Abbas Must Bear the Blame
As I write this column, Israeli radio is reporting that two Jewish men were stabbed in Jerusalem’s Jaffa gate by a group of Arab attackers.
Knives and cars have been turned into killing machines.
Over the last five weeks, more than ten Israelis have been run over by cars and stabbed to death, including a three month old toddler.
And the world watches.
On the same day that an Israeli soldier and a woman were killed, the UN held a fashion show to honour the International year of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Hours after the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue carnage, Spain’s Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to “recognize Palestine as a state.”
The evil and unrelenting terrorist campaign of brutally shedding Jewish blood is continuing unabated, stoked, encouraged and applauded by the Palestinian Authority.
The incessant incitement is everywhere. Palestinian media is saturated with cartoons, programs, tunes and posters spurring followers to engage in a ‘Car jihad’.
A big hit among Palestinians is the song “Run over the settler!” with lyrics such as “Run over the two month-old-baby”.
It has had more than 450,000 viewings on the “Quds News Network” Facebook page and the performers’ You Tube Channel.
It is this deeply rooted hatred of Jews that led Maher al-Hashlamun to run over Dalia Lemkus and to stab in the neck as she lay on the ground dying.
Dalia’s killer was imprisoned for terrorism but was freed after Obama pressured Israel to release 100 convicted terrorists as a gesture of good will.
The darling of the west, the supposed moderate ‘peace partner’ Mahmoud Abbas bears much responsibility for the spate of car-ramming, stabbing, hacking and shooting.
Instead of working to reduce tensions and reject violence, Abbas has been whipping up the hate frenzy by spreading inflammatory lies about Israeli plans to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque.
It’s time to realise that Abbas is the stumbling block to a resolution
He refuses to compromise on the so called right of return issue and has consistently rejected peace offers.
He refuses to acknowledge that the Jews have right to live in Israel.
He is a tyrant with zero mandate to sign any agreement, sitting in office unelected for years.
He described Mutaz Hijazi, who tried to assassinate Yehuda Glick, as a martyr who will go to heaven defending the rights of the Palestinian people and their holy places.
In his October UN speech he accused Israel of genocide.
On the 10th anniversary of Arafat’s death, Abbas stated that anyone “who surrenders one grain of the soil of Palestine is not one of us”
He announced that any Palestinian selling land to Israelis will be punished with hard labour.
Abbas has called on Palestinians to wage a ‘holy war’ to stop Jews (whom he condemned as a “herd of cattle”) from visiting and desecrating the Temple Mount and to use “all means” necessary.
He predicted that Israel’s “ongoing raids” on al-Aqsa will cause a volcanic explosion.
His call has been enthusiastically answered by a killing spree.
Every murder of Israelis is celebrated, honoured and glorified.
Following the Har Nof attack in which five Israelis were killed, Abba’s advisor Sultan Abu Al-Einein praised the terrorists and referred to them “the soldiers of Allah” while The Fatah website labelled the slaughter an “heroic operation”.
Even the most starry eyed and wilfully blind optimists would feel revolt watching the scenes of Bethlehem residents holding up posters of the two perpetrators, or handing out sweets to celebrate the synagogue attack or hearing
Ahmed Assaf, a spokesman for Fatah claim that the “Jerusalem operation was a natural response to the Israeli violations”.
The horrible images of slain Jews wrapped in Tallit and wearing Tefillin, lying in pools of blood will forever be etched in my memory.
Daniel Gordis called this massacre a pogrom reminiscent of the 1903 Kishinev riots.
That Israeli Jews are unable to safely pray in their own synagogues, or wait for a bus or train in their own country, is unimaginable.
Another withdrawal from the West-Bank will not lead to peace.
Occupation is not the problem.
The disengagement proved this thesis wrong. Gazans did not pursue co-existence.
What is needed is a massive change in the cultural and political mindset of the Palestinian leadership and people.
Abbas must stop radicalising Palestinians and promote the life over death.
And the international community must stop emboldening him.
Otherwise, peace will never appear on the horizon.
This article was originally published in the Australian Jewish News, November 27, 2014.