Praise for bus bombing in Jerusalem
posted by Fatah on Facebook
"The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
bless the self-sacrificing operation...
the good news of victory keeps arriving...
a bus bombing operation in the occupied city of Jerusalem,
in which dozens of Zionists were injured"
Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Yesterday, a terror attack took place in Jerusalem when a bomb exploded on a bus, injuring 21 people. The attack follows 6 months of Palestinian attacks that have included stabbings, shootings, and car rammings, in which 34 Israelis have been murdered and nearly 400 injured. No one has yet claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack.
Fatah chose to respond to the news of the attack with words of praise and celebration. Fatah posted on its official Facebook page an announcement from a division of its military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, in the Gaza Strip. In the announcement, the Brigades "bless" the attack, referring to it as "good news of victory," and praising the fact that "dozens of Zionists were injured":
"The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades bless the self-sacrificing operation (i.e., bombing of a bus on April 18, 2016) in Jerusalem. For our Jerusalem and our Al-Aqsa Mosque, the good news of victory keeps arriving today, in a display we have not seen in a long time - a bus bombing operation in the occupied city of Jerusalem, in which dozens of Zionists were injured."
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Donia Al-Watan, and
Ma'an (independent Palestinian news agencies), April 18, 2016]
The announcement published by Fatah claimed the bombing was "a natural response to the occupation's crimes," and called such attacks "the best option of response." Speaking in the name of the Brigades, it stated that the bus bombing shows that Palestinians continue to choose the option of armed struggle against Israel to bring about its "degrading expulsion from Palestine":
"The Brigades stress that this operation indicates that our people adheres to the option of armed struggle against the occupation with all possible means until its [Israel's] degrading expulsion from Palestine. The revolution is until victory."
The post was later deleted from the Fatah Facebook page but remained on the independent Palestinian news agencies Donia Al-Watan and Ma'an.
Fatah's spokesman in Jerusalem, Raafat Alayan, justified the attack as self-defense, claiming that Israel causes the violence:
"We do not seek or want violence, but at the same time we seek and wish to live in dignity and security. However, the occupation government's policy aims to drag the region into a cycle of violence."
[Donia Al-Watan (independent Palestinian news agency),
and official Fatah Facebook page, April 18, 2016]
The following are longer excerpts of the two posts on Fatah Facebook:
Headline: "In the first official response - Fatah: The operation was a natural response to the occupation's crimes"
"Official Fatah spokesman in occupied Jerusalem Raafat Alayan emphasized that what happened today [April 18, 2016] on the Israeli bus in occupied Jerusalem was a natural response to the Israeli acts against the Palestinian people, including killing, arrests, blockades, and repeated invasions of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Alayan added that we do not seek or want violence, but at the same time we seek and wish to live in dignity and security. However, the occupation government's policy aims to drag the region into a cycle of violence, and we have warned the Israeli right-wing government time after time that this policy of escalation will not lead to security for the Israelis. Alayan concluded his words: If Israel is looking for a security solution - there are no such solutions with the Palestinian people, the only solution is for Israel to implement the decisions of the international institutions."
[Donia Al-Watan (independent Palestinian news agency),
and official Fatah Facebook page, April 18, 2016]
Note: The PA considers any presence of Jews on the Temple Mount an "invasion."
Image and text posted on the Official Fatah Facebook page
"In the name of All Merciful Allah
'Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a believing people.' (Quran. Surah 9:14, trans. Sahih International)
An Announcement on behalf of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (Fatah's military wing) - Palestine, 'The Martyr Nidal Al-Amoudi Division' (i.e., the division is in the Gaza Strip)
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades bless the self-sacrificing operation (i.e., bombing of a bus on April 18, 2016) in Jerusalem.
For our Jerusalem and our Al-Aqsa Mosque, the good news of victory keeps arriving today, in a display we have not seen in a long time - a bus bombing operation in the occupied city of Jerusalem, in which dozens of Zionists were injured.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades' Al-Amoudi Division blesses the self-sacrificing operation and emphasizes that this operation is a natural response to the occupation's ongoing crimes and clear evidence that the free men in the West Bank have answered the call of their Brigades, according to which the Martyrdom-seeking operations are the best option of response to the occupation's crimes in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. Likewise, the Brigades call on their fighters in the West Bank and Jerusalem to fight with every possible means, and call on all of their people to mobilize at all points of friction [with Israel] and in direct operations (i.e., attacks) which will place the settlers on the land of Palestine in [fire] range of the rifles of the Brigades, wherever they [the settlers] are.
The Brigades stress that this operation indicates that our people adheres to the option of armed struggle against the occupation with all possible means until its [Israel's] degrading expulsion from Palestine.
The revolution is until victory
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - Palestine
The Martyr Nidal Al-Amoudi Division
Fatah's military wing
April 18, 2016"
[Official Fatah Facebook page
and Donia Al-Watan (independent Palestinian news agency), April 18, 2016]
The post was later deleted from the Fatah Facebook page but remained on the Donia Al-Watan (independent Palestinian news agency) page.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - established by Arafat in 2000, when he started the PA terror campaign (the second Intifada). He unified separate Palestinian armed groups into a single body under the name The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is still Fatah's official military wing today, and is on the US and EU list of terror organizations.