Condolences to former National Assembly Speaker Salim al-Zanoun (Abu al-Adeeb) on his sister's death
Condolences to the parents of a teen killed during a violent protest
Congratulations to the Emir of Kuwait on their independence day
Condolences on the death of a "brigadier general" in Gaza
Congratulations to the Dominican Republic president on their independence day
Condolences to a "major general" on the death of his son
Congratulations to the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina on their independence day
A meeting with UNRWA representatives and affirming the importance of that organization
Congratulations to the president of Bulgaria on its independence day
Not a word of concern, let alone condemnation, of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Likewise, the Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs has been completely silent about Ukraine.
The PA prime minister Mohamed Shtayyeh didn't completely ignore Ukraine in his statements. Last Friday evening, he called the Palestinian envoy to Ukraine to check on the safety of 2500 Palestinians there. And during his normal weekly cabinet meeting, he said that he is monitoring the developments there and that many Palestinians managed to escape.
As the entire world condemned Russia, the PA has remained silent.
Silence is assent.
I noted on Twitter that there are a lot of similarities between how Russia has acted during this invasion and how the Palestinian leadership always acts:
* Accusing the other side of being "Nazis"
* Accusing the other side of "genocide"
* Censoring local media
* Claiming that a UN-member nation is really part of their territory
* Lying as a strategy
Of course, the Palestinian propaganda strategy was largely created by the Soviet Union and Russians are masters at propaganda.
Palestinian leaders want to be considered part of the community of nations. Yet in every single conflict since World War II, they have sided with the dictatorships, the despots and the violators of human rights. From Hitler to Saddam Hussein to Moammar Qaddafi to Iran to Venezuela, you see warm relations and support.
Mahmoud Abbas and Vladimir Putin were employed by the KGB at the same time, and Abbas led a Palestinian-Soviet friendship foundation.
The only thing stopping Abbas from publicly supporting Putin is that he still gets significant funding from Western European nations who would be very upset at such support. But ideologically, the PLO leadership and the Russians are on the same page, and always have been.
