Palestinian Authority unity government chairman Mahmoud Abbas has apparently decided to stand with Hamas and Islamic Jihad to trigger a third intifada.
Abbas issued a call for Arabs to protect the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount “at all costs,” claiming that Jews must be prevented from entering the site. The Temple Mount is the holiest place on earth in Judaism, and third holiest to Muslims.
Leaders of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations quickly followed with calls of their own to hold various “Days of Rage” on Fridays at the Al Aqsa Mosque and other places around Israel.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad urged all PA Arabs – especially the youth – to take to the streets in a “Day of Rage” today (Friday, Nov. 7), urging them to “save the Al Aqsa Mosque and defend Jerusalem against the Israeli siege.”
It is clear that the entire terror leadership of the Palestinian Authority had coordinated the effort. The move was deliberately timed with a warning by Abbas that failure to resolve the conflict between Israel and the PA would lead to an escalation of violence in the region, reported Egypt’s Al Bawaba news site.
Abbas – “Abu Mazen” as he is known among terrorists and the general Arab population – long ago stopped condemning violence even in English speeches.
Instead he’s been issuing fiery calls to his constituents to prevent “in any way” Jews from going up to the Temple Mount, the holiest place on Earth for Jews. Official Palestinian Authority TV produced a short video of those calls, ending it with a picture of Jerusalem and the words, “Arab Jerusalem” and broadcast it 19 times over a three-day period, Oct. 17 to 19.
(Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) notes in its coverage that expressions used by PA leaders such as “in any way” and “using all means” are intended to convey encouragement for varying degrees of violence and terror.)
“It’s not enough for us to say, ‘There are those carrying out Ribat’ (religious conflict / war over land claimed to be Islamic),” Abbas said. “We must all carry out Ribat in the Al-Aqsa [Mosque]. It’s not enough for us to say, ‘The settlers have arrived [at the Mosque]’. They have come, and they must not come to the Sanctuary (i.e., Temple Mount). We have to prevent them, in any way whatsoever, from entering the Sanctuary.
“This is our Sanctuary, our Al-Aqsa and our Church [of the Holy Sepulchre]. They have no right to enter it. They have no right to defile it. We must prevent them. Let us stand before them with chests bared to protect our holy places,” Abbas exclaimed.
Hundreds in Judea and Samaria rioted and clashed with IDF security forces. At least 400 Arabs hurled rocks and firebombs (Molotov cocktails) at Israeli soldiers at the Kalandia checkpoint, a common target where violence usually starts.
IDF troops did not wait for injuries to justify effective self-defense this time; they opened fire at the raging mob but did not confirm a hit, said an army spokesperson.
Near Ramallah, Arabs also hurled rocks at Israeli security personnel, and similar attacks were carried out further south, closer to Hebron.
Riots were also seen in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat following the funeral of Hamas terrorist Ibrahim al-Akari. The terrorist murdered a Border Patrol chief inspector and a 17-year-old yeshiva boy yesterday and wounded a dozen others, running them over with his van in a hit-and-run terror attack at two Light Rail stops in Jerusalem. Al-Akari was finally stopped by Border Patrol police officers who shot and killed him after he exited his van and started beating bystanders with a crowbar.