Palestinians celebrating the Jerusalem bus bomber. Photo: Screenshot.

In recent weeks, we at the Investigative Project on Terrorism have emphasized the difference between Israeli and Palestinian reactions to violent attacks.

When an Israeli soldier shot and killed a wounded Palestinian — after the Palestinian tried to stab someone — Israeli political and military leaders quickly condemned the act. The soldier has been charged with manslaughter.

Contrast that swift expression of outrage with the hero’s treatment Palestinian demonstrators gave to Abdel-Hamid Abu Srour. He was a Hamas terrorist who blew himself up on Monday on a Jerusalem bus. Twenty innocent people were wounded.

When Abu Srour’s identity was released, hundreds of demonstrators marched near his home near Bethlehem.

Among the chants, were Palestinians telling Abu Srour’s mother “how lucky you are. I wish that my mother were like you.” The dead terrorist was described as a hero: “From here we proclaim it, You are a star in its sky.”

Before his death, Abu Srour, 19, often praised Hamas on social media, the Jerusalem Post reports. He singled out infamous Hamas bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash for adulation.

“Ayyash will come back,” the marchers chanted.

Few government officials, if any, in the United States or Europe, will comment about the spectacle of a suicide bomber being hailed as a hero by a people that are supposed to be partners in a potential peace. Again, imagine if Israelis celebrated an attack on Palestinians in a manner remotely similar. Newspapers would spend days running front page stories, while governments expressed outrage over such wanton bloodlust.

Watch the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pam6XnNBnEM

Steven Emerson is the Executive Director the Investigative Project on Terrorism (www.investigativeproject.org) where this article first appeared.