Palestinian Leaders Punish Gaza, Blame Israel

by Khaled Abu Toameh • March 28, 2019 at 5:00 am

Rather than demanding that Hamas cease and desist from endangering the lives of Palestinians by sending them to clash with Israeli soldiers, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its leaders are condemning Israel for perpetrating "crimes" against Palestinians. According to the logic of the PA, the conflict started when Israel fired back.
Abbas and his officials have apparently not heard of the arson kites and booby-trapped balloons that have been launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli towns on nearly a daily basis over the past few months. They also apparently have not have not heard of the rockets and mortars that are fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel almost every day. The PA further appears unaware that Hamas has been sending thousands of Palestinians to attack Israeli soldiers with explosive devices, firebombs and rocks.
Abbas and the PA are simply doing the one thing they are good at: trying to frame Israel for Palestinian crimes against their own people. Clearly, the PA leaders are afraid to condemn the rocket attacks on Israel. They evidently do not want to be accused by their people of betraying the Palestinian "resistance" against Israel.

Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are doing the one thing they are good at: trying to frame Israel for Palestinian crimes against their own people. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Until a few days ago, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its leaders were strongly denouncing Hamas for its brutal crackdown on Palestinians protesting economic hardship in the Gaza Strip.

Now, the PA is condemning Israel for launching military strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli strikes, however, were provoked; they came hours after a long-range rocket fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip hit a house in the Kfar Saba region of Israel, and injured seven people.

The PA and its leaders, including Mahmoud Abbas, have yet to condemn the launching of rockets at Israel. Instead of condemning those responsible for firing the first rocket, which miraculously did not result in any deaths when it hit a home in the early hours of the morning, the PA leaders are lashing out at Israel for launching a "new aggression" against the Gaza Strip.

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Turkey: Want to Win an Election? Bash the Jews!

by Uzay Bulut • March 28, 2019 at 4:00 am

The Turkish president repeated a long-standing lie, claiming, "We have never persecuted any Jew here in this country. We have never done to the synagogues the things you do [to mosques]. Do not provoke us."
Contrary to Erdoğan's assertions, anti-Semitism in Turkey is actually widespread -- not surprising, given the open anti-Semitism expressed in Turkey by Erdoğan, members of parliament, journalists and political activists.
Then there is the anti-Semitism expressed by Erdogan supporters, claiming that Fethullah Gülen -- the self-exiled, U.S.-based Turkish Muslim cleric whom Erdogan blames for the failed 2016 coup attempt -- is actually a Jew.
Erdogan's implied threat to the Jews of his country, that they might suffer negative consequences as a result of the actions of Israel, should be viewed with deep concern.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently issued a veiled threat to Turkey's 15,000 Jews. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

In the run-up to the Turkey's local elections on March 31, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken his diplomatic brawl with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a new level, even issuing a veiled threat to Turkey's 15,000 Jews.

During a rally of supporters on March 13, Erdogan said tauntingly, "Hey Netanyahu, behave yourself. You are a tyrant...who massacred seven-year-old Palestinian children." Erdoğan went on to refer to the unrest on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem -- Judaism's holiest site, and the location of the Al Aqsa Mosque -- by implying that if Israeli soldiers and police continued to "enter our sacred places with their combat boots," Turkish Jewry would pay a heavy price.

A few days later, at a ceremony commemorating the Battle of Gallipoli, Erdoğan compared Netanyahu's son, Yair, to the white supremacist who murdered 50 Muslim worshipers in Christchurch, New Zealand the previous week.

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