The Palestinian Authority often translates its chief Mahmoud Abbas's important speeches into English and publishes them on the website of its official news agency WAFA.

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Abbas's speech last week in Cairo was also translated, but one striking theme was left out: The anti-American and anti-British hate speech.

The parts of Abbas's speech to a meeting of the secretaries-general of various Palestinian factions that were not publicized in English demonized the US and Britain as "colonialist" states that illegally created Israel.

Abbas condemned the Balfour Declaration, which recognized the right of the Jewish people to establish a state in their homeland, as a "conspiracy" to "promise to one [the Jews] who has no right":

Abbas: "Western colonialism – and the US and Britain in particular – conspired to issue the ominous Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) in 1917, in which one who has no ownership gave a promise to one who has no right."

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 31, 2023]

Abbas further claimed that "the colonialist states" – especially the US – persist in their misconduct by continuing to sponsor Israel, which Abbas compared to apartheid South Africa: "We are also especially focusing on creating changes in public opinion in the colonialist states that have sponsored Israel and are still sponsoring it to this very day, and especially in the US (in this context, we have South Africa as a model) [parentheses in source]."

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Abbas further claimed that, because of all these supposed crimes, the PA is planning legal action against the United States and Britain: "We also will submit lawsuits against the US and Britain for their responsibility for the Balfour Promise and its implementation through the British Mandate for Palestine."

Finally, since Palestinians – according to Abbas – have existed on their "historical homeland … on this land for thousands of years" and Israel's history is "false Zionist and Israeli claims and narratives," Israel is therefore an illegal occupation that is destined to "pass":

"We will certainly triumph, we will defeat the occupation … for every occupation passes in the end, and this will be the fate of the hated Israeli occupation of our homeland."

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 31, 2023]

Palestinian Media Watch has exposed numerous anti-American statements and attacks on other Western countries by Abbas and other PA leaders and officials, and documented that PA loyalties lie with other states like Russia and China.

The following are excerpts from the two reports on Abbas's speech at the meeting of secretaries-general of the Palestinian factions held in Egypt on July 30, 2023.

The first is the translation from the Arabic in the official PA daily, for Palestinian consumption, followed by the translation in English issued by the official PA news agency WAFA, for foreign consumption:

Headline: "The [PA] president: The PLO is the sole legal representative of our people, and we must adhere to it, its fundamentals, and its international commitments"

"Ever since Western colonialism – and the US and Britian in particular – conspired to issue the ominous Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) in 1917, in which one who has no ownership gave a promise to one who has no right, our people that is carrying out Ribat (i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic) in Jerusalem and around Jerusalem has been fighting and carrying out Jihad against the colonialism and the occupation. It has been sacrificing thousands of martyrs, wounded and prisoners on the path to freedom, honor and independence. …

As part of this political and legal struggle, we will continue to work with the international institutions, organizations and courts in order to put the occupation state on trial for the crimes that it has committed during its occupation. We also will submit lawsuits against the US and Britain for their responsibility for the Balfour Promise and its implementation through the British Mandate for Palestine. …

We are also especially focusing on creating changes in public opinion in the colonialist states that have sponsored Israel and are still sponsoring it to this very day, and especially in the US (in this context, we have South Africa as a model). We will continue to take action in the European arena, in Latin America and in Africa.

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 31, 2023]

Report in English from the official PA news agency:

Headline: "President Abbas says Palestinian division must end immediately"

"President Mahmoud Abbas said today that the coup that took place in 2007 and the division it caused must end immediately without any hesitation or delay.

President Abbas made the remarks during the meeting of heads of Palestinian factions that he chaired in Egypt's city of El-Alamein.

He stressed that the division is a new catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people and cause, adding that national unity and joint collective action must be based on clear principles and foundations to end division, achieve unity and arrange the inner house.

President also stressed that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, stressing the need to adhere to its political program, and to all its international obligations.

"The entire world recognizes the PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and it is the unifying home for all Palestinians … it is the national and political entity of the Palestinian people, and the mother of the independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, and the protector of the independent national decision and national identity," the President said.

He affirmed that it is not acceptable for any Palestinian to have reservations about the PLO and its national and political program, adding that it is necessary to unanimously protect it, because it is considered one of the most important gains of the Palestinian people.

"The continued barbaric Israeli aggression obliges us all to rise to the level of true national responsibility, and to work on arranging our national home, so that we can confront this occupation that targets our existence, our rights and our sanctities," President Abbas said.

He revealed that he invited heads of factions for this meeting to study ways to achieve national unity, strengthen the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, resist the continuous aggression against the Palestinians, and protect the homeland, people and sanctities.

"We have practiced different forms of struggle at different stages in our national march, and we see today that peaceful popular resistance, at this stage, is the best way to continue our struggle and achieve our national goals," he said.

The President noted that choosing this method of national struggle is not a random choice, but rather a well-studied choice based on historical backgrounds and experiences.

"In the face of the occupation, and the continued terrorism of the settlers, we must agree on this resistance to confront the aggression of the occupiers," he said.

He stressed that the international community must provide international protection for the Palestinian people from those who attack them.

"We must work to end the division and put things back in order, within the framework of one state, one system, one law, one legitimate weapon and one government, and the interests of our people and our national cause dictate that," President Abbas said.

As for holding elections, President Abbas said elections are "our only means of sharing responsibility and national participation, and we want to hold presidential, legislative and National Council elections today before tomorrow, provided that our people in occupied East Jerusalem can participate in these elections as candidates and voters without any obstacles, as happened in the years 1996, 2005 and 2006."

