Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas continues to propagate false allegations against Israel, contributing to widespread Palestinian incitement that continues to fuel terrorist attacks against Israelis.
On Monday, Abbas repeated two of his demonstrably inaccurate claims, accusing Israel of attempting to change the status quo on the Temple Mount by increasing Jewish activity there, and saying that Israeli authorities are conducting "extrajudicial killings" of Palestinian terrorists, the Times of Israel reports.
Last month, Abbas's claim about Israeli "field executions" of Palestinian terror suspects was debunked, including the case of a Palestinian teenager responsible for a stabbing attack that wounded two Israelis, including a 13-year-old boy.
"We will not give up to the logic of brute force, policies of occupation and aggression practiced by the Israeli government and the herd of settlers who are engaged in terrorism against our people, our holy places, our homes, our trees and the execution of our children in cold blood as they did with the child Ahmed Manasrah and other children from Jerusalem," Abbas said in an address broadcast on Palestine TV.
Israeli officials released video and photograph evidence of the teenaged terrorist Ahmed Manasrah, being treated at an Israeli hospital.
These fabrications are among the widespread propaganda espoused by Abbas and other Fatah and PA officials contributing to the growing violent incitement against Israelis. Official Palestinian institutions glorify attacks – setting up memorials in to honor terrorists – and encouraging more killing.
On Monday, a Palestinian stabbed and killed an Israeli soldier near the central West Bank town Modi'in. Two other Israelis were injured in the attack, including a woman who was struck by ensuing gunfire from Israeli troops.
Israeli forces shot and killed the Palestinian terrorist. These attacks occurred hours after two Palestinian girls used scissors to stab a 70-year-old man who turned out to be a Palestinian in Jerusalem.
On Sunday, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed and killed 21-year-old Hadar Buchris in Gush Etzion. Ofer Merin, director of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, said that Buchris was stabbed several times in the head and torso.
In Monday's statement, Abbas charged Israel with trying to "change the identity, historical and demographic character of Jerusalem."
Some observers believe Abbas' blatant libel and calls for resistance directly contributed to the ongoing wave of violence plaguing Israelis since the start of October.
"The Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is ours ... and they have no right to defile it with their filthy feet. We will not allow them to, and we will do everything in our power to protect Jerusalem...Every martyr (Shahid) will reach Paradise, and everyone wounded will be rewarded by Allah, " Abbas said in a speech in September, segments of which aired on official PA TV.
Abbas repeated these false claims a day before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel for separate talks with Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to calm tensions.
Abbas could have attempted to help that effort by calling for the attacks to stop immediately, pointing out they do nothing to advance the Palestinian dream of statehood. If anything, the random violence makes that dream more difficult to realize. Instead, he chose to rationalize the killing, calling it the "inevitable result of diminishing hopes, the continued strangulation, siege and pressure and the lack of sense of security and safety felt by our people."