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‘Revitalized’ Palestinian Authority: New Minister of Women’s Affairs Is a Brazen Terror Supporter
Palestinian demonstrators display a poster showing terrorist Dalal Mughrabi alongside the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Photo: File.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has announced a new government as part of its fulfillment of the US demand for a “revitalized” PA. However, for the PA, “revitalization” does not preclude religious incitement to terror and demonizing Jews as “apes and pigs,” supporting terror and terrorists, or rejecting Israel’s legitimacy as a state.
1. New minister Muna Al-Khalili praised the murder of 37 as a “quality resistance operation”
Muna Al-Khalili, the new PA Minister of Women’s Affairs, is an outspoken terror supporter, having publicly glorified the murder of 37 Israeli civilians.
As chairwoman of the PLO General Union of Palestinian Women, Al-Khalili spoke at an event honoring Dalal Mughrabi, who led the most murderous terror attack in Israel’s history, prior to October 7.
On March 11, 1978, Mughrabi led a team of PLO terrorists who hijacked a civilian bus and murdered 37 civilians, including 12 children and one American photographer, Gail Rubin.
In her speech, Al-Khalili praised the murder of the 37 civilians as a “quality resistance operation.” She also praised the decision to appoint a woman to lead the massacre, calling Mughrabi the “head of a squad of self-sacrificing fighters (Fedayeen),” and saying that Mughrabi “proved that Palestinian women are capable of carrying out the most difficult missions”:
The Chairwoman of the [PLO General] Union of Palestinian Women Muna Al-Khalili said…: “We are gathering today, 40 years after the quality resistance operation that 20-year-old Martyr Dalal Mughrabi led, [i.e., terrorist bus hijacking and murder of 37 civilians, 12 of them children] at the head of a squad of self-sacrificing fighters (Fedayeen), and she proved that Palestinian women are capable of carrying out the most difficult missions.“
[Al-Kahili] explained that the selection of Dalal as commander of the operation constitutes proof of the PLO’s appreciation of the role of women, and that Martyr leader Khalil Al-Wazir [i.e., Abu Jihad] did not choose Dalal as commander of the operation accidentally, as those who know him and were in his company confirmed that he wanted to convey a message to the Palestinians and to the world regarding the significance of the role of women in the national struggle, in the liberation, and in laying the foundations of a society in which social justice prevails for the future State of Palestine.
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 12, 2018]
2. Three weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, Al-Khalili “emphasize[s] the Palestinian’s right to resist
Three weeks after Hamas’ rapes, torture, murders, and massacre on Oct. 7, Muna Al-Khalili spoke at a conference and brazenly supported Palestinians’ right to “resist” — the PA euphemism for terror and murder. In addition, she also denied Israel’s right to exist in any borders, calling Israel an “occupation for the past 75 years,” i.e., since Israel’s founding:
We in the General Union of Palestinian Women emphasize the Palestinian people’s right to resist the occupation that has continued for the past 75 years, [a right] that is anchored in the resolutions of the international institutions.
We emphasize that there will be no peace or stability in the entire region and the world without the Palestinian people receiving its legitimate rights — self-determination, freedom, independence in its sovereign state whose capital is Jerusalem — and without a just resolution for the refugees’ issue according to [UN] Resolution 194.”
[Conference of Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate, PLO website, Oct. 26, 2023]
3. 10 days after Oct. 7, Al-Khalili honored convicted murderers of 61 as “heroic prisoners”
The General Union of Palestinian Women that Al-Khalili heads held a vigil calling for the release of terrorist prisoners just 10 days after the Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities. Al-Khalili sat right behind four posters featuring the names and pictures of different terrorist murderers imprisoned in Israel for past terror attacks, each with the text: “Freedom for the heroic prisoner.”
From left to right in front of Al-Khalili are posters honoring Ibrahim Hamed, a Hamas leader responsible for the murder of at least 53 people in a series of bombings: Sheffield Club (15 murdered), Hillel Cafe (7 murdered), Hebrew University (9 murdered), Moment Cafe (11 murdered), and Zion Square (11 murdered); Akram Hamed, who murdered three people; Marwan Barghouti, who orchestrated attacks in which at least five people were murdered; and Ali Barghouti, who aided Marwan Barghouti and also murdered Palestinians he suspected of aiding Israel. As head of the organization appearing with these posters, Al-Khalili is honoring these well-known terrorist mass murderers.
[PLO General Union of Palestinian Women – General Secretariat, Facebook page, Oct. 17, 2023]
4. New PA Minister of Religious Affairs called to “afflict the Jews with the worst torment,” calling them “apes and pigs”
The new “revitalized” PA government also includes religious leader Muhammad Mustafa Najem as PA Minister of Religious Affairs. Najem openly called for terror in a sermon on official PA TV during the PA terror campaign known as the Second Intifada, from 2000-2005, where more than 1,100 Israelis murdered, framing his incitement as a religious imperative: “O servants of Allah, be the ones through which Allah will afflict the Jews with the worst torment.”
Najem went on to demonize the Jews with toxic antisemitism, saying that they are “characterized by conceit, pride, arrogance, rioting, disloyalty, and treachery,” and adding that “Allah turned them into apes and pigs” while quoting from the Koran.
PA religious leader Muhammad Mustafa Najem: “Praise Allah … It is He who warned us of the Jews and of the Jews’ ethics in the clearest manner, and He fought them and waged Jihad against them — after they attempted to murder the call [to Allah] from its foundations and to murder Prophet [Muhammad] in a political murder…
The Jews — as is their practice, and as Allah described them in His book [the Koran], and in the Prophet’s tradition [the Hadith] — are characterized by conceit, pride, arrogance, rioting, disloyalty, and treachery…
And they were jealous of the Muslims because the Prophet was not one of them. They are still jealous; they were jealous, and they are still jealous. They killed, and they are still killing. They betrayed, and they are still betraying. They spilled blood, and they are still spilling blood, and so on and so forth…
The same goes for their rulers, any political party or any group, it is all the same. Whether the crime rates are on the rise or the decline, they have a common denominator and it is hostility to Islam and the Muslims, hostility to the bearers of the truth, hostility to the sons of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, hostility to the bearers of the historical truth in this land…
Therefore, [violence and crimes] are not an exception to them and their nature, due to which Allah turned them into apes and pigs: “So when they were insolent about that which they had been forbidden, We said to them, ‘Be apes, despised.’ …And [mention] when your Lord declared that He would surely [continue to] send upon them until the Day of Resurrection those who would afflict them with the worst torment. Indeed, your Lord is swift in penalty; but indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful” [Koran 7:166-167] …
Allah, grant us victory over the Jews and those who side with them! Allah, grant us victory over the Jews and those who side with them! Allah, grant us victory over the Jews and the patrons of the Jews’ arrogance.
[Official PA TV, Nov. 1, 2002]
Palestinian Media Watch calls on Israel and the United States, which has led the call for a “revitalized” PA, to demand that Najem and Al-Khalili and any other terror supporters in the new PA government be immediately replaced.
If the previous PA terror supporting government is replaced by a new terror supporting government, the PA is making a mockery of the US demand for “revitalization.”
Itamar Marcus is Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
The post ‘Revitalized’ Palestinian Authority: New Minister of Women’s Affairs Is a Brazen Terror Supporter first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.