Category Archives: Hamas Fatah Gaza West Bank

Profile of Palestinian Terrorists Who Carried Out Attacks in Israel

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Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

The contagious effect of stabbing attacks: a notice posted to the Palestinian social networks, some of them affiliated with Hamas, reading “If you don’t stand up for Jerusalem, who will?” It features recent postings written by terrorist operatives Muhannad Shafiq and Fadi Aloun, who were killed carrying out stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and became role models for terrorists who followed in their footsteps.

Overview

1.   The wave of Palestinian violence and terrorism currently plaguing Israel began during the most recent Jewish High Holidays. In retrospect, the ITIC has concluded it began with the stones thrown at the vehicle of Alexander Levlowitz near the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem on September 14, 2015. Initially the wave of violence and terrorism focused on the Temple Mount and east Jerusalem and later spread throughout Jerusalem and to other sites inside Israel and various hotspots in Judea and Samaria (especially the region around Hebron). So far 12 Israelis and more than 70 Palestinians have been killed.[1]

2.   The current wave of violence and terrorism is part of the overall “popular resistance” strategy adopted by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah at the Sixth Fatah Conference in August 2009.[2] It is manifested by rising and falling levels of popular terrorism. The current wave (which is unique in some aspects) is one of the most serious. Its popular terrorism includes riots, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, and stabbing and vehicular attacks which are supported and condoned by the PA. The current wave of Palestinian terrorism, like those before it, has included several shooting attacks, which are not included in the modus operandi of the “popular resistance,” but the PA does not condemn them, and in effect supports them.

3.   This study examines the profiles 35 Palestinian terrorists who carried out attacks in Israeli territory (Jerusalem and other locations inside Israel) during the current wave of terrorism. Twenty-four of them were killed while carrying out the attacks and 11 were injured. They carried out a total of 29 terrorist attacks, most of them in greater Jerusalem and some in other locations inside Israel. Their personal attributes were different, but based on the initial examination a general profile can be drawn.

4.   The Palestinian who most commonly carries out a terrorist attack in Israel, especially a stabbing attack, is generally male, young, between the ages of 17 and 19, unmarried, unknown to Israeli security, not affiliated with a terrorist organization, and lives in one of the neighborhoods of east Jerusalem (especially Jabel Mukaber and Sur Bahr in southeast Jerusalem) and in several instances also in the Hebron region. In most instances he carries out the attack by himself following a spontaneous personal decision without instructions from any organization or leadership. He does not follow an Islamist ideology (some of the terrorists lived fairly secular lives) and does not belong to a terrorist organization, although he feeds off the incitement to terrorism and anti-Israel hatred disseminated by the various terrorist organizations.

5.   The Palestinian terrorist who carries out an attack in Israel is motivated by Palestinian nationalism, and for the past six years he has been deeply influenced by reports of popular terrorism. He has also been influenced by events on the Temple Mount and by the false slogan “Al-Aqsa mosque is in danger.” He is personally and socially frustrated and feeds off the anti-Israel hatred and incitement on the social networks (mainly Facebook). He is willing to risk his life and aspires to follow in the footsteps of Palestinians who died initiating the current wave of terrorist attacks (the deaths of some of them and their glorification in the Palestinian media has become contagious, and copying them has become a challenge and “fashionable”).

 

6.   An initial conclusion of this study is that the attributes of the terrorists who have carried out terrorist attacks inside Israeli territory during the current wave of terrorism are different in some respects from those who carry them out in Judea and Samaria. The main difference would appear to be the areas they come from: many terrorists in Judea and Samaria have come from the Hebron region, while most of the terrorists who carry out the attacks in Israel have come from east Jerusalem (for reasons that will be discussed below). Another difference is their ages: the terrorists who carry out attacks in Israel are younger (average age of 18) while those from Judea and Samaria are slightly older (average age of 20).[3] As far as their level of education, the percentage of students in Judea and Samaria who carry out terrorist attacks (and participate in riots) seems higher.

7.   The current wave of terrorist attacks has witnessed young, lone Palestinians carrying out terrorist attacks. They have made a personal decision to carry out attacks with high personal risks that are likely to cost them their lives. On the other hand, stabbing attacks have no dramatic or spectacular results (like the suicide bombing attacks of the second intifada). That has become more and more obvious as the current wave of violence and terrorism continues.

