By Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute—
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has not been seen in public since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the region last month. His absence, however, has not stopped Abbas from doing what he does best: praising and glorifying Palestinians who kill Jews.
On April 16, Palestinians marked the anniversary of the assassination of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a PLO leader and co-founder of the Palestinian ruling faction Fatah, which is today headed by Abbas. Before Abu Jihad was assassinated by Israeli commandos at his home in Tunis in 1988, he had planned several terror attacks inside Israel against both civilian and military targets.
Last week, Abbas, who is supposed to be busy helping his people curb the spread of the coronavirus, found the time to publish a statement describing Abu Jihad as “one of the historic leaders” of the Palestinians who “played an important role during an “historic, difficult and dangerous phase.”
Abbas, in his statement, went on to praise Abu Jihad for “representing a legacy and an example of sacrifice for the sake of a free and independent Palestine.” Abu Jihad, he added, was an “inspiration to all the freedom fighters who sacrificed their blood for the fulfillment of the hopes and aspirations of their people for freedom and independence.”
What exactly, as Abbas argues, is Abu Jihad’s “legacy” and what made him an “inspiration to all freedom fighters”?
Abu Jihad was a Palestinian “leader” who was responsible for the death of not only Jews, but Arabs as well.
Abu Jihad played an important military role in Jordan during the 1970-71 Black September clashes between the PLO and the Jordanian Army, according to the Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. “He also supplied the encircled Palestinian forces in Jarash and Ajlun,” it noted.
Acting as a state within a state, the PLO forces disregarded Jordanian laws and regulations, and even attempted to assassinate King Hussein twice — leading to violent confrontations between the Palestinian forces and the Jordanian army.
The exact number of Palestinians and Jordanians killed during the clashes remains unknown. Former PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat claimed that Jordan’s army had killed 25,000 Palestinians.
As someone who played an “important role” in the Black September clashes, Abu Jihad has the blood of many Palestinians and Jordanians on his hand.
After he and Arafat were expelled from Jordan to Lebanon, Abu Jihad planned a series of terrorist attacks against Israel.
On March 6, 1975, in the late hours of the night, two dinghies reached the shores of Tel Aviv. The boats carried two terrorist units sent by Abu Jihad to carry out a revenge attack for a 1973 raid on Lebanon, known as Operation Spring of Youth. Continue Reading…
