While the media is willing to acknowledge that the al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade is “affiliated” with “moderate” Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction, it usually takes pains to minimize those ties.I am of the opinion that members of Fatah were involved in some way in the Merkaz Harav massacre. Two more data points emerge.
Ynet reports based on Palestinian sources that
The newspaper also reported that the Israeli government has asked the Palestinian Authority to hand over two members of the Islamic Jihad and Fatah’s al-Aqsa Brigades suspected of helping Abu Dheim obtain the weapon he used to fire at the students.
Also Elder of Ziyon (crediting Ynet) notes that Fatah (and Hezbollah) will be paying “terrorist” insurance to the family of Muhammad Shahade, suspected of planning the Merkaz attack.
And what about those right wing extremist Rabbis who sought revenge for the terror attack? Well the Shin-Bet now says that this report carried by Israeli newspapers is “unfounded.”
The Shin bet stated Saturday that reports indicating that extreme Right wing activists were planning to conduct terror attacks against Arabs were unfounded.
However that didn’t stop APN from issuing a hysterical press release condemning some posters that have appeared around Jerusalem.
Incitement, particularly when perceived as sanctioned by a religious authority, is akin to a loaded weapon. Regardless of what some politicians are saying publicly, many observant Israelis believe that rabbinical authorities have sanctioned violent revenge. According to some Israeli media reports, several of the national-religious spiritual leaders have done just that in private conversation with their followers.
(BTW, I e-mailed APN asking them if they’d rescind this “letter.” I await their response and permission to publish. I’d be very surprised if I got a specific response.)
As Meryl noted the other day that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Yonah Metzger (former and current Chief Rabbis) called for rather passive forms of revenge. At the funeral of the eight murdered students, Nadav Shragai also noted that it was dominated by grief, not calls for revenge.
Please remind me again who’s moderate and who’s extreme? Religious Zionists or Fatah?
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