8.   That characteristic seems to indicate the depth of the frustration and desperation felt by the younger generation of Palestinians at the forefront of the wave of attacks. Their generation did not experience the second intifada, but rather was raised in the shadow of the violent characteristics of the “popular resistance.” They are frustrated by what seems to them as the ongoing Israeli occupation, disappointed by the PA and apparently also by the Palestinian terrorist organizations. They regard the violent struggle as the only path to bring change to Palestinian national prospects and to their own personal futures. The intense incitement around the Temple Mount and the difficult conditions in the Palestinian neighborhoods and east Jerusalem are unique additional incentives motivating young Palestinians from the eastern part of the city to stand at the forefront of the current wave of terrorism (which did not happen in the past). The result is that the strong anti-Israel incitement spread by the Palestinian media, especially by the social networks, falls on willing ears and contributes to their motivation to carry out terrorist attacks.

Methodological Remarks

9.   This study is primary and partial. It deals only with profiles of the Palestinian terrorists who carried out attacks in Israeli territory (and not Judea and Samaria). The ITIC considers them two separate categories because they have unique attributes not shared by those who have carried out attacks in Judea and Samaria. For that reason, and because of the primary nature of the information, general conclusions cannot be drawn about the Palestinians who carry out “popular resistance” terrorist attacks or about the deep-seated motivations of young Palestinians (such as the importance of nationalist vs. religious motives; the influence of socio-economic factors; and the role of personal, family or regional considerations).

10.       The study is based on primary Palestinian and Israeli open sources. A great deal of material was taken from the Palestinian media, especially websites and the social networks (including sites dedicated to the memories of Palestinians who were killed, sites of various towns and villages, personal Facebook pages, statements from relatives). Israeli sources included Israeli Police Force reports, indictments handed down against terrorists who carried out attacks and the website of the Israel Security Agency, and the Israeli media, which closely follow the various events, and its reports contain much important information (even if it is primary and partial) about the terrorists who carry out attacks.

11.       The study is time-defined: it refers to the period that began on September 14, 2015, when Palestinians threw stones at the vehicle of Alexander Levlowitz near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv, killing him (which the ITIC considers the beginning of the current wave of terrorism). Thus the current wave of terrorism has so far lasted for about a month and a half (it is dated by others as beginning on October 1, 2015, with the killing of the Henkins on the road between Alon Moreh and Itamar). The study is updated to October 25, 2015, although the wave of terrorism continues and it will be necessary to update it further in the future, in view of the daily terrorist attacks being carried out.

12.       The study has three appendices. The first presents the main findings of the primary examination of the attributes the terrorists. The other two include a short, initial summary of the attacks carried out in Israel and individually examine each of the terrorists who carried them out. The parameters examined include the modus operandi of attack, its geographical location, where the terrorist came from, his motivation, age, organizational affiliation (if it exists), family status, education, profession, the involvement of women in terrorist attacks and various other aspects unique to each individual terrorist.

Al-Qaeda Chief Urges 9/11-Style Attacks In New Audio Message

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Al-Qaeda leader calls for new 9/11 strikes against the US and praises Palestinian knife attacks on Israelis in new audio message to fanatics

  • Ayman al-Zawahiri released a 16-minute tirade of hate against the West 
  • The al-Qaeda chief praised terrorists who attacked London, Paris and Bali
  • He called on his followers to start attacking targets in western countries 
  • Al-Zawahiri called on all Muslim terror groups to unite against the west 

 

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has called for a new wave of 9/11 strikes on the United States while praising Palestinians who are carrying out stabbing attacks across Israel.

The terror chief, who was a close advisor of Osama Bin Laden released the 16-minute propaganda message on the internet where it was spread by social media by armchair jihadists.

In the message, al-Zawahiri ordered his followers to attack ‘the West’, with the United States the main target over its continuing support for Israel.

According to Vocativ.com, which has listened to the broadcast entitled ‘we shall unite to liberate Jerusalem’.

He specifically praises the terrorists involved in stabbing Israeli citizens while urging followers in western countries.

