U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas before they meet and celebrate iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Amman, Jordan, on July 16, 2013. Photo: U.S. Department of State.

Israel’s “peace partner” Mahmoud Abbas slapped America in the face again, just hours after Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the Middle East last week to seek an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Successive U.S. administrations have propped up Abbas, presented him to the world as a peacemaker, and championed his demand for a Palestinian state. The U.S. has given more than $10 billion since 1994 to the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, both of which Abbas chairs.

And here’s what it received in return: Abbas’ PLO announced on July 23 that it completely supports all of the extremist conditions that Hamas has set for a ceasefire: The release of hundreds of Hamas terrorists imprisoned in Israel; the lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza (so that Hamas can import more Iranian rockets, plus lots of cement to build more terror tunnels); and huge amounts of international aid, which of course will go straight into the pockets of corrupt Hamas and PA officials.

That’s not all. The official newspaper of Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, on July 16, published an op-ed by a PA official slandering the United States in the most vile terms.

“[W]e can see that the wars in Libya, Iraq, Syria and Palestine were planned by the U.S. in order to protect its interests,” Barghouti writes. Referring to ISIS – the terror group “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,” which is now carving up Iraq – Barghouti continues: “The U.S. has been using the Jewish ISIS, which is led by Jewish extremism, as represented by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman….Not even Hitler, Pinochet and Nero…ever reached this level…The U.S. engaged the Jewish ISIS to attack Gaza – not just in order to commit crimes, kill and destroy, but also to stir up an inter-Palestinian civil war, in an attempt to deepen the rift and Gaza’s separation from the rest of the occupied homeland, to prevent the establishment of the independent [Palestinian] state…We are now more aware that the Americans …are truly the head of the snake.”
“Ž
From day one of the Gaza war, Abbas’ Fatah movement has openly sided with Hamas. The Obama Administration just pretends not to notice.

Fatah’s official Facebook page features a dramatic full-color illustration of three heavily-armed Palestinians – one from Hamas, one from Islamic Jihad, and one from Fatah – standing together. The text reads:  “Brothers in Arms: One God, one homeland, one enemy, one goal!” If anyone doubts whose side Fatah is on, this should lay such doubts to rest.

The eleventh lesson from the Gaza war: Abbas has once again clarified whose side he is on. He has chosen Hamas against not only Israel, but America.