The official WAFA Palestinian Authority news agency has honored the murderers with the supreme Islamic status of “Shahids” who were “escorted… to the place of their final rest.”

Palestinian Media Watch translated and published on Tuesday the WAFA report from last Friday  in which it stated in the Arabic language newspaper  Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, “Yesterday [Dec. 25, 2014], the citizens of Jerusalem escorted the bodies of Martyrs (Shahids) Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal, from the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood of south-east Jerusalem, to the place of their final rest in the Al-Sawahreh Al-Sharqiyeh cemetery, after they were held by the occupation for 37 days, and transferred to their relatives after midnight.”

The Facebook page of the Fatah movement, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, posted a picture last Thursday of the graves of the two terrorists and praised them:

    This is the place of eternal rest of Martyrs (Shahids) Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal of Jabel Mukaber [neighborhood] in occupied Jerusalem, who ascended [to heaven] a month and a half ago during an operation (i.e., terror attack) at an occupation synagogue in occupied Jerusalem. Early morning today, they were escorted to their graves at Al-Sawahreh Al- Sharqiyeh.”

Fatah called the terror attack “an operation at an occupation synagogue in occupied Jerusalem.”

Two Arab terrorists from eastern Jerusalem entered a synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood of western Jerusalem on November 18 and massacred worshippers with guns, knives and axes, killing four Jews and a Druze police officer, and wounding seven other Jews who were praying.

The terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli police that arrived on the scene.

Earlier this month, Palestinian Media Watch reported that the PA Mufti likewise called them Shahids, when he demanded that Israel return the bodies of the killers because “it is the Shahids’ right for us to pray for them, and this is a right according to Shari’ah. Their relatives, friends and loved ones also have the right to see them one last time.”

Palestinian Media Watch also showed that Abbas’ condemnation of the synagogue massacre was later explained away by Fatah officials as a condemnation for diplomatic reasons only.

Mahmoud Abbas is ignoring hints of American sanctions and a possible defeat in the U.N. Security Council which is set to consider a resolution from Jordan on Monday, ordering Israel to sign a peace treaty with the Palestinian Authority in one year.

The resolution calls on Israel to surrender within three years all of the land in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria that was restored to Israel in the Six-Day war in 1967, and it demands a  “just” solution for millions of Arabs classified by the United Nations as “refugees,” a generation-to generation status that does not apply to any other people in the world.

Palestinian Authority chairman Abbas informed Kerry on Sunday of the decision that effectively is a slap in the face, if not a shot in the leg, to the Obama administration which has staked its reputation on negotiations between the PA and Israel while backing almost all of Abbas’ demands from Israel.

It is not certain the resolution will pass in the United Nations, which probably will vote on it later this week. If it does pass, President Barack Obama will have to decide whether to veto it or not. No matter what he decides, if he is forced to do so, it will have a dramatic effect on the Israeli elections.

That is exactly why Kerry has begged Abbas to postpone going to the United Nations at least until after the elections in mid-March, but Abbas, obviously is listening to someone else.

He sees to be hell-bent on self-destruction. He has a better chance of winning the needed two-thirds majority in the Security Council after January 1, when more pro-Arab countries take their turn as rotating members.

In its report on Abbas’ conversation with Kerry,  the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported, “A well-informed official closed to Abbas spoke on condition of anonymity that Kerry exerted heavy pressure on Abbas over the phone to postpone the bid until after March elections in Israel.

“The official said that Kerry hinted there will be economic sanctions imposed on the Palestinians and that the US would veto the draft resolution in case it gains the nine Security Council votes.”

Reaction among Israeli hawks was swift and sharp. Likud minister Yuval Steinitz said that if the Security Council passes the resolution, “We will need to seriously weigh the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority.”

That would be absolutely stupid because Abbas is doing a good job all by himself to make the Palestinian Authority history.

The PA has won worldwide support vocally, but it is totally dependent on a nearly bankrupt European Union for help. The Arab countries have pledged billions and have paid pennies, and now Abbas risks sanctions from the United States.

One of his biggest political backers is Russia, whose economy is showing signs of a recession.

What or who is pushing Abbas over the cliff?

Perhaps he is afraid of a coup if he does not do something to satisfy the hard-core camp that can’t live without murdering Jews to prove their “resistance.”

Perhaps he wants to convince Hamas that he really is serious about getting rid of Israel and spitting on the United States.

Perhaps he is senile.

Perhaps he simply wants to prove that he is no different from other Arab leaders who would rather fail in an attempt to destroy Israel rather than accept it as a fact life.

The “resisters of occupation in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem” are spreading on Arab social media a frightening video demonstrating tactics on how to stab a Jew to death quickly and efficiently.

The 1-minute and 13-second video, as seen below, shows the “teacher” calmly walking up to a “victim,” stabbing him, and walking away.

One of the tactics appears to imitate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) method of beheading.

The guide to killing Jews teaches that after stabbing the victim, the knife should be twisted to maximize wounds and cause death.

The Palestinian Authority and anti-Israel Arabs in Jerusalem do not need terrorist cells when “resisters” use social media to reach hundreds of thousands of Arabs in Jerusalem as well as in Judea, Gaza and Samaria, with a single simple post.

Israel needs to find the source of whoever posted this video and arrest him or them.

All of Israel is paying a heavy price, the price of life, for a decade of conducting “negotiations” with the Palestinian Authority while it has incited an entire generation to hate Jews and then murder them.

Until the Palestinian Authority halts all incitement, and until Mahmoud Abbas starts condemning terrorists in Arabic as well as in English, and until the Obama administration understands that Israel means what it says, the government needs to stop all contact with Ramallah.