He also specifically mentions ‘the attacks in Madrid, Bali, London and Paris’.

The terrorist leader urged fellow Muslims to ‘liberate Palestine’ while facing down ‘American-European-Russian-Shiite-Alawite aggression.’

Echoing Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech he told Muslims to stop fighting amongst themselves and ‘stand in one line, from East Turkestan to Morocco, against the satanic alliance that attacks Islam, its nation and its house’.

The audio file was released on Sunday night.

Al-Zawahiri currently has a $25million bounty on his head.

He had previously cited the Charlie Hebdo killers in earlier broadcasts.

In August he pledged Al-Qaeda’s allegiance to the Taliban following the death of its leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

***

Al-Qaeda Chief Urges 9/11-Style Attacks In New Audio Message

Ayman al-Zawahiri also praises a spate of recent stabbing attacks by Palestinians against Israelis

In a new audio message released late Sunday night, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri urged 9/11-style attacks against the U.S. and praised a recent spate of stabbing attacks by Palestinians against Israelis.

The 16-minute message, discovered by Vocativ’s deep web technology as the recording was initially distributed on social media platforms, features al-Zawahiri calling for attacks against “the West,” especially against the U.S. for its support of Israel. “Those who support Israel should pay in their blood and economy the price for supporting the crimes of Israel against Islam and Muslims,” al-Zawahiri says on the recording, titled “We Shall Unite To Liberate Jerusalem.”

He also called on fighters to follow in the path of those who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks, “and the attacks in Madrid, Bali, London and Paris.”

Al-Zawahiri urged Muslims to unite, saying they must establish a Caliphate and an Islamic state in Egypt and the Levant, and that they must “liberate Palestine.” Muslims today face “American-European-Russian-Shiite-Alawite aggression,” he said, before calling on jihadist organizations worldwide to stop infighting and “stand in one line, from East Turkestan to Morocco, against the satanic alliance that attacks Islam, its nation and its house.”

Al-Zawahiri has released a string of audio statements in recent months following a long silence. In August, he pledged allegiance to the new Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar, and later continued with a series of audio recordings blaming ISIS leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi for creating civil war in Islam.

Sunday’s statement was the first time al-Zawahiri referenced a recent wave of rising Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has centered in part around access to the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

ISIS Rewriting History in the Middle East

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ISG = Islamic State Group

In part from: CSIS

Middle East Notes and Comment: The Islamic State (Re)Writes History

Did the Prophet Muhammad lash his followers for smoking cigarettes? He couldn’t have, as cigarettes were invented more than 1,200 years after his death, and tobacco itself did not come to the Middle East until 950 years afterwards. Bans on television, recorded music, soccer games and the like all reflect innovations.

What the ISG is, in fact, is a wholly modern movement that seeks to look ancient. Like the photo booths in tourist towns that produce sepia-toned photographs of contemporary subjects in period clothing, its wink toward the present is part of its appeal. Its followers are not recreating a holy seventh-century society of pious believers. They are gathering the dispossessed and disaffected to an invented homeland that strives to provide certainty, intimacy, and empowerment to a population that feels too little of any of them.

There is little use quibbling with their distortions of history, which are too numerous to mention. Instead, what is risible is their solemn use of history at all. This group is wholly modern and wholly innovative. It is wholly disruptive, as it seeks to be. Its followers should not be ennobled by their purported connection to history.

Western governments and their allies in the Middle East should not fall into the trap of seeing the ISG and its ilk as groups hostile to modernity. Instead, they should highlight how truly modern these groups are, and how selective they are in their readings of history. They do not guide their followers back to the well-worn path of tradition, but instead blaze a new trail of confrontation with the rest of the world.

Stripped of their historical costumes, we can see them as they are: the angry and the weak, preying on those even weaker than themselves. There is glory to be found in Islam. It is not to be found in them.

Islam is the Middle East noted by Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan is in of itself in turmoil, while same fighters have known nothing but war all their lives and from this video below, war is being taught to the next generations, some as young as 8 years old. This also holds true for regions in the West Bank and Gaza. Children attend camps and training with weapons, vocabulary and to learn a twisted history.