He stressed that the one who obstructs holding these elections is the occupying power, demanding the international community, led by the United States and the European Union, to oblige Israel to allow us hold democratic elections in Jerusalem.

President Abbas thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Egypt for hosting the meeting, and for the facilities they provided for convening this meeting.

He also showed gratitude to Egypt for its continuous sponsorship of the Palestinian reconciliation efforts, and its sincere desire for the success of this reconciliation in order to protect the national unity and the interests of the Palestinian people."

[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, July 30, 2023]

Featured on JNS.org, this article was first published by Palestinian Media Watch.

The post What the PA doesn't want America to know appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

There is nothing that boosts Palestinian leaders' popularity like their leading terror campaigns against Israel. This is the reason why suddenly, after months of relative quiet, Jerusalem Arabs and Palestinians throughout Judea and Samaria started attacking Israeli citizens and soldiers, and Hamas launched more than 40 missiles into Israel last week.

Here's what happened.

Forced by the United States and the European Union, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas – now in his 16th year of a four-year term – announced in January that the PA will hold elections on May 23. Since the announcement, it became clear that Abbas's Fatah was far behind in the polls and facing the loss of political power. To counter the trend, official PA TV suddenly raised its incitement to violence to levels we have not seen in more than a year.

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The intensified incitement started on The Tune of the Homeland, a quiz show broadcasting highly violent, pro-terror songs. To ensure maximum effect, the show was broadcast during the 4:00-5:00 p.m. time slot for children's programming.

From March 13 to March 17, The Tune of the Homeland repeatedly (at least 10 times) broadcast the song My Machine Gun is in My Hand, the lyrics of which are the following:

"My machine gun is in my hand, and I want to continue marching; Our occupied land will not return for free; I want to continue marching, I want to continue marching; My machine gun and my bullets are the path to  salvation."

As the tunes played, the PA TV narrator added, nonchalantly, "We play the most beautiful tunes. And in every tune – a bullet; and in every lyric – a rifle."

As the holy Muslim month of Ramadan approached, the PA TV's machine guns were replaced with suicide belts. From April 2 to April 10, The Tune of the Homeland broadcast, on at least 20 occasions, a clip in which Palestinians declared, "I fired my shots, I threw my bomb, I detonated, detonated, detonated my [explosive] belts … My brother, throw my blood on the enemy like bullets."

As the tunes played, the narrator interjected, "We will defend Palestine with our bodies. Our bullets will make sounds of joy to herald signs of victory in order to cut off the invading occupiers, who came from across the sea and settled in our lands."

Primed by this PA incitement, soon after Ramadan started, Palestinian youth and Jerusalem Arabs started indiscriminately attacking Jews and uploading the videos of the attacks to Tiktok, a social-media platform particularly popular with young people.

Whether traveling on the Jerusalem light railway, walking dogs or entering Jerusalem's old city via the Damascus gate, Jews everywhere became targets.

As the violence erupted, Abbas' Fatah took to social media to fuel the flames.

"Death and not submission … Millions of Martyrs are marching to Jerusalem; with spirit, with blood, we will redeem you Al-Aqsa Mosque … A blessing for the Molotov cocktail … Warm blessings to the stone … O Martyr, we swear, we will not withdraw from the Al-Aqsa Mosque," declared the official Fatah Facebook page on April 24.

"Millions of Martyrs are marching to Jerusalem" echoed Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul, on his Facebook page.

Each call to violence was intensified with images of the violence.

The PA prime minister hailed the "scenes of heroism emerging from the streets and alleys of the city of Jerusalem."

Not wanting to be upstaged by the new anti-Israel "uprising" coming from Abbas's Fatah, Hamas realized that it had to compete with Abbas or lose political points. And so, one night without warning, Hamas competed with Fatah in the manner that it knows has the most influence, and launched more than 40 missiles at southern Israel in "defense of Jerusalem."

Abbas' PA was furious that Hamas's terrorism was sharing center stage with its own terror in Jerusalem terror. The PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida countered, declaring that "Jerusalem's protectors and guardians have well understood that the elections in Jerusalem are a battle of national sovereignty."

It further warned Hamas that its rocket fire will give the "occupation" – Israel – the opportunity to "divert the compass from Jerusalem."

"This is the call of Jerusalem now, because the confrontation is here, and the struggle is here," continued the official PA daily. The struggle is being waged through "the popular resistance," a term used by Palestinians that also refers to the use of violence and terror. No one, continued the PA daily referring to Hamas, "can allow the occupation to divert the compass."

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With both Fatah and Hamas fighting against Israel in parallel, Abbas realized that the political gain he hoped to achieve had been neutralized. He also realized that after years of abusing his own people, directing a few weeks of violence in Jerusalem is not enough to change his political image or that of Fatah as a corrupt failure. So, he has apparently decided to do what any other dictator would do when faced with an electoral defeat: reports are that he is about to announce the cancellation of the elections altogether.

Carl von Clausewitz, the 18th-century military theorist, famously quipped, "War is the continuation of politics by other means."

For Abbas, Fatah and Hamas, violence directed at Israel "in defense of Jerusalem" is just another one of the methods of playing internal Palestinian politics and campaigning before elections. While Hamas fires rockets, Abbas, the PA and Fatah prefer the more subtle approach of inciting and recruiting Palestinian youth, and sending them out to attack Israelis, as part of the PA's child-terrorist army.

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy.

Lt. Col. (res.) Adv. Maurice Hirsch is the Head of Legal Strategies for Palestinian Media Watch. He served for 19 years in the IDF Military Advocate General Corps. In his last position, he served as director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria. 

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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