{Originally posted to the PMW website}
In two separate posts on its official Facebook page, Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Movement honored the terrorist murderer who went on a shooting spree in Jerusalem today, targeting people who were waiting at train stations from his car. Terrorist Musbah Abu Sbeih murdered a 60-year-old woman and a policeman, and injured 6.
Fatah referred to the murderer as a “Shahid,” an Islamic Martyr – someone who died for Allah – a status the Palestinian Authority presents as the highest achievement a Muslim can reach in life.
Defining a dead murderer as a Shahid indicates that according to Fatah, the murder of Israelis is sanctioned and even desired in the name of Islam.
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that it is PA and Fatah policy to glorify terrorist murderers and turn them into role models for Palestinian society.
Fatah and the Palestinian Authority for quite some time have been defining the conflict with Israel as a religious war, defining all attackers and the murderers of Israelis as heroic defenders of Islam and its symbols. Fatah’s Jerusalem branch announced “mourning and a general strike for Palestine’s Martyrs” and specifically mentioned today’s killer – “this morning’s Martyr” and vowed to “defend the honor of the Arab and Islamic nations with our bare chests.” These and other terms in Fatah’s posts, see text below, reiterate Fatah’s Islamization of the conflict with Israel.
Voice of Palestine Radio likewise reported that the Jerusalem branch of Fatah announced a day of mourning and a general strike in Jerusalem “due to the death of the Shahid Abu Sbeih.”
The following are excerpts from the two posts on Fatah’s Facebook page:
Posted text: “The one who carried out the operation (i.e., terror attack, 2 murdered) today in Jerusalem is a pilgrim [to Mecca] Martyr (Shahid) Musbah Abu Sbeih (40), one of the most prominent people in Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and a released prisoner.
He was supposed to turn himself in today and begin a sentence of four months on charges of Ribat (i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and hitting the occupation’s soldiers.
He was arrested in 2013 in the Bab Huta region of the Old City of Jerusalem on charges of hitting an officer and was released, but to his surprise the case was reopened in 2015 and he was sentenced to a four month active sentence, and according to the ruling of the Israeli Magistrate Court that was given roughly one month ago, the ruling was supposed to be carried out in the middle of this month [October 2016].The occupation authorities persecuted him over the last two weeks and he was arrested and detained five times in a row, and after his last arrest he was released on condition of being distanced from East Jerusalem for one month, and before that he was given a ruling preventing him from traveling [abroad] until the end of this year, and he was forbidden from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque for six months, after being released [from arrest] at the end of last year [2015].”
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Oct. 9, 2016]
Posted text: “The Jerusalem branch of Fatah announced a strike and mourning for the Martyrs’ (Shahids’) souls.
‘Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory.’ [Sura 22:39, Sahih International translation] Great truth of God.
The Jerusalem branch of Fatah announced mourning and a general strike today [Oct. 9, 2016] in Jerusalem in memory of the souls of the Martyrs of Palestine and this morning’s Martyr Musbah Abu Sbeih.Due to the barbaric escalation being perpetrated by the occupation government and the herds of settlers, which includes killing, violence, destruction, and an attempt to instill fear in our Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps, and particularly in Jerusalem, we announce our complete objection to crimes of these types being carried out before the international community and its human rights organizations. These organizations have not succeeded in forcing the occupation government to abide by international law, and treat it as an entity that is above international law, as they shirk their responsibilities to the Palestinian people and even to providing international protection to our people. The occupation government and its executive branches must bear the consequences of what they are perpetrating against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the disregard of Muslim sensibilities, and the granting of permission to the settlers to invade it, defile it, and desecrate its sanctity on a daily basis under the umbrella and protection of the occupation police. This, while banning hundreds of men and women from Jerusalem who are carrying out Ribat (i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and carrying out a policy of distancing [them from the Al-Aqsa Mosque] and detentions. All of these steps will not be accepted in silence, and residents of Jerusalem will defend the place of the ascent to Heaven (i.e., the Al-Aqsa Mosque) of our precious messenger Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him.
Therefore, we in the Jerusalem branch of Fatah emphasize our adherence to Jerusalem, the strengthening of the [Arab] presence in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City [of Jerusalem], and [that] it will not be abandoned to the extremists and terrorists [of the occupation], and [that] we will defend the honor of the Arab and Islamic nations with our bare chests. Praise to the Martyrs, healing to the injured, freedom to the prisoners, and cessation to the occupation.” [Official Fatah Facebook page, Oct. 9, 2016]
Musbah Abu Sbeih – 39-year-old Palestinian terrorist who murdered 2 Israelis and wounded 5 others in 3 drive-by shooting attacks in Jerusalem on Oct. 9, 2016. Abu Sbeih, who held Israeli residency status, began his shooting spree at the Ammunition Hill light rail stop and continued to the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood. He was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli border police officers during the attack. On the morning of the attack, Abu Sbeih was due to turn himself in and begin a 4 month jail sentence, after being convicted in January 2015 on numerous counts of inciting to terror and supporting a terror organization. Abu Sbeih praised terror groups including Hamas as well as terrorists who carried out attacks on his Facebook page, and actively called for attacks against Israelis. In July 2016, Abu Sbeih was given a distancing order from the Temple Mount that was to be in effect until the end of October 2016.