Published on Nov 1, 2015

Raising its black flag over the rugged mountainous regions of Afghanistan, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has emerged as a new threat to the war-ravaged country as it battles the Taliban for supremacy. Employing violence and brutality used by the group in Syria and Iraq, Wilayat Khorasan, (the ancient name ISIL has chosen for the region made up of Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of neighbouring countries), has emerged in seven different areas and vowed to step up operations, where the veteran fighters, the Taliban, once held sway.Fighting to reconstitute the historical Khorasan into the so-called ‘Caliphate’ of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group says it has grand plans for the region, starting with uprooting the Taliban and the government of President Ashraf Ghani.Causing friction with the regional and overall leadership of the Taliban, armed battles have increased over the past few months with dozens of Taliban fighters killed in the clashes, most notably in the Taliban stronghold of Nangarhar province.ISIL’s local chapter has also managed to attract dozens of fighters from the Taliban’s ranks into its fold, while foreign fighters unable to make it to Syria and Iraq have thronged to the group’s territory.In ISIL and the Taliban we look at the group’s growing popularity, how it made steady inroads into the country and the threat it poses for the future of Afghanistan.We gain exclusive access to ISIL’s central leadership, and meet children as young as 5-years-old being trained to fight and dedicate their lives to the ‘Caliphate’.

 

The Real Truths about UNRWA, Anyone Care?

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This is the best that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power could do to respond to Hamas using children as human shields:

Samantha PowerVerified account ‏@AmbassadorPower 17 Jul 2014

Yest. UN found Hamas weapons hidden in its facility. provides aid/shelter to Palestinians—abhorrent that Hamas wld endanger its work.

UNRWA found Hamas rockets in UN facilities in Gaza but decided that fact was not really a war crime or a violation. Per the UNRWA official statement, just an additional condemnation is sufficient.

A handful of Senators compel John Kerry to sanction UNRWA over the weapons which Kerry has refused to do.

The UNRWA Vision Projectcame about because of an astonishingly brave kid in Gaza, Mohammad aged 8 whose life was changed forever when a single shell hit his house and blinded him. We need to make this project a reality for hundreds of children in Gaza.  Please donate today to end their suffering and help bringing them a brighter future.

Vision Project for Gaza children
 His father: H/T EoZ:Nidal was a legitimate target under the laws of war by any definition,. He used his family, including Mohammed, as human shields.

No one was killed in the Israeli airstrike targeting Nidal, although Mohammed’s siblings were injured.

A week later, Nidal met with two other senior Hamas terrorists in a mosque at 3:30 AM, way before dawn prayers. Israeli forces did not miss that time and all three were killed. Hamas detained an AP reporter looking at the rubble of the mosque because they didn’t want him to see evidence that the mosque was in fact a terrorist headquarters.

Mohammed Badran is blind because his father was a disgusting Hamas terrorist who valued his own life above that of his family.

Gunness knows that Mohammed’s father was a Hamas terrorist. He won’t ever admit it out loud.

Because  this is all about money, and Chris Gunness is more than happy to cynically use this victim of Hamas policy to raise money.

US Taxpayer-Funded Official Speaks Before Hamas-Tied Terror Group

UNRWA spokesman delivered speech in front of group designated as terrorist organization

FreeBeacon: A senior official with a U.S.-funded United Nations organization has come under scrutiny for delivering a speech this week before an anti-Israel organization that has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Treasury Department for providing funds to the terror group Hamas.

Chris Gunness, spokesman for the U.S. taxpayer-funded UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), which operates Palestinian refugee camps known for promoting terrorism against Israel, delivered a speech earlier this week before Interpal, a UK-based charity organization, which is listed as a specially designated global terrorist organization for funneling money to Hamas.

Gunness’ appearance fueled accusations by many in the pro-Israel community that UNRWA is a biased organization that abuses the more than $200 million it receives annually from the United States.

UNRWA employees, including teachers at its Palestinian schools and others, have been caught making anti-Semitic statements, promoting hatred of the Jewish state, and accused of participating in terrorist training.

Gunness’s appearance before the Hamas-tied organization comes amid an effort on Capitol Hill to suspend UNRWA’s funding and hold it accountable for its ties to terror groups and incitement against Israel.

