Erekat compares Abbas to Mother Teresa and Thomas Jefferson

Saeb Erekat, that moderate darling of the West, keeps making preposterous statements in Arabic that the Western media ignores.

His latest is that he is fearful that Abbas would meet the fate of Yasir Arafat - meaning, of course, that Israel would assassinate Abbas the way that Erekat fearlessly accuses Israel of killing Arafat.

He added, "I'm telling you: if Mother Teresa was Chairperson of the Palestinian people and Montesquieu was the Chairman of the Parliament and Thomas Jefferson was president and prime minister and favored a Palestinian state on the '67 borders and Jerusalem as its capital and resolving the refugee issue, our partners [Israel] would describe them as terrorists and say they should get rid of them."

Erekat then showed off his flexibility and moderation by once again listing the PLO's red lines:

First we can not accept Israel as a Jewish state. Secondly we can not accept any Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, without Jerusalem. Thirdly we can not accept any Israeli on Palestinian territory, sea or air, after the completion of the gradual withdrawal. Fourth we can not accept any solution without the exercise of the refugees' right of return according to Resolution 194, the right of return and compensation, and (fifth) the release of all prisoners at the signing of the agreement. This is the Palestinian position.

In other words, if they cannot be allowed to destroy Israel demographically, the Palestinian Arabs would prefer not to have a state at all. A peace agreement is less important than allowing murderers to go free and become heroes. Taking away Jewish rights to practice their religion in their holiest city is a basic Arab right. If the PLO does not receive all of its demands, then it would prefer not to have a state with compromises. It would prefer that millions of Palestinian Arabs remain stateless for the next 65 years. It would consider terrorism as a right to get what it demands (as the Fatah platform states explicitly.)

Doesn't this sound just like something Mother Teresa or Thomas Jefferson would say?

The media, of course, is hiding Erekat's absurd words.

Erekat made the same comparison over a year ago. The ever vigilant media missed the story entirely.

Ma'an reported on the assassination accusation - but studiously ignored the part about Mother Teresa that was in the very same article.

But there's more.

Nine years ago, Erekat made another version of this statement that is even more outrageous - and that showed that he justifies terror.

Erekat added that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory "would have turned Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela into terrorists."

This is what Erekat really believes - not that Israel falsely considers Palestinian Arab leaders to be terrorist, but that they have the right to be terrorists.

Over the years he has honed that message to be a bit more Western-friendly. He still says stupid things, but he can rely on the media to edit his words so he is not embarrassed. After all, he is the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Arabs - it wouldn't be right to show that he is an immoral supporter of terrorism, right?