From Ian:
JCPA: Do Stabbing Attacks Constitute Terrorism?
PMW: Rock-throwing dolls for Palestinian children misrepresented by PA
JCPA: Do Stabbing Attacks Constitute Terrorism?
It is curious to note that Sweden recently adopted a “New Swedish strategy against terrorism” as presented to the Swedish parliament by its minister for home affairs on August 28, 2015.PMW: Fatah official: “Whoever succeeded in killing, this is a big thing”
This strategy states:
Terrorism threatens international peace and security, national security and our fundamental rights and freedoms. Every year, numerous terrorist attacks are carried out around the world. Recent years have seen a sharp increase in problems related to foreign terrorist fighters and there is presently no indication that this trend will abate.
The strategy sets the goal of all counter-terrorism activities – to keep terrorist attacks from being carried out, including a specific reference for the need to prevent terror through influencing “the intent of individuals to commit or support terrorist crime”.
Clearly, stabbing attacks by individuals – even against Israelis – would enter within the need, as set out in the Swedish strategy against terrorism, to “Prevent, Preempt and Protect against such terror.”
Why did the Swedish leadership, while acknowledging the need to prevent individuals from carrying out acts of terror, nevertheless appear to have maintained such a blatant double-standard in denying that knife attacks by individuals against Israeli citizens could be acts of terror?
While any prime minister and foreign minister are human and may even make mistakes, one might assume that in any efficient governmental system, statements on major issues of a legal nature issued by senior governmental representatives, regarding actions of friendly states, would be based on accurate knowledge and awareness of the legal principles involved and devoid of partisan double-standards. It appears the Swedish government may be taking a crash course on these anti-terrorist principles.
After mentioning by name two terrorists who in total murdered four Israelis, senior Fatah official Abbas Zaki praised all Palestinian attackers, and in particular those who succeeded to murder:
“Whoever succeeded in killing, this is a big thing, and whoever [was killed but] succeeded in at least scaring the Israeli pedestrian is also a Martyr.”[Official PA TV, Oct. 31, 2015]
According to Zaki, all those who attacked Israelis are “giants,” “leaders,” and “pioneers” and those who died attacking Israelis are “Martyrs.” Although terrorist Raed Jaradat did not “succeed” in killing anyone, but “only” stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli soldier, Zaki singled him out, stating that he is “just like” the murderers, i.e., just as honorable. Zaki exemplifies the PA policy Palestinian Media Watch has documented of turning terrorists into role models and heroes for society, stating that this stabber surely will have something named after him:
“I believe that, Allah willing, something will be built and named after him [Raed]. When Palestine is liberated, Allah willing, he will have at least an institution named after him, and a statue [made] of him.”
PMW: Rock-throwing dolls for Palestinian children misrepresented by PA
A container load of dolls holdings rocks in their raised hands (see picture above) and wearing Palestinian headscarves - keffiyehs - with the inscriptions "Jerusalem is ours" and "O Jerusalem, here we come" was intended for Palestinian Authority children to play with. However, the Israeli Customs Authority confiscated the dolls shipped from the United Arab Emirates as "inciting material" this week.
The official PA daily referred to the confiscation as the "Israeli war against children's dolls" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 9, 2015] and pretended the problem was the Palestinian headscarf: "Israel confiscated 4,000 dolls whose faces were covered with a Palestinian keffiyeh!" The paper did not mention the fact that the doll is positioned to throw a rock and is promoting child violence.
However, this reaction is not surprising as the rock-throwing doll fits nicely the hate and violence messages of PA children's education. Palestinian Media Watch has reported that a PA school recently honored and named a football tournament after a terrorist who stabbed and seriously injured two civilians. Similarly, Fatah official Tawfiq Tirawi praised his 2-year-old son for singing "Daddy, buy me a machine gun and a rifle, so that I will defeat Israel and the Zionists":



