While UNRWA did not promote the event, pictures of Gunness speaking before Interpal appeared on Twitter earlier this week.

Gunness talked “about little Mohammad, who was blinded when an Israeli shell hit his home in July 2014,” according to a tweet by Interpal.

Another user noted that the “UNRWA man tells the story of a child who froze to death [because] of slow pace of reconstruction in Gaza.”

When asked about the event, Gunness directed UNRWA’s Washington, D.C., spokesman to submit a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.

“UNRWA Spokesman Chris Gunness spoke at an event in the UK Parliament sponsored and attended by British Members of Parliament about a project supported by a legally registered UK charity to help approximately 300 blind and visually impaired Palestinian children in Gaza in need of special assistance,” UNRWA spokesman Chris McGrath told the Free Beacon.

While Interpal remains legal in the UK, it was designated by the United States as a terrorist organization in 2003.

“Interpal, headquartered in the UK, has been a principal charity utilized to hide the flow of money to HAMAS,” according to the Treasury Department’s findings. “Reporting indicates it is the conduit through which money flows to HAMAS from other charities, e.g., the Al Aqsa Foundation, and that it oversees the activities of other charities.”

“Reporting also indicates that Interpal is the fundraising coordinator of HAMAS, a coordination point for other HAMAS-affiliated charities,” according to Treasury. “This role is of the type that includes supervising activities of charities, developing new charities in targeted areas, instructing how funds should be transferred from one charity to another, and even determining public relations policy.”

“In the US, Interpal is listed as an organization involved in funding terror, and their ties with Hamas are well known and documented in detail,” said Gerald M. Steinberg, president of the watchdog group NGO Monitor. “So INTERPAL’s hosting of UNRWA’s spokesman, Chris Gunness, is another reason for a full investigation of the UN organization and its employees.”

“This agenda highlights the urgency of ending all funding for UNRWA, particularly the hundreds of millions provided every year by American, European, Canadian and Australian taxpayers,” Steinberg said.

Gunness’s appearance before the organization prompted questions during Tuesday’s State Department briefing. Spokesman John Kirby declined to address the questions and would not say whether the Obama administration was concerned with this behavior.

Asked Wednesday to further address Gunness’ actions, State Department spokesperson Julia Mason told the Free Beacon that administration officials have repeatedly emphasized to UNRWA that it must strive to remain “free from bias.”

“We have seen the reports on this event, though we did not attend,” Mason said. “We understand that the UNRWA spokesperson attended an event at the British Parliament to benefit wounded Palestinian children, hosted by several of its members.”

“We have long made known our commitment to UNRWA’s absolutely essential work in helping Palestinian refugees—including many refugee children,” she added. “And we have made clear our position that UNRWA must be able to work independently and free from bias.”

The State Department “regularly” discusses with UNRWA “the importance of maintaining the organization’s neutrality,” Mason said. “That includes raising concerns regarding any engagements with U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.”

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.) filed legislation this week that would cut off U.S. funding to UNRWA as a result of concerns that the organization is promoting terrorism.

The bill would withhold U.S. contributions to UNRWA until officials can certify that no employees of the organization have ties to terrorism or anti-Semitic incitement.

UNRWA also would be forced to submit to an independent audit meant to determine if it is diverting funds to terrorist entities.

“In response to the increased terror and violence in Israel, we must hold those who are responsible for inciting this violence accountable and that includes UNRWA,” Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement.

“The U.S. can’t continue to send $400 million to UNRWA while ignoring the systemic and endemic anti-Israel, anti-Semitic bias and the blatant incitement to violence we see from its employees,” the lawmaker said. “UNRWA employees and facilities are consistently tied to foreign terrorist organizations and a full accounting of the agency’s affiliations should be required before another dime is spent on this divisive organization.”

UN officials were recently forced to suspend several UNRWA employees after it was revealed by the NGO Monitor organization that they had sought to promote anti-Semitic violence. Several teachers at UNRWA-run schools promoted terrorist attacks against Israelis, according to NGO Monitor’s findings.

Why the U.S. Will Continue Funding the Palestinian Authority

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BDS in London is taking part in the protests and violence in Israel.

