Taylor Force. Photo: Facebook.

Palestinian Authority (PA) media outlets continue to glorify terrorist Bashar Masalha, who attacked civilians in Tel Aviv and murdered an American tourist on March 8, Palestinian Media Watch reports.

Masalha went on a stabbing spree that killed US citizen Taylor Force and injured 11 others, before being killed by Israeli police.

After the attack, Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction and the PA glorified Masalha as “the heroic Martyr.”

After Israel returned the terrorist’s body to the PA last week, official Palestinian media outlets have devoted considerable coverage to praising the terrorist’s actions.

PA TV referred to the terrorist as a “Shahid” (Martyr) 11 times while reporting on his funeral, in which hundreds of Palestinians participated.

“His family, friends, and people of the region took it upon themselves to ensure that this [burial] would be a large national wedding befitting of Martyrs… The Martyr was accompanied to his last resting place in the cemetery for Martyrs in Hajja,” said a PA TV reporter on Saturday.

On the same day, the official PA daily — Al-Hayat Al-Jadida — also praised the terrorist as a “Martyr” for killing a US citizen. “Masalha died as a Martyr on March 8 [2016], after carrying out a stabbing operation in Jaffa, in which he killed an American tourist,” Al-Hayat reported.

Through official educational and media institutions, the PA systematically teaches that becoming a martyr is the most prestigious achievement in Islam, which entails vast rewards in the afterlife, including 72 virgins in paradise. Such violent incitement encourages younger Palestinians to emulate notable terrorists, fueling violence against Jews and Israelis.

By praising the murder of Taylor Force, the Western-backed Palestinian government makes it clear that US citizens are also legitimate targets for terrorism.

The March 8 terrorist attack occurred while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel. When Biden pressed Abbas to condemn the terror attack, Abbas refused, and “offered condolences” instead.

Force, 29, of Lubbock, Texas, had served with the US Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn (Iraq), and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). His wife was also severely injured in the attack outside Jaffa.

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