FRESH AIR

UPDATES

Speaking Violence, Hearing Silence

Sep 27, 2015 | Ari Wenig

Speaking Violence
news_item/Mahmoud-Abbas-Ramallah-AP.jpg

The hypocricy is almost breathtaking:  pleading to the international media for an end to violence at the risk of “an intifada that we don’t want”, whilst simultaneously inciting Palestinians to do “everything in [their] power” to stop the Jews “defiling [the Al-Aqsa] with their filthy feet“, assuring them that “martyrs will be rewarded… by Allah”.  The speaker was President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and  the bulk of the  international media and political community  responded with indifference. After appeals by Israel,  the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon responded to  these remarks, but only with a timid cautioning to Abbas that his “inflammatory statements will increase tensions”, as reported by Israel Radio on Tuesday.

Indeed, Abbas’ comments have appeared to “increase tensions” during an already heightened surge in Palestinian violence in Jerusalem around the Jewish High Holidays, during which flares and pipe bombs hidden in the Al-Aqsa mosque were discovered by Israeli intelligence and confiscated in a raid by Israeli Police.  The Prime Minister’s office has insisted that Israel will “use any means…to enable freedom of religious practice in this holy place”, providing assurances at the same time that, despite false claims to the contrary, Israel will maintain the post 1967 status quo on the Temple Mount. And yet, once again, an Israeli attempt to maintain order has been misrepresented as an “attack”, used as an opportunity to encourage Palestinian belligerence and evoke fear, and deemed “disproportionate.”
 
The true “disproportion” is in the international reaction, or lack thereof, to Abbas’ incitement. When will the Palestinian Authority be held accountable for its inflammatory words? And, more importantly, when will they be held to the same standard to which Israel is held? As articulated in a statement by Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold, “today the world is divided between those trying to undermine religious coexistence and those trying to protect it. By saying that the ‘filthy feet’ of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount desecrate it, Mahmoud Abbas has now clarified on which side he stands”. In this vein, one would hope that the silence of the international community is not reflective of their attitude towards religious coexistence. The gravity of Abbas’ words should not be overlooked, but  taken as a reminder that ending and reversing widespread incitement towards Israel and Jews in elements of Palestinian society remains an essential prerequisite for achieving that goal.

Ari Wenig

Tags:

RELATED ARTICLES


French UNIFIL troops on patrol in southern Lebanon in April 2015 (image: Sebastian Castelier/ Shutterstock)

UNIFIL, the LAF and myths about Lebanese sovereignty

Nov 13, 2024 | Featured, Fresh AIR
GbVvR9GWgAAfPGb (1)

“Backbone”? UNRWA delivers just 13% of the aid in Gaza

Nov 8, 2024 | Featured, Fresh AIR
The sentiment is clear on the streets of Kuala Lumpur (Image: Shutterstock)

Malaysia’s recalcitrant antisemitism

Nov 8, 2024 | Featured, Fresh AIR
Screenshot 2024 02 08 At 9.45.23 pm

Gaza polio clinic blast coverage a classic case of ABC bias

Nov 7, 2024 | Featured, Fresh AIR
Image: Shutterstock

The secret history of  UNIFIL’s relationship with Hezbollah

Nov 6, 2024 | Featured, Fresh AIR
Israeli Settlements Near Bethlehem

Report: Approvals for West Bank settlement expansion ‘stuck’

Nov 4, 2024 | Featured, Fresh AIR
D11a774c 2a47 C987 F4ce 2d642e6d9c8d

Bibi in DC, the Houthi threat and the politicised ICJ opinion

Jul 26, 2024 | Update
Image: Shutterstock

Nine months after Oct. 7: Where Israel stands now

Jul 10, 2024 | Update
Palestinian Red Crescent workers from Al-Najjar Hospital in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip (Image: Shutterstock)

Hamas’ impossible casualty figures

Mar 28, 2024 | Update
455daec3 C2a8 8752 C215 B7bd062c6bbc

After the Israel-Hamas ceasefire for hostages deal

Nov 29, 2023 | Update
Screenshot of Hamas bodycam footage as terrorists approach an Israeli vehicle during the terror organisation's October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, released by the IDF and GPO (Screenshot)

Horror on Video / International Law and the Hamas War

Oct 31, 2023 | Update
Sderot, Israel. 7th Oct, 2023. Bodies of dead Israelis lie on the ground following the attacks of Hamas (Image: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/Alamy Live News)

Israel’s Sept. 11, only worse

Oct 11, 2023 | Update

RECENT POSTS

French UNIFIL troops on patrol in southern Lebanon in April 2015 (image: Sebastian Castelier/ Shutterstock)

UNIFIL, the LAF and myths about Lebanese sovereignty

GbVvR9GWgAAfPGb (1)

“Backbone”? UNRWA delivers just 13% of the aid in Gaza

UNRWA headquarters in Gaza (Image: Anas Mohammed/ Shutterstock)

Global community incensed by Israel’s banning of UNRWA should consider its ugly history

The sentiment is clear on the streets of Kuala Lumpur (Image: Shutterstock)

Malaysia’s recalcitrant antisemitism

Screenshot 2024 02 08 At 9.45.23 pm

Gaza polio clinic blast coverage a classic case of ABC bias

French UNIFIL troops on patrol in southern Lebanon in April 2015 (image: Sebastian Castelier/ Shutterstock)

UNIFIL, the LAF and myths about Lebanese sovereignty

GbVvR9GWgAAfPGb (1)

“Backbone”? UNRWA delivers just 13% of the aid in Gaza

UNRWA headquarters in Gaza (Image: Anas Mohammed/ Shutterstock)

Global community incensed by Israel’s banning of UNRWA should consider its ugly history

The sentiment is clear on the streets of Kuala Lumpur (Image: Shutterstock)

Malaysia’s recalcitrant antisemitism

Screenshot 2024 02 08 At 9.45.23 pm

Gaza polio clinic blast coverage a classic case of ABC bias

SORT BY TOPICS