WashingtonExaminer: With all the recent yet constant violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank in Israel, the culprit for the incitement and bloody conflict is at the hands of the Palestinians. The United States for years has provided funding and will continue to do so even with Israel’s blessing. The ‘why’ is even more terrifying.

Why the U.S. won’t cut off aid to Palestinians

Lawmakers want to reduce or eliminate the $500 million a year in aid and security assistance the United States gives to the Palestinian Authority amid evidence that its leaders are inciting violence against Israelis.

While that might be satisfying in some ways, concerns that a cutoff would make the situation worse are likely to win out. Israeli officials oppose such a move, fearing that it may cause the Palestinian Authority to collapse.

“Israel doesn’t want a collapse because it will collapse in Israel’s lap,” David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Still, the problem of anti-semitic incitement in Palestinian society, much of it officially created and encouraged, remains a serious obstacle to a peaceful settlement of the basic conflict with Israel and the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.

The issue is at the center of talks this week between Secretary of State John Kerry and leaders in the region, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II.

“We have to stop incitement, we have to stop the violence. And I think it’s critical,” Kerry said before his meeting Thursday with Netanyahu in Berlin. He’s set to meet with Abbas and Abdullah on Saturday.

The Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday adopted a bipartisan resolution calling on Abbas to “discontinue all official incitement and exert influence to discourage anti-Israel and anti-semitic incitement in Palestinian civil society.”

It also directs the State Department to track and publicize incidents of incitement by Palestinian authorities.

But there’s a bipartisan desire in Congress for a more active U.S. approach to the problem. At a hearing before Thursday’s vote, experts gave lawmakers options besides an aid cutoff.

“The problem is we’ve been condemning incitement for decades but we never do anything about it.” said Elliott Abrams, a former top adviser in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations, who argued for targeting the personal finances of Palestinian leaders who incite violence, and barring them from the United States.

Abbas “keeps doing it because he never pays a price for doing it,” Abrams said. “It’s a very cynical game. And as long as he pays no price, he’ll keep it up.”

He and others also suggested U.S. officials target the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which is dominated by Abbas’ Fatah movement, by closing its office in Washington and cutting off funding to incitement activities.

The PLO is “a bloated and opaque organization that has consistently stymied democracy,” said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

The United States also needs to think beyond the leadership of Abbas, who’s in the tenth year of a four-year term largely because there are no good alternatives to his rule, and nurture a new generation of Palestinian leaders, he said. More here.

The genesis of the recent violence per Congressional testimony:

by: Foundation for Defense of Democracies

A Third Intifada?

Mr. Chairman, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has flared again. The violence can best be characterized as a concerted campaign of knife attacks against Israeli civilians and military personnel, peppered with other attempts at vehicular homicide and even bombings. Since October 1, eight Israelis have been killed while dozens have been wounded in no less than 44 attacks.  It’s unclear yet whether we can call this a third intifada. For it to be characterized as such, it would require the full backing of Palestinian leaders across the political spectrum. Despite the incitement of both the Fatah and Hamas factions, it’s safe to say that neither has committed fully to an all-out conflict right now with Israel. I will explain below why they are holding back.

Temple Mount Tensions

Mr. Chairman, the Palestinian narrative right now focuses on their rage over purported Israeli attempts to change the status quo on the Temple Mount/Haram ash-Sharif, the site holy to both Jews and Muslims. There are troubling signs that this unrest was premeditated. Indeed, it looks like the resumption of the unrest that erupted in June 2014 before last summer’s 50-day war between Israel and Hamas. The name given to the unrest, then as today, was the “Jerusalem Intifada.” The epicenter of that violence, then as today, was the Temple Mount.

The Temple Mount is one of the thorniest issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is a deeply meaningful and holy site to both Muslims and Jews. Keeping the peace at this site has been a delicate issue since Israel conquered the Old City in 1967. The Israelis control the territory, but they have allowed for Jordan, with input from Palestinian religious authorities, to administer the site.  For years, Israeli law prohibited Jews from praying on the site, but Israel’s Supreme Court overruled this in 1993.  In recent years, the number of Jews that have gained access to the site during hours proscribed by Israel and the administering authorities has increased. This includes some Israeli politicians and religious groups who seek to assert Israeli sovereignty.  But according to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, access to the Temple Mount compound is still overwhelmingly Muslim. Indeed, over the last year, there have been approximately four million entries by Muslims, 200,000 by Christians, and just 12,000 by Jews.

