The Palestinian Authority's Responsibility for Hamas's October Massacre - The Gatestone Institute
- Michael Julien
- Oct 31, 2023
- 3 min read
by Bassam Tawil – 31.10.23
There is absolutely no difference between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas when it comes to spreading hate against Israel and inciting the murder of Jews. It has also been proven that each time Israel cedes land or makes gestures to the PA or Hamas, they respond by increasing terror attacks against Jews.
Make no mistake. Inflammatory statements such as these drive Palestinians to carry out terrorist attacks against Jews.
The terrorists in Gaza must have said to themselves: If terrorism is working in the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority is not doing anything to stop us from murdering Jews, why not launch an attack to murder Jews from the Gaza Strip?
This month alone, the Palestinian Authority will pay the families of the Hamas terrorists who were killed this month at least 11.1 million shekels ($2.7 million) "Pay-for-Slay" reward for perpetrating the atrocities against Israeli civilians.
It is not enough to condemn Hamas for the atrocities. The Biden administration and the international community must understand that the hands of Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority also drip with the Hamas victims' blood.
While many have condemned the Iran-backed Hamas terror group for the October 7 massacre that killed 1,400 Israelis and wounded at least 5,400 others, the fact is that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its leaders also bear responsibility for the carnage. The PA's rhetoric and actions actively paved the way for the hell that Hamas unleashed on Israel.
There is absolutely no difference between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas when it comes to spreading hate against Israel and inciting the murder of Jews. It has also been proven that each time Israel cedes land or makes gestures to the PA or Hamas, they respond by increasing terror attacks against Jews. The areas controlled by the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have become havens for countless terror groups.
It is no coincidence that Hamas has named its bloody attack on Israel as "The Al-Aqsa Flood." Al-Aqsa refers to the mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. According to arch-terrorist Mohammed Def, the commander of Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin al-Qassam, the attack came "in response to Israeli violations at the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem]." Def accused the Israeli "enemy of defiling the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
So, Hamas decided to brutally murder, rape and decapitate Israeli women, children and the elderly because of Israeli "violations" against a mosque in Jerusalem?
What are these purported "violations" and who has been calling on Palestinians to sacrifice their lives to defend the holy Islamic site?
First, the alleged "violations" refer to ordinary and peaceful visits by Jews to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism where the First and Second Temples, which were destroyed in ancient times, once stood. Jews have been visiting the Temple Mount since 1967, when Israel liberated east Jerusalem from Jordanian occupation.
The visits were halted when the Palestinians launched a massive campaign of terrorism against Israel during the so-called Second Intifada in 2000. A few years ago, Jewish visits to the Temple Mount, a compound that measures 37 acres (15 hectares), resumed. It is worth noting that Jews who tour the holy site do not set foot inside any mosque or disrupt Muslims' access to the site.
Who was the first Palestinian leader to come out against the Jews' right to visit their holy site? Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. In 2015, Abbas stated:
"The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are ours. They are all ours, and they [Jews] have no right to defile them with their filthy feet. We shall not allow them [Jews] to do so, and we shall do whatever we can to protect Jerusalem. We salute every drop of blood spilled for the sake of Jerusalem. Every martyr will be placed in Paradise, and all the wounded will be rewarded by God."
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Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
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