Palestinian Leaders in the West Bank Still Celebrate and Justify Oct. 7 Massacre
People hold Fatah flags during a protest in support of the people of Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Hebron, in the West Bank, Oct. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Fatah, the ruling political party of the Palestinian Authority (PA), continues to revel in the October 7 massacre, and to wish for similar attacks in the future.
In a television interview that he posted to his Facebook page, a senior Fatah official, Abbas Zaki, expressed pride in the terrorists’ success, as well as in the popular support and actions by the Palestinians following the attacks. He hailed the massacre as something that will be studied in universities, and he described terrorist prisoners, including those who perpetrated heinous attacks prior to October 7, as “precious treasure.”
Zaki also called for ongoing “resistance in all its various forms,” besides diplomatic and political efforts.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that the PA likes to present itself as a victim of not only Israel, but of the entire Western world. Zaki expresses this with the claim that the October 7 attack overcame NATO forces and “all the West’s capabilities.” He defined Israel merely as a mercenary.
Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki:
Posted text: “Fatah Central Committee member and [Fatah] General Commissioner for Arab and China Relations Abbas Zaki was interviewed on the [TV] channel Palestine Today … He noted that there must be an integration of Palestinian diplomatic and political activity at various international sites — especially at the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN General Assembly — and resistance in all its various forms.
Video: “People are surprised given the mighty [Palestinian] resolve and how the entire NATO treaty, all the West’s capabilities, together with all their [Israel’s] mercenaries and collaborators, were unable to silence the [resistance’s] fighters’ rifles and rockets. …
The Al-Aqsa Flood [Oct. 7 attack] will be studied in the universities and echoed widely, because the owners of the right [i.e., the Palestinians] held onto their homeland [i.e., Israeli land] and succeeded in defeating every kind of tyrannical party or alliance … They are a source of pride.
If [Ahmad] Sa’adat, Marwan [Barghouti], and Nael [Barghouti] [i.e., all terrorist prisoners] will be released, if all these prisoners … if they will be released, they are a precious treasure. It is enough that we succeeded in releasing them from the enemy’s claws.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, June 2, 2024]
In addition, Jibril Rajoub, who is the Fatah Central Committee Secretary, asserted that the October 7 attacks were a legitimate response to Israeli policies:
“Our conflict with this occupation [i.e., Israel] has been open since 1948 and until now. … Our behavior in all the circles and all platforms is based on the fact that what happened on Oct. 7 is a response to this occupation’s crimes…” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, June 2, 2024]
Since the attacks of October 7, Rajoub has been praising the Hamas operation. He has been relentless in calling it a war of defense against Israel’s creation in 1948, and even a “battle of heroism.”
He also refused to distance the PA from Hamas, and described Hamas as “part of the Palestinian social fabric”:
[Rajoub] added that Fatah thinks that “Hamas is part of the Palestinian social fabric.” [He] said that “the Al-Aqsa Flood” operation and the Palestinian resistance’s attack on Oct. 7, which Hamas’ military wing, the Martyr Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, launched against the occupation’s settlements is “an additional battle of heroism and a war of defense in the 75-year history of the Palestinian resistance.” [emphasis added]
[Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 22, 2023]
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “What happened on Oct. 7 is part of a war of defense that the Palestinian people is waging against this occupation [i.e., Israel] in response to the Israeli crimes that are a continuation of the same crimes that are 76 years old today, which is the age of this occupation, against all of Palestine and the Palestinians.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Jan. 17, 2024]
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “What happened in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 is part of a war of defense that the Palestinian people carried out…” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Dec. 28, 2023]
After the October 7 massacre, the US pressured the Palestinian Authority to condemn the Hamas atrocities, but the PA refused. By now, Palestinian Media Watch has reported so many PA and Fatah statements defending, justifying, and celebrating October 7 that it is clear that the PA’s refusal to condemn was not merely for public relations purposes.
Rather, the PA genuinely supported and still supports the atrocities. It is no surprise that when Palestinians were asked about whether October 7 and the ongoing events made them feel pride, 98% of Palestinians answered “yes” according to the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD). With both Hamas and Fatah seeing the massacre, rapes, torture, hostage-taking, and all the other atrocities as heroic, there is no reason to expect the entire Palestinian population who were raised on PA/Fatah/Hamas ideologies to see things any differently.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
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