Leaders: Abbas must answer for violence
THE recent escalation in Palestinian terrorist attacks is directly linked to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s inciteful rhetoric, local community leaders said this week.
THE recent escalation in Palestinian terrorist attacks is directly linked to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s inciteful rhetoric, local community leaders said this week.
On October 1, Rabbi Eitam and Naama Henkin were shot dead in front of their children by a Palestinian terrorist in the West Bank. On October 3, Rabbi Aharon Bennett and Rabbi Nehemia Lavi were stabbed to death in Jerusalem’s Old City. The attacks have raised fears of the outbreak of a third intifada.
It follows Abbas’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly last week where he accused Israel of destroying the peace process, declared the PA was no longer bound by the 1993 Oslo Accords and accused Israeli groups of “committing repeated, systematic incursions upon Al-Aqsa Mosque … under the protection of Israeli occupying forces”.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Danny Lamm said this “dissertation in distortion and denial” provides “tacit validation to those among the Palestinians who seek to inflict terrorist violence on Israelis”.
“Over recent days we have witnessed the all too predictable bloody consequences of this incitement by the highest echelons of the Palestinian Authority,” he said.
“The path of peace will require Palestinians to abandon their 90-year history of violent rejectionism in favour of a genuine agreement based on mutual recognition and respect. The speech of Mahmoud Abbas – and the murderous terrorism it has spawned – are the polar opposite of what will be needed to make progress towards a workable and enduring peace.
“Our hearts go out to the families of those murdered by these vile acts of terrorism and we extend our wishes for a speedy and complete recovery to those wounded in these attacks.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Robert Goot said that while the Palestinians falsely blame Jews for desecrating Islamic holy sites, “it is Palestinian teenage boys who bring explosives, stones and firebombs into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, egged on by their morally bankrupt leaders who still refuse all Israeli offers to resume negotiations”.
“After inciting his people to violence in several inflammatory speeches, Abbas now cynically calls for ‘international protection’ for the Palestinians ‘before matters get out of control’.
“The rioting Palestinians have no coherent goals or political program. They are simply intent on murdering Jews wherever they find them,” he continued.
Also condemning the violence, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said: “The failure of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to denounce this latest wave of Palestinian terrorism confirms that he currently represents a major stumbling block in any attempt to reconvene serious and viable peace negotiations.
“We call on him to unequivocally condemn these brutal and shocking murders, and take decisive steps to stop abetting and indeed curtail the whole culture of incitement and consequent violence.
“We mourn the tragic loss of the four Israelis killed in these deadly acts of terrorism and pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded.”
GARETH NARUNSKY
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