As a series of deadly terrorist attacks rocked Israeli cities in recent weeks, Palestinian social media has erupted in incitement to support the violence and encourage future invaders.
Fourteen people have died in four deadly attacks across the country, the bloodiest wave of violence Israel has seen in years. The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the two attacks committed by Palestinians on the West Bank in Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv.
But on Palestinian social media, many accounts have relentlessly posted clips praising the attacks. In some cases, users have put graphic footage of the violence to traditional music. The text, addressed to the Israelites, promises that “you will see hell, and its gates will open on the Day of Resurrection.”
Other Palestinian social media users shared a song – originally spread by the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Filastin al-Yawm channel – and praised Jenin’s so-called resistance: “God blessed Jenin’s masters with a Molotov cocktail and a knife.”
The terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have tried to play up the violence in their official media. Both terrorist groups issued statements praising the attacks in the wake of each incident.
In a video statement following clashes between Palestinian terrorists and Israeli soldiers in Jenin, the area from which the terrorists from Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv came, a spokesman for Hamas’ military wing – Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades – hailed the “resistance”. ”In the northern city of the West Bank.
And you will see Hell, its gates will open on the Day of Resurrection pic.twitter.com/qvcYinnI4X
– HuthaifaAzzam (@ HuthaifaAzzam1) March 30, 2022
“Our heroes and revolutionaries are not alone,” said Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida, followed by scenes of Palestinian terrorists setting up rocket launchers set to heroic music.
In other Hamas-affiliated social media accounts, commentators praising the attacks received hundreds of likes. “After the Tel Aviv operations, I say to this month of Ramadan: You have made us happy, Ramadan,” wrote Fayez Abu Shemala, who writes a regular column for the Hamas mouthpiece Falastin, happy on Twitter.
In other videos, the pro-Hamas Falastin tried to use children to express his support for the recent terrorist attacks.
“He is a hero and he was martyred by the will of God,” the young brother told Ra’ad Hazem, who killed three people last Thursday night in the terrorist attack on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv.
God bless Jenin championships ???????
Machine gun and stab knife ✌️ pic.twitter.com/A6LwlhuPUI– Palestine Songs (@PalestinianSong) April 9, 2022
The ruling Fatah party of the Palestinian Authority has also contributed to the wave of agitation. Although Abbas condemned both terrorist attacks perpetrated by Palestinians, several Fatah officials have sought to seize the attacks.
Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki spoke at an event Sunday night in memory of Hazem and Ahmad al-Sa’adi, a Palestinian gunman killed in a clash with Israeli troops in Jenin.
“I pay tribute to the steadfast Jenin,” Zaki said, calling the city “a national stronghold.”
Jenin Governor Akram Rajoub called Hazem, who was a resident of the city, a “Fatah fighter,” and told The Times of Israel and other businesses that he did not consider him a terrorist.
The governor was later seen at another mourning tent set up by the terrorist’s family, who were killed in a shooting with police in Jaffa hours after the attack.
It is enough for Jenin to be with her loyal sons and daughters throughout Palestine, and for the Qassam Brigades to be with her
The human spirit that greets the men, the arms of the heroes and the determination of the kids is sufficient pic.twitter.com/c1tTl927Yk
– HuthaifaAzzam (@ HuthaifaAzzam1) April 9, 2022
Rajoub, a longtime security official of the Palestinian Authority and a member of the ruling Fatah party, serves as Abbas’ representative in Jenin.
In a speech at the mourning tent, Rajoub Hazem called “a Fatah fighter for whom the bullets of the occupation did not distinguish between him and his comrade Ahmad al-Sa’adi.”
The identification with the terrorists has expanded to social media as well as the business of official Palestinian Authority.
“Honor and eternity to our righteous martyrs,” a Fatah page allegedly affiliated with the Hebron branch of the Palestinian Party said of a picture of Diaa Hamarsheh who killed five people in the March 29 terrorist attack in Bnei Brak. .
My brother is a hero and raises our head. Brother of the martyr Raad Hazem from Jenin refugee camp, tells about his brother. pic.twitter.com/odfDIhjZ3p
– ❤️ ???? Oh God, forgive my parents_and my dear_brother_Abu Al-Abd. (@ om_loai1311) April 9, 2022
Complaints of incitement in official media by the Palestinian Authority preceded the current increase in attacks. In March, tensions rose in the West Bank after Israeli forces killed three Palestinian terrorists in Nablus, and officials said they were a “ticking bomb” on their way to commit an attack.
During a subsequent live broadcast on Palestinian television that livestreamed the demolition of one of the armed men’s homes, Fatah official Abd al-Ilah Ateerah praised the Palestinian resistance “with what Allah is giving us.”
“When you see a 15-year-old Palestinian child carrying a stone or other tool or a knife, then know that this case continues in the blood of our people,” Ateerah said.
Other Fatah officials have repeatedly praised the “war with the Jews” following the recent terrorist attacks in Israel.
“We are taking action for our Lord … Our goal is not Fatah, Fatah is a means. Fatah is a means to liberate Palestine. Our war is with the Jews,” Fatah’s party secretary in Jenin, Ata Abu Rmeilah, told al- Awdah TV on March 27, after the current wave of terror began.
Abu Rmeilah later called Hamarsheh’s attack on Bnei Brak “heroic” in interviews with Palestinian media and praised the terrorist’s actions to a supportive crowd.
