Thursday, March 28th | 18 Adar II 5784

Subscribe
September 21, 2015 3:59 pm
12

After Watchdog Report, PM’s Office Confirms PA Culpability for Surge in Attacks Against Jews

× [contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]

avatar by Ruthie Blum

The upswing in Palestinian violence is attributed by the Prime Minister's Office to PA incitement. Photo: Facebook.

The upswing in Palestinian violence was attributed by the Prime Minister to PA incitement. Photo: Facebook.

The Palestinian Authority and Fatah are behind the latest spate of violence against Jews in Jerusalem, according to a watchdog report released on Sunday.

The report, prepared by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) director Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, bases its conclusion about the rock-throwing attacks – one of which was responsible for the death of Alexander Levlovitch, whose car was pelted by Palestinians as he drove home from a Rosh Hashanah dinner — on a series of statements made last week by officials in the PA-controlled press.

The report provides the following four items that appeared in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida last Monday.

1. “Dr. Nabil Shaath [Fatah Central Committee member and Commissioner of International Relations] stated … that the continuation of the Israeli occupation’s attacks on the Noble Sanctuary [i.e., Jews visiting the Temple Mount] and the Ribat fighters [those carrying out religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic] will be the spark that sets off the impending explosion, whose onset and scope no one can predict. Likewise, he called on the Palestinian and Arab masses to carry out riots of rage.”

2. “Official Fatah Spokesman in Jerusalem Raafat Alayan called on ‘all Palestinian bodies and national and Islamic factions in all regions of the homeland to enlist and go to the areas of conflict in order to ‘explode’ in front of the occupier and its assistants because of its repeated actions and attacks against the Al-Aqsa [Mosque].’ Likewise, he noted that the Fatah movement called on all the schools in Jerusalem, including the Husni Al-Ashhab School, to go out to the streets in order to express their support of the destination of the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey [the tradition that he flew to Al-Aqsa Mosque], and their opposition to its desecration by the settlers…”

3. “Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein warned of the Israeli enemy’s attack against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem… Abu Al-Einein stated that the Israeli enemy aims to destroy about half of the Al-Aqsa Mosque after it completely takes it over, and called on the Arab and Islamic nations to intervene immediately on all levels in order to restrain Israel and defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque from what the Jewish extremists are plotting against it. Abu Al-Einein called on our people everywhere to come to Al-Aqsa and carry out Ribat, and not to leave it as easy prey for the plots of the Israeli extremist right to destroy it and build the alleged Temple in its place. He concluded with a call to Fatah movement members and all of the factions to enlist for Jerusalem and carry out widespread public uprisings, in order to make the enemy pay a price for its actions ‘because the hand that will be raised against the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] will be amputated.’”

4. “The official spokesman of [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas], Nabil Abu Rudeineh stated: ‘We strongly condemn the occupation’s army and police invasion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the attack of [Muslim] worshipers. East Jerusalem and the places holy to Islam and Christianity are a red line, and we will not sit idly by in the face of these attacks.’ He added that President Abbas has held intensive discussions with all Arab regional and international bodies, and especially with Jordan, Morocco, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in order to deal with the fierce attack taking place against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

When asked whether the Israeli government concurs with the assessment that the violence is being encouraged by the Palestinian leadership, an official in the Prime Minister’s Office readily referred The Algemeiner to the following statements Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made on this very issue during yesterday’s weekly cabinet meeting:

“I would like to say something about the Temple Mount. Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo. We are not altering the status quo. Elements that incite with baseless, wild provocations – to the effect that Israel is trying to prevent Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount or wants to destroy the mosques, or other wild things that are being said – it is they who are inciting. This incitement comes from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Movement in Israel, Hamas, and – to our chagrin – with the active participation of the Palestinian Authority.

“Therefore, if someone complains about the development of this situation, they would do best to direct their criticism, not towards Jerusalem, but rather towards Ramallah, Gaza and agitators in the Galilee, and unfortunately, towards Turkey, from which incitement issues forth on a daily, even hourly, basis, not only the throwing of firebombs, but also something new – bringing explosives and pipe bombs onto the Temple Mount. Explosives in the Al-Aqsa Mosque are explosives. “

Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told The Algemeiner that security is being heightened in and around Jerusalem to prevent and respond to the disturbances.

“These are taking place in Arab neighborhoods, as well, where police have been injured,” Rosenfeld said. “We have arrested more than 60 suspects in ongoing operations, in order to crack down on and deal with the violence. Assessments are made on a day-to-day basis, and we are taking the upcoming Yom Kippur and Sukkot holidays into account.”

Though this could change at any moment, Rosenfeld said, “The situation is calm, but tense.”

 

 

Share this Story: Share On Facebook Share On Twitter

Let your voice be heard!

Join the Algemeiner

Algemeiner.com

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.