As multiple countries have recently declared their support for a Palestinian state, there are reports that Trump’s current peace proposal dealing with Gaza includes mention of a path to Palestinian statehood. President Trump should abandon this idea.
Hamas obviously should not rule, as it is genocidal, refuses to end its war with Israel, and will not release the hostages. But Fatah/the Palestine Liberation Organization/Palestinian Authority (collectively, the PA), presumably the entity that would become the owner of this new Palestinian state, is also unfit. Recent developments show that the PA continues to: call for war against Israel, deny Israel’s right to exist, promote libels against the Jewish state, and seek to partner with Hamas.
Calling for War and Genocide Against Israel
The PA continues to beat the drums of war and genocide against Israel. A host on Official PA TV stated that “the Palestinian people has the right to resist, and to resist with weapons.” The Ramallah District Governor stated that dying a martyr is “greater” for Palestinian children than finishing high school.
Sometimes such calls to war and genocide even take religious tones, which may come as a surprise to those who incorrectly believe that the PA is a secular organization. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations called on Palestinians to wage “Ribat” (i.e., war based on conquering land in the name of Islam) over Israel. On Official PA TV, a PA sharia judge called on Allah to genocide the Jews, stating: “count them one by one, kill them one by one, and do not leave even one, O Master of the Universe.”
And the PA continues to praise the violence of Oct. 7. The Former PA Prime Minister (who was the sitting Prime Minister during the Oct. 7 attack) and current Fatah Central Committee member stated that the Oct. 7 attack was “a daring operation, unprecedented in history, honestly, and it is an important chapter in the history of the Palestinian struggle.” PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations stated that “everyone praised [the attack] and cheered as if we had liberated Jerusalem… it stirred the emotions of all of us.”
Denial of Israel’s Right to Exist
The PA continues to deny Israel’s right to exist, which in turn feeds into inciting the Arab population against perpetual war against Israel. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations stated that “[W]e and our people have been under this occupation for 100 years,” demonstrating that he believes Israel within any borders does not have a right to exist. In a similar vein, a month before, this adviser to Abbas had dated the “occupation” as being “77 years” long.
Additionally, official PA TV News referred to Israel within the pre-1967 armistice lines as “the interior,” a code word for denying Israel’s right to exist, and also called Jaffa “within the territories of ’48,” a similar phrase of Israel-denial. The Fatah Commission of Information and Culture recently posted on its Facebook page that “Palestine, historical Palestine (i.e., all Israel), with its seas, rivers, skies, and lands, belongs to the Palestinians.” A Fatah leader of a boys and girls camp in Nablus called on camp participants to strive for “a free Arab Palestinian land from the [Jordan] River to the river (sic., Mediterranean Sea).” Fatah Central Committee Secretary called for Israelis to “…go to the trash can of history.”
Spreading Libels
The PA continues to spread libels against Israel in order to continue to incite its people against the Jewish State. Again, some of this incitement takes religious undertones. Repeating a very old canard, the Director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights suggested that Israel is preparing to attack the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the Third Temple in its place. A preacher on Official PA TV called on Allah to “strike the thieving Jews, and strike the aggressive Crusader Christians, who have behaved arrogantly and tyrannically on earth and increased corruption on it.”
Additionally, the Fatah Central Committee Secretary called Netanyahu “the last edition of Fascism and Nazism.” Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on religious affairs and Islamic relations stated that Israel planted weapons in Jenin and other Palestinian towns’ refugee camps as a pretext to attacking them. Kharbatha Al-Musbah Village Council Chairman simply called “the Jews” “the enemy.”
Calling for Alliance with Hamas
And the PA’s continued friendliness toward Hamas should give any two-state supporter pause. The Fatah Central Committee secretary called for Fatah to have an “agreement” with Hamas. A senior Fatah official called on Hamas to be absorbed under the umbrella of the PLO” in order for it to gain legitimacy and to avoid being called a terrorist organization. Abbas’ advisor on religious affairs and Islamic Relations called Hamas a “part of the Palestinian national fabric.”
President Trump should not include Palestinian statehood in his vision for peace in Gaza. While his plan seems to make statehood contingent on PA reforms, the PA’s continued rhetoric demonstrates that it is most likely unreformable. Rather, President Trump should promote Israeli annexation of parts of Gaza to promote Israel’s security and as a prize for winning a defensive war, while Arabs in Gaza should be ruled by local non-Hamas and non-PA forces, and/or by friendly Arab nations from afar.