Israeli officials work at the scene of a Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem, Nov. 30, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

The Palestinian Authority (PA), like Hamas, does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. According to the PA, every Israeli is a “colonialist settler” — and a legitimate target of violence. They see all Palestinians, including terrorists, as victims.

On Thursday morning, two Palestinian Hamas terrorists murdered three Israeli civilians waiting at a bus stop in Jerusalem, and wounded seven others, some severely. The terrorists were killed at the scene.

Right away, the PA issued an announcement claiming that the three Israeli murder victims were “colonialist settlers,” whereas the terrorists were “young Martyrs.”

“A young [Palestinian] person was shot and died as a Martyr and another young person was shot and seriously wounded [sic., both died] by the Israeli occupation forces … on the pretext that they carried out a shooting operation against colonialist settlers at a bus stop.” [emphasis added]

[WAFA, official PA news agency, Nov. 30, 2023]

Palestinian Media Watch has exposed numerous statements by PA and Fatah officials calling Israel a “colonial implant.” During Israel’s current war against Hamas, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, has accused the US of directing the war and using Israel as its “pawn” to carry out its “satanic plan.”

The Jerusalem shooting attack was carried out by Ibrahim and Murad Nimr, two Palestinian terrorist brothers and Hamas members aged 30 and 38, who shot and murdered three Israeli civilians — a 25-year-old woman, a 60-year-old woman, and a 70-year-old man — and wounded seven others at a bus stop at the western entrance to Jerusalem on Nov. 30, 2023. The terrorists, who were previously imprisoned for terror activity before being released, used an M-16 assault rifle and a handgun in the attack. The terrorists were shot and killed by an armed civilian and two soldiers, thereby ending their attack. Additional ammunition was found in their car, indicating they had planned a greater attack. Footage of the attack was captured on security cameras.

The following was the full announcement by the official PA news agency:

Headline: “Correction: A young person was shot and died as a Martyr and another young person was shot and seriously wounded by the occupation in Jerusalem”

“A young [Palestinian] person was shot and died as a Martyr and another young person was shot and seriously wounded [sic., both died] by the Israeli occupation forces at the northwest entrance to Jerusalem.

According to Israeli sources, the Israeli occupation army shot 2 [Palestinian] civilians on the pretext that they carried out a shooting operation against colonialist settlers at a bus stop. As a result of this, 1 of them died as a Martyr, and the other was seriously wounded.

The same sources announced that 2 women [sic., 2 women and one man] were killed and 7 were moderately and seriously wounded as a result of the shooting operation.” [emphasis added]

[WAFA, official PA news agency, Nov. 30, 2023]

The author is the founder and executive director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.