Fatah, Hamas Engaging in Incitement to Stoke Jerusalem Violence: Watchdog Groups
Masked Palestinians gesture as the Dome of the Rock is seen in the background following clashes with Israeli police at the compound that houses al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City, May 10, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad.
As ongoing Palestinian mob attacks on Israeli security forces and Jewish civilians continue in Jerusalem, and rockets are fired at Israeli communities by terror groups in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, the terror group Hamas, and a major international Muslim organization are stoking the flames, watchdog groups warned on Monday.
According to a translation by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), Fatah said in a statement “in the name of All Merciful Allah,” that “the Fatah Movement with all its elements and leadership calls to continue this uprising and stand against the occupation forces, the settlers, and their terrorist organizations that are working with the support of the right-wing fascist Israeli government.”
The statement appeared to call for mass violence and possibly terrorism, saying ostensible Israeli malfeasance “will lead to a comprehensive confrontation in all the Palestinian lands, including a reexamination of the rules of engagement with the occupation and a reexamination of all kinds of connection with the Israeli government.”
The statement called for “everyone to raise the level of confrontation,” especially on Monday, which has seen the most severe violence thus far.
The statement appeared on the Facebook pages of several top Fatah officials. It was also disseminated by WAFA, the PA’s official news agency, and its official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), found that incitement to mass violence has not been confined to the Palestinians, but has taken on an international dimension.
On Friday, the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), which is financially supported by Qatar and Turkey, issued a sermon that quoted an antisemitic passage from the Quran that states, “Judgement Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Jews will hide behind trees and stones.” It added, “The young jihad fighters of Palestine are the best evidence of this, for they have given the Jews a taste of dread and rocked [the foundations of] their entity [the State of Israel] with their heroic jihad operations.”
“They took up a rifle in one hand and the Quran in the other, after holding the Quran as belief in their hearts and [adopting it] as a way of life,” the sermon said.
It then falsely claimed that thousands of “Zionist usurpers” were going to enter the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Hamas officials have also been calling for further violence, with Political Bureau Member and former Minister of the Interior Fathi Hammad saying, “People of Jerusalem, we want you to cut off the heads of the Jews with knives.”
“A knife costs five shekels. Buy a knife, sharpen it, put it there, and just cut off [their heads]. It costs just five shekels. With those five shekels, you will humiliate the Jewish state,” he said.