Palestinian Authority justifies Hamas massacre of Israelis
Biden claims Hamas doesn’t represent the Palestinians, but Palestinian leaders say they seek unity with the popular terror group.
Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority has been relatively quiet regarding the events of October 7, but last week one of its more recognizable officials broke that silence and justified the brutal Hamas invasion of southern Israel.
US President Joe Biden continues to insist that Hamas doesn’t represent the Palestinian people in general. But Jibril Rajoub, a senior leader in Abbas’s ruling Fatah party, echoed what many average Palestinians have been saying when he called the Hamas massacres a “natural response” and a “defensive action.”
The October 7 attack was part of “the defensive war our people are waging,” Rajoub told a press conference in Kuwait, drawing no distinction between Hamas and his own Palestinian Authority.
Hamas’s involvement in this war is “important,” continued Rajoub, who referred to Hamas terrorism as part of the “fabric and of our struggle.”
Rajoub is secretary-general of the Central Committee of Abbas’s Fatah party. He is one of the most senior leaders in the Palestinian Authority, and has been promoted by some as a future presidential candidate.
Nor is Rajoub in the Palestinian Authority who seeks unity with Hamas.
In a November 12 tweet, Hussein Al-Sheikh wrote that “our arms are still open [to Hamas], and our hearts are open to all dialogue that will lead in the end to the unity of the Palestinian people and its forces.”
Al-Sheikh is PLO Executive Committee Secretary, head of the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department, and a Fatah Central Committee member. More importantly, he has been touted by Abbas himself as a potential successor to the Palestinian presidency.
In a November 6 interview with Palestinian media, Abbas advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash stressed that the Palestinian Authority had not said one bad word about Hamas since October 7.
“Has anyone heard from us utter one word against the Hamas Movement or against any Palestinian?” emphasized al-Habbash. “My current mission is… to defend my people, to defend my Palestinian people. Hamas is part of the Palestinian people.” [Translations by Palestinian Media Watch.]
From words of muted support for Hamas among Palestinian Authority leaders to outright displays of affection for the terror group among average Palestinians celebrating the release of jailed terrorists, it’s clear that Hamas enjoys far more popularity than Biden wants to admit.
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