Official PA daily:



Israel was behind the terror attacks in France



because Israel "was the only one to benefit from them"





Israeli Intelligence Service Mossad planned the attacks



because Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu wanted



- to encourage Jewish immigration from Europe



- to take "revenge on European governments...



because of their positions on the Palestinian cause"





Poll: 84.4% of Palestinians think



"Israel behind the murder of French [citizens]"



Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Following the terror attacks against the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish store in which Muslim terrorists killed 17 people in France earlier this month, columnists writing for the official Palestinian Authority daily

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida have claimed that Israel was behind the attacks.



This view is shared by the vast majority of Palestinians, according to a poll conducted by

Ma'an (an independent Palestinian news agency). The poll found that 84.4% support the claim that "the operation (i.e., terror attack) was suspicious, and that Israel may be behind it," while "only 8.7% believed that the murder of the French [citizens] in Paris was a natural result of the spread of Islamic extremism in Europe." [Ma'an, Jan. 19, 2015]



The writers of the official PA daily have argued that Mossad, the Israeli Secret Intelligence Service, planned the attacks because Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders want to encourage Jewish immigration and take "revenge on European governments... because of their... support for... an independent Palestinian state." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 15, 2015] (Longer excerpts of all quoted articles appear below)





One regular columnist, Muwaffaq Matar, argued that because Netanyahu "wishes to realize the myth of the 'Jewishness of Israel'" and encourage immigration, the attacks against Jews in France and elsewhere in Europe were "no coincidence, but a carefully executed and fully controlled plan." He further argued that these claims were true because "'Netanyahu's Jewish State' was the only one to benefit" from these attacks. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 15, 2015]





Netanyahu "trades with the blood of the 17 victims of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and of the supermarket," wrote another regular columnist, Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul. He pointed out that Netanyahu wanted to "exploit the terrorism that struck some French Jews" to encourage them "to immigrate to Israel." The writer claimed that "Turkish sources, including intelligence and the mayor of Ankara" determined that the attacks were "planned by the Israeli Mossad." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 14, 2015]





Similarly, a journalist, Akram Atallah, interviewed on official PA TV claimed that "in the past, the Israeli Mossad carried out operations (i.e., terror attacks): It bombed synagogues in order to force the Jews to emigrate," and that "the operation (i.e., the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo) served Israel's demographic [interests], for the Israeli media and government bodies predicted yesterday that 10,000 French Jews would immigrate to Israel." [Official PA TV, Jan. 12, 2015]





Another writer, Yahya Rabah, claimed that Israel is behind "all the terrorist groups in the region," trains them and provides them with weapons, and hinted that Israel, therefore, was behind the attacks in France:







"We have seen how Israeli terrorism in all its forms... is what grants patronage to all the terrorist groups in the region. Eventually, we have seen that terror[ists] have begun to receive training, weapons and perhaps [even] intelligence from Israel. Therefore, many believe that there was more to the last wave of terrorism in France than [just] two young Muslims. This was an [attempt to] target the role of France... [which voted] in favor of the Palestinian-Arab proposal at the [UN] Security Council last month!" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 11, 2015]



"The perpetrators of the two attacks in Paris and the Israeli settlement establishment" have "matching interests," said Hafez Al-Barghouti, another regular columnist for the PA daily, thereby insinuating that Israel was involved in the attacks.









While the PA officially immediately and unequivocally condemned the attack, some took issue with the Charlie Hebdo magazine for "mocking the Prophet." One regular columnist for the official PA daily, Osama Al-Fara, stated that "rejection [of the magazine] takes precedence over condemnation [of the attack]," suggesting that the "unknown Charlie Hebdo magazine" had published "offensive cartoons of the Messenger" to get publicity and "extract itself from financial crises":





"Even if the crime that struck the paper is a subject for condemnation and denunciation, and is unjustifiable, the condemnation must not go under the slogan, 'I am Charlie,' because for years, the magazine has published offensive cartoons of our honorable Prophet, which we cannot accept as part of freedom of expression... If the crime committed against the unknown Charlie Hebdo magazine, which is trying to extract itself from its financial crises by publishing offensive cartoons of the Messenger [of Allah, Muhammad,] and of Jesus, achieved what the magazine had longed for, then its insistence on publishing offensive cartoons of our honorable Prophet in its next issue will [surely] foreshadow additional reactions. This magazine, which aims to publish over 3 million copies of its next issue in over 15 languages, disrespects the feelings of the Islamic nations, and therefore, in our opinion, rejection [of it] takes precedence over condemnation." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 14, 2015]



The following are longer excerpts from the op-eds in the official PA daily claiming Israel was behind the murderous terror attacks in France:





Headline: "Ma'an poll: 85% think Israel behind the murder of French [citizens] in Paris"



"The overwhelming majority believe that the murders of the French [citizens] in Paris were suspicious operations, and that Israel may be behind them.



