Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Elder of Ziyon
Six years ago today, two Palestinian terrorists equipped with axes, a meat cleaver and a gun entered the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue while worshipers were praying the silent Amidah prayer. They hacked four rabbis to death and injured seven other worshipers, one of whom died nearly a year later after never waking from his coma. They also shot a Druze policeman to death.
At the time, the PFLP claimed responsibility. The terrorists were cousins and were related to a PFLP terrorist convicted of attempted murder who had been released earlier in 2014 as an Israeli goodwill gesture to restart "peace talks." Israeli police say that the murderers, who worked in a nearby grocery store, seemed to have acted alone.
Today, the Gaza-based Palestine Today newspaper, which is run by Islamic Jihad, celebrates this anniversary of the cold-blooded murders.
Its disgusting article says, "Today the sixth anniversary of a heroic operation at the hands of the mujahideen Uday and Ghassan Abu Jamal inside a synagogue, using a large ax and two revolvers, on the land of Deir Yassin, west of Jerusalem, where the Abu Jamals managed to attack five rabbis, killing them and wounding others."
"Uday and Ghassan were distinguished by high morals and humanity, as they were distinguished by love, patience, will, strength and courage, and they were very keen to provide assistance to every needy person. Uday was always sitting near his 90-year old grandmother, inviting her to chant the songs of the Palestinian revolution and the fedayeen, which had a great impact on his upbringing, and paving the way for his path towards martyrdom. As for Ghassan, the compassionate father of three children (Walid, Salma and Muhammad), he was distinguished by his intense love for his children, and perhaps this love was a reason for him to sacrifice his blood to secure a future free of humiliation and dishonor, full of pride and dignity," the article continues.
As usual, there is not the slightest pushback from other Palestinian media denouncing a major news site celebrating the massacre of people because they were Jews. I have never seen any Palestinian (outside the ones who are famous for their dissent like Bassem Eid) condemn this bloodlust in website comments or social media. Articles like this that celebrate the most heinous attacks are part of the fabric of Palestinian society and no one in that world - no "moderate" PLO member, no newspaper columnist, no Facebook poster - finds this celebration of murdering rabbis the least bit objectionable.
In fact, it wasn't only Palestine Today celebrating the attack. Several weeks ago these two murderers were featured in a Palestinian TV piece as heroes. At the time of the attack a Palestinian news site fictionalized the murders by imagining the terrorists' conversations and actions at the time as heroic. Other sites insisted that the attackers were heroes and represented the best of Palestinian ideals. You can still find YouTube videos extolling the murders.
This is Palestinian society. Celebrating the murder of religious Jews at prayer is mainstream, not fringe.
