There Is Method To Their Madness

"The [PA] president in a meeting of the [PA] leadership: As long as the situation in Jerusalem does not return to being as it was before July 14, [2017], there will be no changes whatsoever; to the residents of Jerusalem: We are with you in all that you have done and are still doing, as you are causing us pride and you are taking care of your Al-Aqsa Mosque, your land, your dignity, your people, your religion, and your holy sites"

"At the beginning of a meeting of the [PA] leadership yesterday evening [July 25, 2017], [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas said that as long as the situation in Jerusalem does not return to being as it was before July 14, [2017], there will be no changes whatsoever (refers to Israeli security measures at the Temple Mount following a terror attack there that were later removed; see note below -Ed.).

The president added: 'All of the new Israeli steps on the ground from that date until today need to stop, and then the situation in Jerusalem will return to normal. Afterwards we will continue our work on everything regarding the relations between us and them.'

The president said: 'Since Israel tried to change the situation, the [Palestinian] residents of Jerusalem have risen as one (they launched violent riots -Ed.) You have objected to all of the [Israeli] steps, and we have supported you in what you have done and what you are doing. We are with you in everything that you have done and are still doing, as you are causing us pride, and you are taking care of your Al-Aqsa Mosque, your land, your dignity, your people, your religion, and your holy sites. This is the response to everyone who wants to harm our holy sites. Jerusalem is ours. It is our capital and it is [under] our sovereignty, and therefore what you [Palestinians] are doing is right.'

President Abbas noted that the meeting was supposed to take place today (Wednesday) [July 26, 2017], and said: 'We made it earlier because there were developments (refers to Israel deciding to remove security measures from the Temple Mount on July 24, 2017 -Ed.). We must examine them in order to say our piece and say where we are headed.'

He added: 'What we have decided is to freeze the security coordination [with Israel] - and this is happening, and to defend the holy sites - and this is happening [too]. We want to examine what has happened from that day until today in order to see what we will do.'"

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 26, 2017/Palestinian Media Watch

Palestinian rioters in eastern Jerusalem, near the Old City, protest Israel’s new Temple Mount metal detectors following Friday prayers on July 21, 2017. Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90.

First the provocation, then the accusations, followed up by the threats, and then comes the violence.
It is a tried-and-true methodology perfected by Fatah's Palestinian Authority, never to be divulged to the world-at-large which prefers the impression promoted by the everlastingly victimized Palestinians that Israel is involved in 'genocide', manipulating events to discredit Palestinian claims  to the territory they covet and unequivocally announce is theirs.

It is as though the international community simply prefers to assess and cling to the charade used by the Palestinian Authority to shield its agenda of turning world opinion to its support as the oppressed people living in an agony of intimidation and impecuniousity forced upon it by the brutal military action of an occupying power whose purpose is to deny Palestinian their basic human rights.

There is no wish to acknowledge let alone recognize that the issue has been turned inside out; the PA's published map of its 'territory' is absent Israel, their school curricula teaches each generation that Israel's presence is illegal and it is the duty of every Palestinian to 'resist', to aspire to martyrdom, to return all the land on which Israel sits to Palestinian rule and domination.

Which is why the father of the Palestinian man who murdered three Israeli Jews in their home contends that his son is blameless; he was simply reacting to the unimaginable atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians. In this particular case it was the reaction of Israeli security authorities in closing down access temporarily to the al-Aqsa mosque complex to search for more weapons being cached there, like the ones that enabled three Israeli Palestinians to shoot to death two Israeli police maintaining security on the complex.

Father of terrorist murderer Omar Al-Abd: "The occupation is the reason for this operation (i.e., terror attack, 3 murdered), because my son is an honorable and educated man, not a man who carries out operations. He is a very calm man, and the members of the village testify to his personality. He is a very moderate man and does not talk about things like this. Rather this happened because of the occupation and what it has inflicted on the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

[Official PA TV News, July 22, 2017] -- Palestinian Media Watch

The head Jerusalem Mufti and the President of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas, were outraged that the murder of the two policemen resulted in a temporary closing of the plaza holding the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque while security personnel searched for evidence and other weapons. Or they said they were outraged with this purported overreach of Israeli authority at the sacred precincts of Islam's third holiest site.

The weapons used by the three assassins had been cached within the mosque; sacred to what? The outstanding precept of Islam: violent jihad.

When Israeli authorities did no more than what would follow anywhere else in the world after such terrorism by installing metal detectors for the protection of all, it presented Palestinian authority figures with the ideal opportunity to incite Palestinians to riot, and riot they did. First, praying on Jerusalem streets outside the gates leading to the mosque, refusing to enter through the metal detectors.

When Saudi Arabia, Jordan, international leaders, Christian organizations and the news media weighed in to support the removal of the security cameras and metal detectors as demanded by the Palestinians, Israel sighed and removed them.

An euphoric victory for Islam was proclaimed. The Palestinian authorities advised Palestinians they were now permitted to enter the compound in the absence of the cameras and detectors. And the riots that had begun before their removal continued, day and night, with Palestinians throwing rocks and other objects at Israeli police and the police  using tear gas and rubber bullets in an effort to halt the rioting.

All cause for Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah to proclaim both a triumph and the usual slanders and incitements in the claim that Israel was planning to remove custody of the mosque and Noble Sanctuary from Jordan's waqf authority in an agreement that disallows Jewish entry to the Temple Mount to pray at Judaism's most sacred site.

Fatah: "At your service, O Jerusalem

At your service, O Al-Aqsa Mosque"