Students at the Dalal Mughrabi Elementary Mixed School, which was built with funds from the Belgian government. (Photo: Facebook)

The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s ruling party, Fatah, continues to glorify terrorist murderers.

As one senior Fatah official declared, the movement “continues to carry the message” of its terrorists and prisoners, foremost among them mass murderer Dalal Mughrabi and convicted terror-leader Marwan Barghouti.

While the PA portrays itself to the West as a moderate alternative to Hamas, these are the figures Fatah holds up as standard-bearers for Palestinians.

Dalal Mughrabi led the 1978 Coastal Road massacre, the deadliest terror attack in Israel’s history prior to Oct. 7, 2023. Marwan Barghouti, who headed Fatah’s Tanzim terror faction, is serving five life sentences for his role in attacks in which five people were murdered.

And the senior Fatah official celebrating their “message” is himself a terrorist — Rateb Hreibat, one of the founders of the Hebron branch of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. He also made his claim against the backdrop of a huge sign bearing the image of Yasser Arafat and Abu Jihad, who planned the murder of at least 125 people, including the Coastal Road massacre:

Posted text: “Fatah Revolutionary Council member, Fatah Mobilization and Organization Commission representative, and released prisoner [i.e., terrorist] Rateb Hreibat praised the great efforts made by the [Fatah] regional leadership for the success of the [Women’s Committees for Social Work Union’s first] conference and appreciated the large presence of the women of the city of Yatta and its suburbs.

He emphasized that this unity reflects the authentic [sense of] belonging in the Fatah Movement and the fact that it continues to carry the message of the Martyrs and the prisoners [i.e., terrorists], foremost among them Martyr Dalal Mughrabi and imprisoned leader Marwan Barghouti.” [emphasis added]

[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, Aug. 7, 2026]

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has been hearing that message loud and clear for decades.

PMW continues to document how Fatah and the PA glorify terrorist murderers, preserve them as role models, and present their “message” as something to be carried forward. Whatever image the PA seeks to project abroad, its ruling party continues to show Palestinians exactly whom it honors and for what it stands.

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.