Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), is often painted as a moderate by the media. But is he really a moderate?
- On May 1st 2013, a top PA official said that “resistance in all of its forms,” against Israel is still on the agenda, on a popular TV channel. He went on to say that if the PA had nuclear weapons, they would use them against Israel.
- The PA has imposed tough restrictions on foreign journalists that are reminiscent of many dictatorships. BBC watch writes about this here.
- Abbas has written extensively about how much of the Holocaust was fabricated and the result of a collaboration between Zionist leaders and the Nazis.
- Abu Mazen’s term ended four years ago. Since then he has held no new election. Read this great New York Times op-ed about this issue.
- People have been arrested for criticizing the PA leadership,. You can read some of their stories here, here, and here.
- The Palestinian Authority still refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, as the UN called for in 1947. Read a great op-ed by Daniel Pipes on the issue here. President Obama, in a recent speech in Jerusalem spoke about the issue, stating that “Palestinians must recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state and that Israelis have the right to insist upon their security.”
- Abbas has also stated that Jews will not be permitted to live in a future Palestinian state.
- Check out this story behind the photograph to the right.
By Gilad Skolnick