In a survey conducted by [the independent Palestinian news agency] Ma'an, in which 6,090 people participated over the course of the week, the majority of the participants - 84.4%, or 5,142 people - thought that the operation (i.e., terror attack) was suspicious, and that Israel may be behind it. Only 8.7%, or 531 out of 6,090 participants, believed that the murder of the French [citizens] in Paris was a natural result of the spread of Islamic extremism in Europe.



6.8%, or 417 participants, said they did not know whether the murders of the French [citizens] in France were suspicious, whether Israel is behind them, or whether they are the result of the spread of Islamic extremism in Europe."



[Ma'an (independent Palestinian news agency) Jan. 19, 2015]





Weekly survey published by the independent Palestinian news agency Ma'an:



[As of publication, 1,100 people participated in the survey]



"The murders of the French [citizens] in Paris were:



- A natural result of the spread of Islamic extremism in Europe (8.7%)



- A suspicious operation that Israel may be responsible for (84%)



- Don't know (7.2%)"



[Ma'an (independent Palestinian news agency) Jan. 13, 2015]





Op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, regular columnist for the official PA daily:



"[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, together with [other] Israeli leaders, is now walking in the footsteps of the first leaders of the Zionist project, who invented, created and funded the terror against the Jews in Europe, particularly in Germany, and in the Arab world. These leaders carried out [terror] operations against Jewish citizens who had been living securely in Arab and European countries, and contributed to the increase in Nazi aggression against Jews in Germany and Europe. It was they who, with their own hands, ignited the spark of the Holocaust in order to accelerate the Zionist-Jewish invasion of Palestine, and enable them [the Jews] to settle [there].



Over the next few days, the death of the officer in charge of investigating the attacks of the terrorists, who perpetrated crimes against humanity, against the French journalists and citizens, may well be revealed to have been murder, rather than suicide - for he had [discovered] the first threads of the plot leading back to Netanyahu's Mossad (Israeli Secret Intelligence Service) - [the same Netanyahu] who wishes to realize the myth of the "Jewishness of Israel" even at the expense of new victims among the citizens of European countries.



Similarly, Netanyahu and [Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor] Liberman had been yearning to take revenge on the European governments and parliaments for their conduct - in particular on the French policy - because of their positions on the Palestinian cause and their support for the decision to end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.



In addition, the setting of the condition that the Palestinians recognize the 'Jewish State,' which is [a figment of] Netanyahu's imagination, coincides with the increase in terrorism and the crimes of groups and organizations hiding behind Islamic slogans, such as IS, [Jabhat] Al-Nusra and Al-Qaeda, and the targeting of Jewish synagogues and shops in Europe! This is no coincidence, but a carefully executed and fully controlled plan, and the scope of this article does not permit the [enumeration of the] contradictions, reported in the media regarding the Paris terror operation - contradictions which raise legitimate questions as to who is behind these crimes, if not the Israeli Intelligence, given that 'Netanyahu's Jewish State' was the only one to benefit from them."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 15, 2015]





Op-ed by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, regular columnist for the official PA daily:



"President Mahmoud Abbas' participation in the mass [anti-terror] march in Paris last Sunday was a brave move that reflected the care that the Palestinian leadership, as represented by its main symbol [Abbas], is taking to emphasize its opposition to terrorism - in whatever form, under whatever name and for whatever motive [it may occur]. Its aim thereby is to proclaim to the entire world - not just to Europe - that the Palestinian people is continuously suffering from organized Israeli terrorism and that we oppose all forms of abominable terrorism; and to call on world leaders to uncover the face of Israeli racism and fascism, which take after IS and the other examples of terrorism.



In contrast hereto, he [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu], who trades with the blood of the 17 victims of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and of the supermarket (i.e., the Jewish-owned kosher store), came to Paris despite the opposition of the French leadership, especially of President François Hollande, who opposed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's participation in the march. [Hollande did so] not only [for fear] that he [Netanyahu] would exploit it for his election campaign, but also because he is part of terrorism, and because he, like many Israeli leaders, violated French sovereignty and sought to exploit the terrorism that struck some French Jews (which, according to Turkish sources, including [Turkish] intelligence and the mayor of Ankara, was planned by the Israeli [Secret Intelligence Service] Mossad) [parenthesis in source] to... call on French Jews to immigrate to Israel."



[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 14, 2015]



Official PA TV program Panorama of the Hour hosted journalist Akram Atallah:



Akram Atallah: "In the past, the Israeli Mossad (i.e., the Israeli Secret Intelligence Service) carried out operations (i.e., terror attacks): It bombed synagogues in order to force the Jews to emigrate. In the world of criminology, we sometimes say that every crime leaves a fingerprint. Investigators always say: There is more than one criminal, but they say this shows that someone perpetrated [the crime]. This is the interrogative method [of investigation] - as there were fingerprints [on the crime scene]. The operation (i.e., the terror attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo) served Israel's demographic [interests], for the Israeli media and government bodies predicted yesterday that 10,000 French Jews would immigrate to Israel...



