The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has pointed again to another two-week period within Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA), which is funded by, among others, the U.S. taxpayer, in which glorification of terrorists and incitement to hatred and violence have been prominent and routine. In this period, senior Fatah/PA leaders praised the rocket barrage launched at Israel from Gaza by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and associated terrorist groups;

Fatah unveiled a new logo containing a map of ‘Palestine’ utterly erasing Israel; and PA radio broadcast a song extolling suicide bombing of Israelis:

• Senior figures in Fatah/PA have publicly voiced praise and support for Hamas’ terrorist rocket attacks upon Israeli civilians in the recent Gaza war. Abbas Zaki, member of Fatah’s Central Committee, said after the recent conflict in Gaza that, “May Allah bless Islamic Jihad, may Allah bless Hamas … I’m in favor of a Palestinian victory in Gaza, Hamas’ and [Islamic] Jihad’s victory. Nothing matters to me now except Israel’s defeat … We of course praise our people’s resolve in Gaza. We praise and salute every hand that launched a rocket at Israel from Gaza, and every hand that threw a stone at the Israeli side in the West Bank.” Senior PA leader and former ‘foreign minister’ Nabil Shaath also expressed solidarity with Hamas, mourning the death of “hero” Ahmed Ja’abari, head of Hamas’ military wing, “May Allah have mercy on the hero Ahmed Al-Ja’abari and on all the Martyrs.” PA leader Jibril Rajoub vowed, Whoever invades our territory, will leave in a pine box. This land is our land … Let those terrorists [i.e., Israeli leaders] and the people supporting them … get out … Out of loyalty to your blood, Arafat, you who died during this month, we will not return the sword to its sheath until there is a state, until your aspirations are realized, until the refugees are returned. I say to you that the return [of the refugees] is among the holiest things for Fatah and all Palestinians. Resistance – in all its forms – is Fatah’s strategic right. Come, let’s agree – and we are ready – if there’s shooting, we’ll shoot. If there are demonstrations, we’ll demonstrate. Long live Palestine! Long live Palestine!” (‘Fatah glorifies Hamas’ rockets from Gaza against Israel and supports armed conflict,’ Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) bulletin, December 13, 2012).

• On December 10, a new Fatah logo was unveiled to mark the 48th anniversary of the movement, which featured a map of ‘Palestine’ that includes all of Israel. This makes the new Fatah logo consistent with official PA maps used in official documents, government offices and schools that do not acknowledge Israel’s existence and mark all of Israel as ‘Palestine.’ Other symbols central to Fatah ideology also appear in the logo, including a rifle and a key symbolizing the Palestinian claim of ownership to houses within Israel (‘New Fatah logo erases Israel,’ PMW bulletin, December 12, 2012).

• On December 1, the PA’s ‘Voice of Palestine’ radio broadcast a song glorifying suicide bombings against Israelis. The song on the official PA radio station was played two days after the PA was granted observer status at the UN, and included these words, “We are bombs … the enemies were beheaded… Grieve not, Mother, shed no tears over my torn flesh … heroic men who mock death … We strapped ourselves with explosives, and trusted in Allah… Onward men, on the roads to glory … We trusted in [Allah] the Merciful and praised Him for the Martyrdom [Shahada]” (PA radio Voice of Palestine, December 1, 2012, translation in PMW bulletin, ‘PA radio song praises suicide bombings against Israelis,’ December 5, 2012).