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Tuesday, January 17, 2017
PMW Bulletins Abbas threatens to cancel claimed PA recognition of Israel

PMW Bulletins Abbas threatens to cancel claimed PA recognition of Israel
by Itamar Marcus Jan. 16, 2017
http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=19890

PA and Fatah map: PA flag over all of Israel
Text: "The revolution continues"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 29, 2016]

Fatah Central Committee member:
As North Vietnam took South Vietnam, a Palestinian state in West Bank will
surely expand and take all of Israel
[Official PA TV, State of Politics, Dec. 26, 2016]

PA's Mufti, Muhammad Hussein:
"Jerusalem and all of Palestine is Islamic land."
[Official PA TV, Dec. 10, 2016]

Abbas' advisor on Islamic Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash:
"The entire land of Palestine is [Islamic] Waqf ... It is prohibited to
sell, bestow ownership or facilitate the occupation of even a millimeter of
it."
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 22, 2014]

On the occasion of yesterday's peace conference with representatives from 72
countries in Paris, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stated that if the US moves
its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem it might lead the Palestinians to
"cancel" their "recognition of Israel:"


"President Abbas said that he wrote to Trump and warned him of the
consequences of the transfer of the embassy, and noted that this 'will not
only negate any legitimacy of the US to fill a role in settling the
conflict, but will also annihilate the two-state solution.' He added that
the Palestinians will discuss several options for a response, after
consultations are held with Arab states, and said: 'Cancelling our
recognition of Israel will be one of them.'"

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 15, 2017]

However, the clear fact is that the Palestinian Authority and Fatah have
never really recognized the State of Israel.

For 20 years, Palestinian Media Watch has been exposing that, despite peace
negotiations, agreements, and declarations, the Palestinians have never
recognized Israel's right to exist - in any borders. In speeches, at events,
and visually, the PA, Fatah, and their leaders have continued to present
"Palestine" as including all of Israel and have expressed that the final
goal is that all Israel's land will be in one state: "Palestine."

Expressing non-recognition in all maps

One recent example is Fatah's map above which was posted with the text: "The
revolution continues." It shows all of Israel and the PA areas together as
one entity with the Palestinian flag symbolizing political sovereignty over
Israel. [Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 29, 2016]

Expressing non-recognition: PA goal is elimination of Israel in stages

Palestinian leaders openly say among themselves that a Palestinian state on
the pre-1967 lines is merely the first stage of replacing all of Israel with
"Palestine." Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad recently told PA
TV that he is not concerned that land he claims for his family is in the
"1948" lands, i.e., in Israel, because he is "certain" that a Palestinian
state in the West Bank will lead to "Palestine" erasing Israel - just like
North Vietnam took South Vietnam:

"We agree to a state on territory that is 22%, and perhaps less, of the land
of historical Palestine. By the way, I personally - all of our [family's]
lands, thousands of acres in the Jezreel Valley (i.e., Israel) - none are in
the 1967 lands (i.e., West Bank), but rather in the 1948 [lands] (i.e., in
Israel). Despite this, I am certain that a Palestinian state on the borders
of June 4, 1967 will return my historical rights to me in full. I am certain
of it. Therefore, I am certain that we need to start. The historical
examples of this are many. North Vietnam. There was a North and a South
[Vietnam]. What is its name now? Vietnam! Isn't it?"

[Official PA TV, State of Politics, Dec. 26, 2016]

Another Fatah Central Committee member, Abbas Zaki, said the same thing to
Al-Jazeera already years ago. The goal of PA policy including that of Abbas,
he said, is to eliminate all of Israel in stages and it will be achieved by
first bringing Israel to the 1967 lines, because then "Israel will come to
an end." He then added: "If I say that I want to remove it from existence,
this will be great, great, [but] it is hard. This is not a [stated] policy.
You can't say it to the world. You can say it to yourself." [Al-Jazeera TV,
Sept. 23, 2011]

Expressing non-recognition through terminology

The PA leaders' use of the euphemism "1948 lands" (see above)instead of
saying "Israel," is another glaring example of their non-recognition of
Israel's right to exist. At other times Israel is referred to as "occupied
Palestine." Palestinian Media Watch has documented hundreds of examples of
the use of these terms.

Expressing non-recognition as Islamic law

In recent years, the PA and Fatah leaders have added an Islamic prohibition
against recognition of Israel to their political refusal to recognize
Israel, by which the PA is echoing Hamas ideology. PA and Fatah religious
leaders are now teaching that it violates Islamic law to recognize Israel
because all of Israel is said to be on "Islamic land" - "Waqf." Allah
demands Palestinians to liberate it and "not give up a single grain" of it.

