Palestinian Authority unity government chairman Mahmoud Abbas – or “Abu Mazen,” the Fatah terrorist name he uses among Arabs – today (Tuesday Nov. 11, 2014) declared war on the State of Israel.

Claiming that Israel had launched the horrific Arab violence that is being perpetrated against Israelis across the country, Abbas vowed to seize Israel’s holiest city for the PA.

“Israel is leading us into a religious war,” he told thousands of Arabs in the PA capital of Ramallah. Abbas spoke at a ceremony at the Muqata, the PA government seat, to mark 10 years since the death of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasir Arafat.

“Jerusalem will be solely Palestinian,” Abbas vowed.

While Abbas was promising supporters in Samaria that he would lead them to victory in seizing Israel’s capital for their own, PA Arabs further south were clashing with IDF soldiers and Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was completing a Gush Etzion brigade assessment.

“We are in the midst of an escalation,” Ya’alon told the troops. “We will take a firm hand to stop this wave of violence, including more widespread arrests than in the past, and the demolition of the homes of terrorists.

“The fate of any terrorist who raises his hand with a knife, or who uses a car to run people over, is death,” Ya’alon declared.

To the PA leadership, the defense minister added, “The Palestinian Authority and the entities working on the ground to prevent escalation are conducting coordination meetings with us. That is happening despite the rhetoric, calling for escalation, by the heads of the Palestinian Authority.”

Meanwhile, scores of Arabs hurled rocks and firebombs (Molotov cocktails) at Israeli soldiers in a violent riot at the Judean Arab village of El Aroub, a burgeoning community that once was a refugee camp. Located close to Highway 60, it is situated close to the Gush Etzion junction and slightly south of Bethlehem.

IDF soldiers responded to the violence with riot control measures and when it became necessary, opened fire in self-defense. A 21-year-old PA Arab was allegedly shot and killed in the melee.

At least 150 PA Arabs were also clashing with IDF soldiers Tuesday in an area south of Hebron, and close to the Jewish community of Negohot.

Security forces were using riot dispersal measures to control the mob and bring the incident to an end without injuries. By 3pm there were no reports of casualties.

Israel’s governing cabinet was set to meet in emergency session Tuesday afternoon in light of the escalation in violence around the country.

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.

Optometrist Chaya Shames says she cares for both Israelis and Palestinian Authority Arabs in her Israel-based practice, and she treats both equally.

She also teaches Israeli and PA Arab students equally, she says. Co-existence is central to her belief. In that, she is a lot like Rabbi Yehuda Glick; but that’s no surprise because Shames is Glick’s sister.

What is a surprise — at least to her — is the way Arab leadership is responding to the targeted assassination attempt against her brother.

In a post on the Facebook social networking site, Shames wrote that she could not understand how it was possible for the leader of the Palestinian Authority to comfort the family of the man who tried to murder her brother as if he had risen to sainthood.

“Last Wednesday night at 10 pm my dear brother Yehudah Glick came out of a lecture and an evil Muslim man tried to kill him because he, as a Jew, encourages people to pray on the Temple Mount — the place of the Jewish Temple.

“While brother is fighting for his life Abu Mazen, the Palestinian president (ed: the terrorist name of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas) sent condolences to the murderer’s family. He was shot when he tried to kill the police when they came to arrest him.

“Is that a peace-seeking man?

“The murderer was a Palestinian working in Israel after serving in jail for other attempted murders.

“My brother has six children of his own and two foster children as well as being a legal guardian to six more children of his friends who were murdered by a terrorist on their way home on the road.

“No matter what your political inclination is, there is right and wrong and good and bad. I need to spread this to the world. There are good guys and bad guys; please tell the world.

“The right to pray to any G-d anywhere is not a provocation. Shooting a hardworking man is. This is basic, no matter what your nationality is. Please share the truth, so our suffering is not in vain.”

At JewishPress.com, we elected to respect Chaya Shames’ wishes and share this truth. We hope our readers will do the same, and forward this article to relatives and friends.

Shooting someone in cold blood is provocation — and attempted murder.

The streets of Jerusalem are quiet right now, and a tense calm has settled on the city.

Israel’s security establishment met this morning (Thursday, Oct. 30) with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to decide how to meet the challenge that now lies ahead.

“I would like to send my best wishes for a full and quick recovery to Yehuda Glick, who is now fighting for his life,” Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting.

Participating in the discussion were Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, Public Defense Minister Itzhak Aharonovitch, ISA Director Yoram Cohen, Israel Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino, Jerusalem District Police Commander Moshe Edri, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and representatives from the Attorney General’s office, the Justice Ministry and the IDF.

Netanyahu praised the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Israel Police for quickly solving “this act of terrorism.”

The prime minister added, “A few days ago, I said that we were facing a wave of incitement by radical Islamic elements and by Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen who said that Jews must be prevented from going up to the Temple Mount by any means possible.

“I still have not heard from the international community so much as one word of condemnation for these inflammatory remarks.

“The international community needs to stop its hypocrisy and take action against inciters, against those who try to change the status quo.

“I have ordered significant reinforcements so that we can maintain both security in Jerusalem and the status quo in the holy places. This struggle might be long, and here, like in other struggles, we must first of all, lower the flames.

“No side should take the law into its own hands. We must be level-headed and act with determination and responsibility, and so we shall.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will fly to the United States Sunday morning to counter-punch Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and also meet with President Barack Obama.

“After the Iranian president’s deceptive speech and Abu Mazen’s [Abbas] inciteful speech, I will tell the truth of Israel’s citizens to the entire world. In my UN General Assembly speech and in all of my meetings I will represent the citizens of Israel and will – on their behalf – refute the slander and lies directed at our country,” the Prime Minister stated Saturday night.

He will speak at the United Nations on Monday, meet with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday and with President Obama on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Netanyahu will begin his visit by meeting on Sunday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first meeting in over a decade between the prime ministers of Israel and India.

Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazen met Monday with his senior coalition partner, chief Hamas Terrorist Khaled Mashal, to discuss ceasefire options in Gaza. Meeting in Doha, Qatar, Israel Radio reported that Abu Mazen told Mashal that Hamas should accept the Egyptian ceasefire proposal.

The report cited the Palestinian Ma’an newswire, which suggested the international community oversee the ceasefire as well as guarantee the lifting of the blockade of Gaza.

Hamas spokespeople in Gaza warned Friday there would be “serious consequences” to Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza, saying the organization would continue to bombard Israeli cities and “looked forward” to kidnapping and killing IDF soldiers.

Organization spokesperson Sami Abu Zouri said that by initiating a ground invasion, Israel “tore the Egyptian ceasefire agreement to shreds.” He failed to mention the small detail that Israel originally accepted the ceasefire deal, whereas his organization rejected it out of hand.

Notably, even Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazen accused Hamas for the current round of fighting. Speaking to reporters in Cairo, where he had been meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in an attempt to secure a ceasefire, Abu Mazen said he was dismayed and shocked that Hamas did not accept the Egyptian-brokered deal, and said that Palestinian Islamic Jihad - a rival terror group terror gang to Hamas in the Strip – had shown willingness to take the deal.

Israel Radio also reported that Abu Mazen said the Rafiah border to Egypt would only open in accordance with the Borders Arrangement, signed between the PA, United States,European Union and Israel. The agreement calls for PA troops to administer the crossing, with Israel maintaining the right to monitor the crossing “from afar.” Hamas is not a party to that agreement.

Palestinian human rights groups say at least 80 percent of the casualties in Gaza have been civilians. IDF officials say that number is approximately half, but they stress the fact that Hamas uses women and children as human shields to ensure a civilian death toll.