JERUSALEM – The Palestinian Authority and Fatah, headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, responded to the Paris terror attacks by comparing Israel to ISIS, using the slogan “Terror is terror.”
The watchdog group Palestinian Media Watch also reported that Fatah posted an image to its official Facebook page that depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu helping an ISIS terrorist aim a machine gun (above) at the Eiffel Tower.
In addition, Fatah tweeted an image of the Palestinian flag alongside the flags of Russia, Lebanon, and France – countries in which ISIS terror attacks have taken place. The caption underneath the image read, “Terror is terror and we condemn all terror. Be it destroying houses in Nablus and killing our children by Israel or hitting a Russian plane over Egypt. The Paris attacks are criminal acts done by coward terrorists.”
On Sunday, the PA’s official newspaper, al-Hayat al-Jadida, followed up with an op-ed that claimed the Mossad was behind the Paris attacks.
According to a Palestinian Media Watch translation, the writer claimed it is not a coincidence that “blood is spilled in Paris” at the same time Europe decided to label Israeli products made in the “settlements” – meaning the Jewish communities in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.
He went on to say, “The octopus arms of the Mossad will burn Paris and Beirut in order to achieve Netanyahu’s goals.” The Israeli prime minister, asserted the writer, “hides in his soul enough evil to burn the world.”
He further alleged that ISIS terrorists “are a product of the labs of the CIA, the Mossad, Scotland Yard, [who] set this ‘savage virus’ loose in their labs, groups of the mentally ill with no mercy in their heart.”
The PA daily underscored Fatah’s libel against Israel with a cartoon that depicts an Israeli slicing off the top of the Al-Aqsa Mosque with the same sword as an ISIS terrorist beheading a hostage. In recent weeks, the PA has incited Palestinians to violence with the claim that there is a “Jewish threat” to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinian National Council member Bassam Abu Sharif also blamed Israel for the attacks in Paris. First, he condemned the West for not taking a stand against Israel and the “Zionists.” Then he alleged that the West was involved in the attacks because, in order to carry out its own and Israel’s “schemes” in the Middle East, it had “used terror organizations before.”
Immediately after condemning the attacks, Fatah’s spokesman in Europe blamed Israel, claiming that the Jewish state “breeds violence in the entire world.” Wafa, the official PA news agency, reported that President Abbas was “shocked and angered” at the terror attacks and affirmed “his full support for France in the face of terrorism,” but then reiterated Fatah’s implication that Israel is to blame for the violence.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.