The terrorist bombing that killed 17-year-old Rina Shnerb on Friday came less than a week after a senior Fatah official called for Fatah’s military wing to resume terrorist bombings.
Fatah Movement Revolutionary Council member Hatem Abd Al-Qader demanded that “military activity of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades be renewed,” arguing that their activities “constituted a source of pain for the Israeli army at the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.” The Intifada – the 5-year PA terror campaign in which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered – was characterized by numerous bombings, in particular suicide bombings.
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Noting that terror acts are already being carried out from the Gaza Strip, which are being launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Abd Al-Qader stated that Fatah likewise is “obligated” to “return to the armed struggle,” the PA euphemism for terror. He explained that this must be directed by the Palestinian leadership – “from the top down”:
“He emphasized that the nature of the activity in the Gaza Strip is military par-excellence, and that this obligates the Fatah Movement to officially return to the option of armed struggle…
Abd Al-Qader noted that the Sixth Fatah General Conference [in 2009] confirmed the right to resist in all forms, including armed struggle, and did not limit the resistance to a certain type. He also said that he does not believe in popular resistance in the current form, because it must come from the top down and not from the bottom up.”
[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, Aug. 18, 2019]
The fact that what Israeli authorities say was a complex bombing attack at the Danny Spring last week was carried out less than a week after Abd Al-Qader’s call for violence and terror shows that Palestinians are already expanding the scope of their terror to include bombings. For a number of years Palestinian terror has been characterized by shootings, stabbings, Molotov cocktails, and car rammings.
But Abd Al-Qader is not a solitary voice in the PA calling for and supporting terror attacks against Israelis. As Palestinian Media Watch has documented for years, PA leaders promote and glorify terrorists and their attacks. For example, Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki honored the family of Omar Abu Laila who stabbed and murdered two Israelis, and wished for them that “Allah reward them.” PA Chairman Abbas’ deputy in Fatah, Mahmoud Al-Aloul, glorified the same murderer, encouraging other young Palestinians to be like him by stating that “there are thousands” like him.
A few days prior to Abd Al-Qader’s call for violence and terror this month, two 14-year-old Palestinians carried out a stabbing attack at the Temple Mount.
The following is a longer excerpt of the report on the Fatah official’s call for a return to terror:
Headline: “A senior Fatah official: The return of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades to military activity is required now”
“Fatah Movement Revolutionary Council member Hatem Abd Al-Qader demanded that the military activity of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (i.e., Fatah’s military wing) be renewed, in the same way in which they acted 12 years ago.
Abd Al-Qader told [the independent Palestinian news agency] Donia Al-Watan that the return of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades to activity is required now, and noted that the brigades embodied a most important state of military struggle among the Palestinian people.
He added that this state constituted a source of pain for the Israeli army at the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered), and therefore its return is now a pressing matter.
He emphasized that the nature of the activity in the Gaza Strip is military par-excellence, and that this obligates the Fatah Movement to officially return to the option of armed struggle – which was recently implemented by Martyr Muhammad Al-Taramsi whom Fatah eulogized after he carried out a joint operation with two Martyrs from the Hamas Movement and the Islamic Jihad Movement (the terrorists attempted to infiltrate Israel from Gaza to carry out an attack on Aug. 17, 2019, and were shot and killed by Israeli security forces during their attempt -Ed.).
Abd Al-Qader noted that there are Fatah military activists in the Gaza Strip who bear the name Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, but these branches need to act under one flag, and not under different flags. He noted that the military activity must be organized…
Abd Al-Qader noted that the Sixth Fatah General Conference [in 2009] confirmed the right to resist in all forms, including armed struggle, and did not limit the resistance to a certain type. He also said that he does not believe in popular resistance in the current form, because it must come from the top down and not from the bottom up, as is now clear.
The Fatah Revolutionary Council member concluded by emphasizing that the Palestinian leadership must be the one to launch the popular resistance and implement the crucial decisions that it has recently made.”
[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, Aug. 18, 2019]