In December 2016, the PA's Grand Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Hussein reiterated
that Islam prohibits recognition of Israel in any borders while speaking in
front of the top PA leadership: Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Rami
Hamdallah, Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida'is, and Supreme
Shari'ah Judge and Abbas' advisor on Islamic Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash. The
Mufti said that "All of Palestine is Islamic land" and encouraged
Palestinians to continue religious conflict:


"We will establish the Palestinian state despite the doubts of the doubters,
because the Palestinian people has the solid will, the Jihadi and combative
will. This people of Ribat (i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed
to be Islamic)... Allah willing, it will continue to carry out Ribat at the
gates of the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and at the gates of Jerusalem. The call of
Monotheism, the call to prayer, will remain loud and heard in the Al-Aqsa
Mosque plaza, Jerusalem, and all of Palestine, because all of Palestine is
Islamic land."

[Speech in front of PA top officials, PA ceremony marking birthday

of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, Official PA TV, Dec. 10, 2016]


This Islamic prohibition to recognize Israel in any borders was stated
explicitly by a close advisor to Mahmoud Abbas and the PA's Supreme Shari'ah
Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash:

"The entire land of Palestine is Waqf (an inalienable religious endowment in
Islamic law) and is blessed land... It is prohibited to sell, bestow
ownership or facilitate the occupation of even a millimeter of it."

[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 22, 2014]

Expressing non-recognition through education

These messages that all of Israel is "Palestine" are a central part of the
Palestinian Authority education as well. When the PA Ministry of Education
recently launched its First Palestinian School Counseling Committee, it
chose a logo displaying the PA map of "Palestine" that includes all of
Israel, covered with the PA flag. One member of the committee was Minister
of Education and Higher Education Dr. Sabri Saidam (seated third from the
left).
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 22, 2016]

Palestinian non-recognition of Israel in any borders is one of the
fundamental components of Palestinian Authority ideology that are repeated
incessantly to the Palestinian population while PA leaders are careful to
hide it from the international community. Abbas' threat to "cancel
recognition" is therefore meaningless for the Palestinian population, as it
is well aware that "Palestine" in PA ideology already encompasses all of
Israel.

A poll by the Washington Institute for Near East Studies found that for
Palestinians a peace treaty with Israel, therefore, would not mean the end
of the conflict. Rather, Palestinians would then want to continue working
"toward reclaiming all of historic Palestine." The poll showed that
Palestinians understand that this is the PA leaders' policy as well:

"A clear majority (60% overall, including 55% in the West Bank and 68% in
Gaza) say that the five-year goal 'should be to work toward reclaiming all
of historic Palestine, from the river to the sea.' ...

This pattern is confirmed by other questions in the survey. For example,
just one-third said that a two-state solution 'should be the end of the
conflict.' Nearly two-thirds said 'resistance should continue until all of
historic Palestine is liberated.' And only a third said that 'it might be
necessary to give up some of our claims so that our people and our children
can have a better life.'

Similarly, only a third said that a two-state solution would be their
leadership's final goal. Instead, almost two-thirds said it would be 'part
of a "program of stages," to liberate all of historic Palestine later.' This
remarkable finding helps explain how a plurality or more of Palestinians can
support President Mahmoud Abbas and reject a two-state solution at the same
time."

[The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 25, 2014]

The international community's failure to realize that the Palestinian
Authority does not recognize Israel and has taught its people and especially
its children to reject Israel in all borders, is one of the great failures
of international diplomacy, and remains one of the fundamental impediments
to peace.

The following is Abbas' statement about the Palestinian cancellation of
their "recognition" of Israel if the US moves its embassy to Jerusalem:

Headline: "The [PA] president [Abbas] calls on participants in the Paris
Conference to take tangible steps to implement the international decisions -
transferring the American embassy will hinder the peace process, and
canceling our recognition of Israel will be one of our options"

"[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday [Jan. 14, 2017] inaugurated the
Palestinian embassy at the Vatican. He met with Pope Francis, and again
warned against the plan of US President-elect Donald Trump to transfer the
American embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem. During the
inauguration of the embassy... the president again emphasized his opposition
to the possibility that the American embassy will be transferred to
Jerusalem, and said: 'The Palestinians are waiting to see what will happen.
We hope that this is not true, because it will thwart the peace process.'

President Abbas emphasized that he 'extends his hand to President-elect
Trump for cooperation in order to reach peace on the basis of international
law.' He added that 'any attempt to give legal validity to the illegal
annexation of Jerusalem by Israel will eliminate the prospects of the
political process, dispel the hopes of a solution based on two states, and
encourage the extremism in our region and in the world.' ...

In an interview that was published yesterday in the French paper Le Figaro,
President Abbas said that he wrote to Trump and warned him of the
consequences of the transfer of the embassy, and noted that this 'will not
only negate any legitimacy of the US to fill a role in settling the
conflict, but will also annihilate the two-state solution.'

He added that the Palestinians will discuss several options for a response,
after consultations are held with Arab states, and said: 'Cancelling our
recognition of Israel will be one of them, but we hope that we will not
reach that, and that instead we will be able to work with the next American
administration.'"

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 15, 2017; official PA TV News,
Jan. 14, 2017]

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