Now, when we are talking about the immigration of 10,000 French Jews next year, while last year, [only] 3,000 French Jews immigrated to Israel, in my opinion... when the number rises to 10,000, this is a very large number and this is what Israel wants. The number is not [meant to include] French Jews only...



At present, the [Jews'] assimilation into the [European] societies is frightening as well. The message was not just meant for the Jews of France. It was [meant] for all Jews... Even today, the number of Jews in Israel is less than 50% - we are talking about 45-47% of the [world's] Jews. Israel is in trouble. This operation (i.e., the synagogue terror attack in Israel in November 2014 in which 5 people were killed) served the propagandists of immigration and the leaders of the [Zionist] project, in order to strengthen the project."



[Official PA TV, Jan. 12, 2015]





Op-ed by Yahya Rabah, regular columnist for the official PA daily and a member of the Fatah Leadership Committee in Gaza:



"We strongly condemn the terror attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in which 23 people were killed or injured. We hope that the international conference France is organizing today, Sunday, will be a turning point in the struggle against terrorism... and that the region and the world will consolidate their opinions regarding the meaning of [the word] terrorism, so that there will no longer be 'Islamic' terrorism versus 'non-Islamic' terrorism, 'extremist' versus 'moderate' terrorism, 'individual' versus 'group' terrorism - for all these categories were created as a result of conflicting interests and shortsightedness...



We have seen how Israeli terrorism in all its forms - state terrorism, settlement terrorism and the terrorism of Jewish squads - is what grants patronage to all the terrorist groups in the region. Eventually, we have seen that terror[ists] have begun to receive training, weapons and perhaps [even] intelligence from Israel. Therefore, many believe that there was more to the last wave of terrorism in France than [just] two young Muslims. This was an [attempt to] target the role of France, which had [lately] begun to rise and assert itself - a significant rise which came with the vote in favor of the Palestinian-Arab proposal at the [UN] Security Council last month!



It must not be allowed for each country to have its own definition of terrorism. If Al-Qaida, Islamic State and Jabhat Al-Nusra are defined as terror organizations, then the Muslim Brotherhood, with all its branches and the Israeli settlement [enterprise] should be added to the top of this list of international terrorism. Greetings to French national unity, which will certainly defeat terrorism."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 11, 2015]





Op-ed by Hafez Al-Barghouti, regular columnist for the official PA daily:



"The Israeli right wing, which dominates Israel, was quick to declare programs for the expansion of the existing settlements, with the aim of populating [the settlements with] Jewish immigrants from France, as if the perpetrators of the two attacks in Paris and the Israeli settlement establishment had matching interests, just as the Jewish Agency's interests matched the interests of those who carried out the attacks against the Jewish communities in Morocco, Egypt and Iraq, in order to force them to immigrate to Palestine before and after 1948 - and it has been proven that these squads were Jewish, and had links to armed Zionist organizations..."



[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 15, 2015]



"The [PA] Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the abominable terror attack that occurred today, Wednesday [Jan. 7, 2015] in France, - which claimed the lives of 12 French journalists who had worked for the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris. [PA] Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki emphasized that the State of Palestine, - represented by its President [Mahmoud Abbas], its government and its people, stands resolutely by France in these difficult moments, and expresses its solidarity with it against terrorism in whatever form or under whatever name. He emphasized that Palestine, which over the long years of occupation has been burned by the flames of terrorism - in particular, governmental terrorism - does not hesitate to express its clear opposition to all manifestations of terrorism, wherever [it occurs] and by whomever [it is carried out]."



[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Jan. 7, 2015]





Op-ed by Osama Al-Fara, regular columnist for official PA daily:



"The world awoke to condemn and denounce the criminal incident that struck the French paper Charlie Hebdo. In addition, the countries of the world, besides attending the mass [anti-terror] rally in Paris in condemnation of the incident, were quick to declare their solidarity with the French nation, each in its own way, and there was confusion over the meaning of [the word] solidarity, which was occasionally used outside of its usual context: For even if the crime that struck the paper is a subject for condemnation and denunciation, and is unjustifiable, the condemnation must not go under the slogan, 'I am Charlie,' because for years, the magazine has published offensive cartoons of our honorable Prophet, which we cannot accept as part of freedom of expression. The supreme value of freedom of expression, on which the entire world agrees, gives no one permission to offend the beliefs of the Islamic religion or any other religion...



If the crime committed against the unknown Charlie Hebdo magazine, which is trying to extract itself from its financial crises by publishing offensive cartoons of the Messenger [of Allah, Muhammad] and of Jesus, achieved what the magazine had longed for, then its insistence on publishing offensive cartoons of our honorable Prophet in its next issue will [surely] foreshadow additional reactions. This magazine, which aims to publish over 3 million copies of its next issue in over 15 languages, disrespects the feelings of the Islamic nations, and therefore, in our opinion, rejection [of it] takes precedence over condemnation."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 14, 2015]