Unlike all of the recent attacks by knife or car, in this case Mahmoud Abbas issued a "condemnation."
His words shows exactly what a disgusting human being he is.
Here was his entire statement:
The president always condemns killings of civilians from any party whatsoever, and condemns the killing of worshipers today in one of the houses of worship in West Jerusalem, and also denounces all violent acts no matter what their source is, and demands an end to the ongoing incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the provocative acts by Israeli settlers as well as incitement by some Israeli ministers.This is not a condemnation. This is an anti-Israel polemic that uses a terror attack as a hook in order to issue a statement slamming Israel an blaming all Arab terror on the victims.
The presidency also confirms that it is time to end the occupation and end the causes of tension and violence, affirming our commitment to a just-based solution on the basis of a two-state solution, in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, and maintain an atmosphere of calm and understandings that have been made with King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister American John Kerry in Amman.
Abbas doesn't acknowledge that his own people were behind the attack. For all anyone knows from his statement, the men massacred in their prayer shawls might have been killed by people from Japan - or Mea Shearim.
Moreover, Abbas' deliberately pointing out that this attack happened in "West Jerusalem" indicates that had the men been in a synagogue in other parts of Jerusalem, everything would have been just fine.
And as with every single other "condemnation" of terror by Abbas in history, he doesn't say that the slaughter is immoral or against Palestinian Arab morals. He is bothered far more about any backlash that he might get for not condemning it than he is about the murder of four Jewish worshipers.
The synagogue slaughter didn't even merit a stand-alone sentence.
After his perfunctory "condemnation" that wasn't even that, Abbas goes on his usual anti-Israel harangue, so that the "condemnation" of the attack is dwarfed by about 10 other statements. He turns his statement into a naked insult to the Jews who dare consider praying in other parts of Jerusalem.
It is obvious that the current spate of attacks is at least partially due to Abbas' incitement, calling for Palestinian Arabs to "defend Al Aqsa by any means." His official TV station has been broadcasting antisemitism.
And Abbas' own advisors assure their people in Arabic that Abbas really does support all terror attacks. His advisor advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash said on November 5, "First of all, allow me to say that we kiss every forehead, every hand and even every foot that carries out Ribat (religious conflict/ war over land claimed to be Islamic) at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in Jerusalem... We are behind them. The leadership is with them... We are with them in every movement, in every action and every deed, and we welcome what they are doing at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque."
Abbas' "condemnation" was released in order to re-assure Western leaders that he is really a "man of peace" while he simultaneously tells his people to keep on killing Jews, and he is behind them 100%. Just try to avoid Jews whose deaths would make him look bad.