street in the
West Bank is ready for an explosion."
The op-ed also noted an explicit statement made by senior Fatah official Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi as another indication of Abbas' desire for violence:
"What
is the meaning of Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi's
statement regarding the West Bank's need to enter into an armed Intifada? It's been a long time since we heard a member of the Fatah leadership talk about weapons. The West Bank's entrance into the line of confrontation will reshuffle the cards, and the action is still just beginning."
Tirawi
said in a TV interview that the violence we are witnessing now in the
West Bank is just the beginning and will lead to a "big explosion":
Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi: "These
are small explosions, which happen occasionally, but the big explosion
is coming. The big explosion is coming. After the big explosion, no one
will know where it will lead and what its results will be...It is legal
to use all means - to shoot, throw stones, to hold a demonstration and a
sit-down strike. All these means will be possible and permissible for
our people, and let no one say that weapons are forbidden in the West
Bank."
[Al-Mayadeen TV channel (Lebanon), July 24, 2014]
Furthermore, Abbas issued
two statements in support of continuing the West Bank unrest. In one,
the PA leadership called on its "great nation to engage in continued
popular action," and in the second it urged Palestinians "to continue
peaceful popular resistance." As noted, the current "popular actions"
are not "peaceful."
Yasser Abd Rabbo reads the PLO leadership statement:
"The Palestinian leadership called on the masses of our great nation to
engage in continued popular action of the broadest scope, to express
its firm support for the heroic Gaza Strip and its brave resistance to
the aggression army and its unceasing crimes."
[Official PA TV, July 23, 2014]
"A statement
published at the conclusion of the [PA leadership] meeting stated
that...'Even as the [PA] leadership emphasizes that it will continue to
act to support the heroic Gaza Strip and to stem its flow of blood, it
calls on all our people to continue peaceful popular resistance to
support Gaza, its Martyrs (Shahids) and brave sons...'"
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 27, 2014]
PMW has reported on the PA and Abbas' Fatah movement of policy glorifying violence and honoring terrorists who have murdered Israelis. Abbas and PA leaders have said many times that they do not reject violence but that violence needs proper timing.
Ma'an understands that Abbas' decision to quote a Quran source
justifying religious war, and the violence erupting in the West Bank
subsequent to Abbas' speech, are indicators he considers this is an
appropriate time for violence.
The following is a longer segment from the op-ed arguing that Mahmoud Abbas is behind the current West Bank violence:
Headline: "A single Quranic verse ignited the West Bank"
"Mahmoud Abbas read the situation well. In an implicit way, he fully supports the Egyptian initiative - for it is inconceivable that the West Bank could oppose Egypt. He acted slowly at first, convinced that Hamas would not endure
Israeli fire for long. Yet it [Hamas] has withstood Israel's painful
blows, and [even] embarrassed it by capturing the Israeli soldier.
Abbas realized that by staying outside the arena, he would be excluded from the political game. He also knows that the [Palestinian] street in the West Bank is ready for an explosion. Therefore, he gave the sign to let the [Palestinian] street in the West Bank
loose. Isn't the Quranic verse he quoted during his last speech,
"Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought,
because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them
victory" [Surah 22:39, trans. Sahih International] a clear sign to
loosen the reins on the street?
Furthermore,
what is the meaning of Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi's
statement regarding the West Bank's need to enter into an armed Intifada? It's been a long time since we heard a member of the Fatah leadership talk about weapons. The West Bank's entrance into the line of confrontation will reshuffle the cards, and the action is still just beginning. Israel will not agree to a third Intifada, and this is precisely what Abbas wants. He wants Israel to knock on his door in order to find a solution."
[Op-ed by Muhannad Ubeid, Ma'an (independent Palestinian news agency),
July 25, 2014]
Note:
the captured Israeli soldier to which this article refers is Staff
Sergeant Oron Shaul, who was declared MIA after his Armored Personnel
Carrier was destroyed during combat in Gaza on July 17, 2014. Hamas
claimed to have kidnapped him. On Friday, July 26, 2014, the IDF
declared that Oron Shaul was 'a soldier killed in action whose burial
site is unknown.'
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