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US Gives $336 Million to Palestinians; PA Demonizes It as the ‘Head of Global Terror’
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The US has announced that it’s giving the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank additional humanitarian aid worth $336 million.
But in response to all the US support during the war (and prior), the Palestinian Authority (PA) is relentlessly demonizing the US as being the aggressor and mastermind behind Israel’s war against the Hamas and Hezbollah terror organizations, regardless of the fact that both terror organizations first attacked and continue to attack Israel and Israeli civilians.
Worse still, three days ago, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman also blamed the US for “the continuing chaos, wars, and instability” in the region:
Official Spokesman for the [PA] Presidential Office Nabil Abu Rudeina [said] … the successive American administrations bear responsibility for the continuing chaos, wars, and instability through their mistaken policy and provision of political, monetary, and military support for the continuation of the occupation [i.e., Israel], which has encouraged it to commit more crimes against our people and against the peoples of the region in Syria and Lebanon, alongside the ongoing threats against other regions.” [emphasis added]
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Sept. 29, 2024]
While many Western governments have been highly critical of Israel’s response to Hamas and Hezbollah’s attacks during the ongoing 2023 Gaza war, and have supported the idea of having the PA take power in Gaza after it is done, the PA and its ruling Fatah party have, on the other hand, made their hostility to the West clear in numerous recent conspiracy theories and statements of demonization.
Even as Abbas was again welcomed in the US last week, his PA and Fatah officials are busy bad-mouthing the US administration, accusing it of being behind the war and using Israel as its pawn.
A regular columnist of the PA’s mouthpiece Al-Hayat Al-Jadida accused the US of being guilty of “war crimes” in Lebanon:
The US has been a central partner in managing the operations against the Hezbollah leadership and its activists who are wanted by the [American] administration and Israel ….
The American administration is involved in the war crimes against the Hezbollah leadership and activists … [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida website, Sept. 22, 2024]
In a recent interview, Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki referred to the US as “the head of global terror.”
Perhaps this is no surprise considering that Zaki also serves as Fatah Commissioner for Arab and China Relations:
Fatah Movement Central Committee member Abbas Zaki… called for a comprehensive agreement and a code of honor between all parts of the Palestinian people and its movements, according to which the main contradiction is with the Israeli occupation and the rest are secondary differences that our preoccupation with them serves the plots of the occupation … led by the US, the head of global terror. [emphasis added]
[Al-Quds website, Sept. 8, 2024]
Earlier this year Zaki accused the US, and “not Israel,” of waging a war to “slaughter the Palestinian people”:
Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki: “The US is the one waging the [Gaza] war, and not Israel …
[The US] is the one waging the war and it is the one that is striving with all its efforts to slaughter the Palestinian people … Our central issue is to stop this cursed war, this barbaric war, which is worse than Nazism.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, Jan. 20, 2024]
Similarly, Abbas’ advisor, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, has accused the US of pulling the strings in Israel’s war against Hamas, claiming Israel just “carries out American instructions” and the US is “pushing” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu “towards extremism” with its “hostile, immoral, and illegal position”:
Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “Israel’s sovereign is the US, unfortunately. The US even today opposes a resolution proposal at the [UN] General Assembly calling to end the occupation. Imagine, this is the level of American hostility to the Palestinian rights …
The one who is strengthening the position of [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu and pushing him more and more towards extremism is the American administration’s position.
The American administration’s position is a hostile position, an immoral and illegal position, and honestly it is the one that bears responsibility for the scope of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Sept. 18, 2024]
Al-Habbash: “Everyone knows that all the cards are in the hands of the US, not in the hands of Israel. Israel is nothing more than the one who carries out the American policy. If the American administration would have wanted to tell Israel ‘Enough,’ the war would have ended. But it doesn’t do this and attempts to mislead and spread lies to extend the aggression to achieve the same goal. The goal is to erase the political aspect of the Palestinian cause and change the rules of the game, even in the West Bank.”
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Sept. 11, 2024]
Al-Habbash: “Israel exploited and used what happened on Oct. 7 [2023] as an excuse to carry out aggression that was planned and prepared in advance against the Gaza Strip, as part of the aggression against the Palestinian people. What happened on Oct. 7 is not the cause of the aggression …
[Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu is just a clerk of the American administration, and all of Israel is just subordinate to the American administration and carries out its instructions and serves its policies.
Israel is nothing more than an American interest that is carrying out the American policies. We don’t need to speak with Netanyahu because he has no authority of his own. We must speak only with the American administration that alone bears the magnitude and responsibility for the continuation of this aggression.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Jan. 29, 2024]
Al-Habbash has also called the US “the biggest liar” and “the true threat”:
Al-Habbash:“There is no bigger liar than the US administration, no bigger liar than [the US] exists.
The American administration is inventing lies against us, as it has done through all the last decades… We are an unarmed people. We are a people that has been living under occupation for more than 70 years…. We are just trying to protect our existence.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Aug.29, 2024]
Palestinian Media Watch also reported on other anti-US remarks by another Abbas advisor, including the accusation that US President Biden is a “war criminal who should stand trial.”