To be clear, the status quo has not changed. Israel controls access to the site as a means to maintain the delicate peace, but it does not involve itself in matters of religious practice or prayer. Yet, over the last year, a disturbing pattern has developed. Palestinian elements, apparently led by the PLO, have led an effort to stoke religious tensions at the sensitive site with wild reports that Israel is trying to “Judaize” or undermine Muslim rights to pray there. At the forefront of this campaign to foment hate is WAFA, a news agency effectively controlled by the PLO. As one Arab newspaper noted, WAFA is one of the Palestinian “governmental media institutions.”

In January of this year, the chairman of the PLO’s Jerusalem Affairs Department, Ahmed Qurei, warned of an Israeli plan to register the al-Aqsa Mosque as an Israeli state property to be officially run by the so-called Tabu (land registration) office. The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage (AFEH) claimed this was setting the stage for a Jewish synagogue over parts of the holy Mosque. Qurei further stated that Israel was “Judaizing” the mosque and re-building the “alleged” Jewish Temple. “This is the most serious [action taken by Israel] that jeopardizes the future of the holy city,” he said.

The following month, WAFA cited Qurei warning about assessments made by Israeli engineers and contractors for new archeological excavations under the Temple Mount. In a press release, Qurei said that the Israeli government was trying to “empty the area [of] its indigenous citizens as a prelude to take over the land for the sake of settlement expansion.”  The PLO news agency, WAFA, added to the tensions claiming that nearly a thousand Israelis “stormed” the al-Aqsa compound during the previous month.

In March, WAFA issued a report stating that Jewish settlers were preparing to storm the al-Aqsa compound. The report alleged, “Jewish groups that define itself by the name of the alleged ancient Temple are preparing for the Jewish holiday Passover by mobilizing the largest number of settlers to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque and perform religious prayers in its yards.”  This was followed by a report that Israeli police, “physically assaulted and beat up [a ten-year-old girl], who along with other worshipers chanted religious slogans against a group of Jewish fanatics who entered the Mosque to perform religious rituals.”

The wild and unsubstantiated charges continued through the spring. WAFA in April claimed that, “Jewish settlers…broke into Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound through [the Dung Gate] bridge, and toured its yard under the heavy protection of Israeli police units.” In May, the PLO mouthpiece claimed several Palestinians were arrested “at the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City for chanting religious slogans to fend off settlers’ attempts to tour the mosque’s yards. The two elders…were physically assaulted by the police before they were arrested.”

During the summer, the Palestinian leadership called for an emergency Islamic summit “in light of latest Israeli escalations at al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem.”  This came on the heels of reports that Israel had seized land adjacent to the eastern wall of the al-Aqsa mosque,  and that settlers were continuing “attacks against al-Aqsa mosque,”  and insulting the Prophet Mohammed while on the al-Aqsa compound.

In September, Mahmoud Abbas complained to the UN General Assembly that, “extremist Israeli groups are committing repeated, systematic incursions upon Al-Aqsa Mosque, aimed at imposing a new reality and dividing Al-Haram Al-Sharif.”  Soon after, Hamas declared a “day of rage” in the West Bank. Several Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israelis.  Abbas took this as a cue to warn of an “intifada that we don’t want” if escalations at al-Aqsa continue.

As violence gripped Jerusalem, WAFA continued to complain that, “Jewish fanatics resumed their provocative visits to al-Aqsa Mosque.”  The rhetoric has only increased, fanning the flames of conflict as Palestinians have taken to lone-wolf style attacks to stab Israelis on the streets.

In an effort to calm tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently ordered police to prevent Israeli ministers and members of Knesset from entering the Temple Mount.  The Israelis continue to make it clear that even when Jews visit the Temple Mount, they are not to pray there. Israeli security personnel enforce this strictly. However, the PLO continues to fan the flames of conflict. Their problem appears to be the very presence of Israelis and Jews on the Temple Mount.

– See more at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/testimony/words-have-consequences-palestinian-authority-incitement-to-violence#sthash.h7XR057c.dpuf