Arab stabbing attacks on Jews have increased significantly this year, and every Israeli is a potential victim when “resisters” educate every Arab to be a murderer.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is touring Israel this week in a business and pleasure trip that also is considered as a first step to tout credentials to be the Republican party presidential nominee in the 2016 elections.

He celebrated Christmas in Jerusalem with his family and toured Christian holy sites.

Last week, Ben Carson, a black Republican, avowed Christian and retired neuro-surgeon from Florida and also a touted candidate for the GOP nomination, visited Israel for the first time in his life

Pence, like Carson, often sounds like an evangelist and is deep in the conservative camp, but his being virtually unknown outside Indiana has left him in the bottom of the growing heap of possible candidates.

A non-profit Christian-based organization paid for the Pence family’s trip, which is also a three-day economic mission.

“Hoosiers have cherished our relationship with the people of Israel for generations,” Pence said in a statement. “As we look ahead, deepening our ties with the people, businesses and state of Israel remains a commitment that will empower us as partners.”

Indiana Secretary of Commerce Victor Smith called Israel a “global entrepreneurial hotspot” and stated, “Israelis are launching new businesses at a tremendous rate, and that’s triggering economic and job growth that’s primed to expand to the United States.”

His trip includes a meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and leaders in high technology and life sciences.

Pence will meet with the Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Naftali Bennett on Monday and will fulfill the requirement of foreign dignitaries by visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

It is only a matter of time before likely GOP candidates Rick Perry and Ted Cruz visit Israel to enhance their CVs for being policy experts, more so than several Israeli Knesset Members.

Two Border Policemen were stabbed early Friday morning near Jerusalem Old City’s Lion Gate.

One officer, age 35, was stabbed in the hand, the other, age 19, was stabbed in the neck.

They were transported to Shaarei Tzedek Hospital, where they are listed in light to moderate condition.

Police are searching for the attacker.

Jerusalem’s planning committee has approved the construction of 243 new residential units in Ramot, a large neighborhood on the western side of city that international media have now officially termed a ”settlement.”

Most of Ramot is on public land that was occupied by Jordan from the end of the War for Independence until the Six-Day War in 1967. It was developed in the late 1970s  and almost never has been lumped in with similar areas in eastern, southern and northern Jerusalem.

The planning committee also approved another bureaucratic stage for building 270 homes in the same area.

Reuters reported, “Israel describes both settlements as Jerusalem “neighborhoods” and added that Palestinian Authority fears that the “Israeli enclaves will deny them contiguous territory” in a future state.

According to Reuters, Israel cites “biblical links” to justify the right to of Jew to anywhere in Jerusalem.

As much as the biblical links are true, as they are true for the entire existence of the State of Israel, Jerusalem built up Ramot because the city needed to expand and because a strong Jewish presence is Israel’s best security against more Arab wars.

Anticipating criticism from the United States, which backs the Arab world stand to shrink Israel back to the 1949 Armistice Lines, the Jerusalem committee stated:

There is no change in the policy of the municipality in recent years and we will continue to build in all neighborhoods of the city, for Jews and Arabs alike, according to the master plan. In the coming years, it is expected tens of thousands of housing units will be built in all sectors of the city.

New construction in Jerusalem is essential for the city’s development and for allowing young people and students to live here and buy an apartment.

 

Jerusalem city councilor Yosef Pepe Alalu, of the left-wing Meretz party, told AFP, “This kind of decision distances us from any chance of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians.”

While Reuters reported that Israel ”captured” Judea and Samaria and what is now Greater Jerusalem, AFP went one step further from the truth and told readers it “seized” eastern Jerusalem.

Israel has quietly reversed its stand and has handed over the bodies of the two Jerusalem-Arabs who carried out the brutal massacre in the Har Nof Synagogue last month. The families buried the terrorists in a ceremony replete with Palestinian Authority flags.

The massacre left four American-Israeli and British-Israeli rabbis dead, as well as a Druze policeman who came to their rescue. Seven more people were wounded.

Police remove casualties from a Har Nof synagogue after two Jerusalem Arabs butchered four Jews to death.

The Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency reported that the families’ lawyer issued a statement after midnight confirming the release of the bodies, a month after Israel held them pending further consideration.

Chief Police Inspector Yigal Elmaliach told the Israeli court system, as reported here.

“The State of Israel is trying to cope with the recent wave of attacks. One possibility being considered is not to return the bodies to the families, but [for the state] to bury them. The issue is being examined at the highest levels.”

The families of the terrorists, Ghassan and Uday Abu al Jamal, who were cousins, went to court to demand the release of the bodies. Ma’an said that Israel agreed to return the bodies after ”the intervention of the lawyer.”

Israel’s reversal means either that it learned that it would lose the case in court, or that officials at the ”highest levels” now think that holding the bodies for five weeks was enough to help cope with the recent wave of attacks.”

The “wave” has subsided” if one follows Israel’s major media that play down or completely ignore attacks such as this week’s ambush of a vehicle that came under an attack of cinder blocks that nearly killed the driver, Jeff Seidel, and two passengers, as The Jewish Press first reported here.

The “wave” has subsided unless it washes ashore again with more murders and attempted murders of Jews. Then, if the terrorists are killed, perhaps the government will again decide to hold the bodies to help cope with the attacks.

The Har Nof savages were given an honorable burial before dawn Thursday in eastern Jerusalem in the presence of no more than 40 relatives, according to the lawyer who spoke with Ma’an.

A Palestinian Authority flag was held during the ceremony.

Below is the video of one of the funerals.