Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas just seems incapable of acknowledging that the recent killings of Jewish civilians in the West bank and Jerusalem at the hands of Palestinian terrorists were, well, murders.
Rather, he said this week, the deaths were the result of Israel’s interest “in dragging things into a cycle of violence…to escape their political impasse and international isolation.” His remarks followed his Sunday call to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to help secure “international protection for the Palestinian people.”
“Cycle of violence”? The Jews killed over the past few weeks were innocently going about life’s routines: walking to prayer, riding in a car, etc. The Palestinians Mr. Abbas mentioned were killed or wounded as a result of the deadly attacks against Jews. Not even a remote equivalency.
All of Mr. Abbas’s politicizing cannot distract from his central message. Jews are things – not flesh and blood but properly the targets for any Palestinian wishing to make a point. And his failure to urge his fellow Palestinians to cease and desist encourages further wanton murders.
Not that we expect more from him. Wasn’t it the contention of his doctoral thesis that the Nazis didn’t murder anywhere near six million Jews?