Under the terms of the Oslo Accords, the PA is obligated to refrain from incitement against Israel and its civilians and to take measures to prevent others from engaging in it. True to Abbas’s statement before the UN General Assembly that the PA would no longer be bound by Oslo, he and other PA officials have breached these key requirements of the accords, not only affirmatively inciting violence, murder and hatred against Jews but failing to condemn the onslaught of terrorism being waged against Jewish civilians, including women and children.

Much of the violence against Israelis has concerned unfounded Palestinian claims that Israel is seeking to change the 50-year-old status quo on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Palestinians are fed a steady diet of lies by senior PA and Fatah leaders, claiming that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is “in danger,” and that Palestinians must defend it through Ribat, a religious war to liberate or defend what is claimed to be Islamic land.

Additionally, Fatah claimed responsibility for the murder of two Israelis, in furtherance of the Palestinians’ genocidal aspirations of eradicating the Jewish state in its entirety.

Other statements and publications from Palestinian leadership encouraging violence against Israeli civilians also violate Article III of the Genocide Convention, which prohibits incitement.

There is no justification whatsoever, political, religious or otherwise, for the murder of innocent civilians.  The PA is engaged in a campaign of incitement to genocide as well as acts of genocidal murder which must be condemned and stopped. 

 

Examples:

Abbas said on September 16, “[The] Al-Aqsa [mosque on the Temple Mount] is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They (Israelis) have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.”

“Each drop of blood that was spilled in Jerusalem is pure blood as long as it’s for the sake of Allah. Every shahid (martyr) will be in heaven and every wounded person will be rewarded, by Allah’s will,” he added.

“The settlers’ presence is illegal, and therefore every measure taken against them is legitimate and legal,” according to Fatah Central Committee Member Jamal Muhaisen. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 7, 2015] This attitude which has often been expressed by PA and Fatah officials, explains the great support being expressed by Palestinian officials for the recent murders of Israeli civilians.

Another Palestinian official, PLO Executive Committee member Mahmoud Ismail, said that the killing of Israelis Naama and Eitam Henkin in their car in front of their four children was not merely legal but was fulfilling Palestinian “national duty.” [Official PA TV, Oct. 6, 2015]

A senior official of Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement posted on his Facebook Page that Fatah was accepting responsibility for yesterday’s murder of a young Israeli couple, Eitam and Naama Henkin, in front of their four children. Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul posted: “Palestine Today: The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement Fatah, accepted responsibility for the Itamar operation (i.e., murder of Eitam and Naama Henkin), carried out against settlers, leading to their deaths.” 

[Official Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul, Oct. 1, 2015]

PA Parliament Member Mustafa Barghouti emphasized that continued Palestinian “defense” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem at any price “until liberation.”

The official Palestinian Authority daily has encouraged Palestinians to continue throwing rocks at Israelis and to sacrifice themselves to defend and save the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem.

Another PA daily cartoon published in September encourages children to throw rocks. It shows a mother and a father carrying Jerusalem on their backs, represented by the Dome of the Rock and a Christian church. Their child swings a slingshot with a stone in it. The cartoon is entitled “packhorse,” implying that the Palestinians are carrying the heavy responsibility of Jerusalem on their shoulders.

During a sermon in the Al Abrar Mosque in Rafah, Gaza, Sheikh Mohammad Abu Rajab demonstrated the way to stab a Jew.