New York – Four Israelis were killed overnight near the town of Kedumim by a suicide bomber, Mahmoud Masharka, who had been arrested by the Palestinian Authority (PA) but released a few weeks ago. Masharka disguised himself as an orthodox Jew and hitched a ride on the road outside Kedumim from an Israeli car containing four passengers. He then detonated a belt of explosives, instantly killing himself and all occupants.
The group that claimed responsibility for the attack – a new organization linked to Fatah, the movement headed by PA chief Mahmoud Abbas is called Kateb al-Shahid Chamuda. However, Al-Manar TV in Lebanon broadcast another claim of responsibility from part of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz blamed the Hamas-led PA for the attack, which the new Hamas government described as an act of legitimate resistance. PA chief Mahmoud Abbas said only that, ” The Palestinian Authority does not accept it. We condemn it and we don’t think it will help the peace process.” An official of the Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office, David Baker, referred to the PA’s “revolving door policy” whereby the PA occasionally imprisons (normally under international pressure) some terrorists, then quietly releases them at a later date. Baker said that the latest terrorist attack is “further proof that the PA is not taking any steps against terror ” (Haaretz, March 31).
ZOA National Chairman of the Board Dr. Michael Goldblatt said, “It has only taken Hamas to be in power a couple of days for it to be clear that the talk of Hamas moderating or being about to moderate is simply a fiction. Hamas calls this attack in which four Israeli civilians are deliberately murdered legitimate resistance, which clearly indicates Hamas supports and praises terrorism as before. As so often in the past, Mahmoud Abbas did not condemn this act of terrorism on moral grounds, but simply because it doesn’t help the peace process. It was also the PA under the control of Fatah that released Masharka from custody only weeks ago.
As so often in the past, Mahmoud Abbas did not condemn this act of terrorism on moral grounds, but because it harms the peace process — which really means that it is bad public relations for the Palestinians. It was also the PA under the control of Fatah that released Masharka from custody only weeks ago.
“The PA has never truly fought terrorism and it has often released the terrorists it has sometimes arrested, normally under international pressure. This horrific attack and the murder of four innocent Israelis only proves that the PA remains a terrorism-promoting regime.”
“The PA has never truly fought terrorism and it has often released the terrorists it has sometimes arrested, normally under international pressure. This horrific attack and the murder of four innocent Israelis only proves that the PA remains a terrorist-promoting regime.”