A woman keeps a candle next to flowers laid as a tribute at Bondi Beach to honor the victims of a mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday, in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Flavio Brancaleone

Instead of unequivocally condemning the murder of 15 Jews at the Hanukkah event in Australia, the Palestinian Authority (PA) used the massacre to blame Israel and justify terror.

While acknowledging that what happened in Australia was “a crime,” Mahmoud Al-Habbash, who serves as Mahmoud Abbas’ senior advisor, portrayed the massacre as an outcome that Israel itself provoked.

Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The analysis of what happened, or of similar events that are liable to occur in the future, points the finger of blame at one party that bears responsibility for dragging the entire world into this dangerous cycle, the cycle of revenge and the cycle of hatred on a racial and religious basis, and that is the Israeli occupation …

The crimes you are committing in Palestine by desecrating the sanctity of the holy sites — foremost among them the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque — you should expect reactions, not only from the Muslims, but rather from the entire world …

There is an illusion among the Israeli leaders that they can benefit strategically from these unusual phenomena [i.e., terror attacks] that emerge from time to time … We are against all phenomena and attempts that hide behind a religious guise. What happened [at Bondi Beach] is a crime… We hope that Australia’s [i.e., pro-Palestinian] policies will not change because of this isolated incident, which is only a reaction to the brutality that has been committed by the Israeli government.” [emphasis added]

[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube, Dec. 15, 2025]

The idea that Israel is actually the party responsible and that the murder of Jews overseas is just a reaction to Israeli policy globalizes the Palestinian Authority’s conflict with Israel (“globalize the Intifada,” anyone?) and turns Jewish communities worldwide into legitimate targets.

This philosophy normalizes violence against Jews wherever they may be, and embeds it within a broader justification of supposed resistance and revenge.

Al-Habbash’s insistence that the massacre should not affect Australia’s pro-Palestinian policies further underscores the moral bankruptcy of the statement. Al-Habbash wants the mass murder of Jews to be dismissed as an “isolated incident” and not to serve as the impetus for changing Australia’s lax policies on anti-Jewish violence and rioting, policies that the Australian Jewish community has already highlighted and condemned.

Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of PMW, where a version of this article first appeared.