While emphasizing that the real war is “against the US and not Israel,” Abbas Zaki has also stressed the Palestinians’ “strong connection and strategic partnership with China”:
Zaki: “Our war now [i.e., 2023 Gaza war] is a war against the US and not Israel because Israel’s guarantee of life is the US …
Old colonialism, in other words the European colonialist states, wanted to take the Jews and create a base close to them that is hostile to their surroundings, and offered to establish Israel in Argentina, Uganda, and the like.
But when the oil was discovered, the lifeline of modern industry, they wanted to take control of the Middle East region from the ocean to the gulf, and therefore Palestine fell victim to this oppressive criminal alliance …
Our connection with China is very strong, we have a strategic partnership with China. Our connection with Russia is very strong … Israel could not fight against any faction, not even against a state, if not for the US, and Allah willing the US will not be the world ruler.” [emphasis added]
[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, May 16, 2024]
Zaki also repeated the conspiracy theory that Israel is not fighting Hamas in Gaza for security reasons, but rather because it wants to steal natural gas resources discovered there:
Zaki emphasized that Israel is striving to decide the conflict and empty the land of its Palestinian owners, and he noted that the goal of the war in the Gaza Strip is not security-related, but rather it deviates beyond this and includes economic targets, like the [natural] gas reserve that was discovered northwest of Gaza. [emphasis added]
[Al-Quds website, Sept. 8, 2024]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post US Gives $336 Million to Palestinians; PA Demonizes It as the ‘Head of Global Terror’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Surge of Antisemitic Incidents Rocks France Amid Growing Security Concerns
The Paris Holocaust Memorial, three synagogues, and a Jewish restaurant were all vandalized with green paint last weekend. Photo: Screenshot
France has been hit by a wave of antisemitic incidents in recent days, despite increased security at Jewish sites nationwide following last month’s antisemitic shooting in Washington, DC — prompting urgent calls from the country’s Jewish community for stronger government action amid growing fears of escalating violence.
On Friday, a French rabbi was violently assaulted by three drunken individuals in the town of Deauville, located in the Normandy region of northwestern France.
According to local police, Rabbi Eli Lemel — a prominent figure in French Jewry — was attacked around 3:30 pm by three men who approached him, repeatedly punched him in the stomach, and shouted antisemitic slurs.
French authorities have launched an investigation into the assault, but no arrests have been made so far.
After the incident, Lemel called on the Jewish community to draw spiritual strength amid the increasing hostility that Jews are facing across France.
“I’m deeply moved by the outpouring of support following the attack. Thank God, I’m okay,” the Jewish leader wrote in a post on X. “I was struck and verbally abused in a language I didn’t understand.”
In a separate incident, a 21-year-old man was arrested on Saturday after climbing a synagogue in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in north-central France, removing an Israeli flag from its façade, and attempting to set it on fire.
According to local media, the suspect — who was already known to authorities for prior offenses — confessed to committing the attack and admitted to being intoxicated at the time.
French police confirmed that the man is being charged with trespassing in a place of worship, theft by climbing, and causing damage to property on religious grounds.
The local Jewish community has voiced deep concern following this incident, viewing it as part of a broader surge in hostility targeting Jewish institutions across France.
Sandrine Dos Santos, the city’s mayor, expressed “[her] solidarity, as well as that of the city, toward the Jewish community directly targeted by these unacceptable antisemitic acts.”
“Faced with the increase in violence, our commitment against discrimination remains unwavering and will not waver. We repeat it loud and clear: no form of racism or rejection of others has a place in Poissy,” the French leader said.
In a separate incident on Saturday, three Serbs were arrested near Antibes in southeastern France, suspected of painting several Jewish community buildings green in Paris — an act currently under investigation as possible foreign interference.
Last weekend, the Paris Holocaust Memorial, three synagogues, and a Jewish restaurant were all vandalized with green paint in an incident denounced by the French government.
On Monday, an elementary school in Lyon, east-central France, was set on fire and defaced with antisemitic and pro-Palestinian slogans, as well as swastikas, marking one of the latest antisemitic incidents to impact France in recent days.
As the school had no direct connections to the Jewish community, local police have launched an investigation to determine the motive behind the attack.
French authorities reported that the fire was limited to the outdoor bathrooms, causing no significant damage to the school. They also found antisemitic graffiti and swastikas in three classrooms.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), denounced the attack, saying that “the Palestinian cause is used as justification for burning down a school” and that the “Nazification of Israel serves as fuel for crass antisemitism.”
“When a populist pro-Palestinian narrative is allowed to take hold, it is French Jews who ultimately pay the price,” Arfi wrote in a post on X. “The twisted use of the Palestinian cause is turning into a rallying cry of hatred against both Jews and the Republic itself.”
Voilà où nous en sommes !
La cause palestinienne sert de justification pour incendier une école
Quand on laisse gagner un discours populiste propalestinien, ce sont les Français juifs qui en paient le prix.… https://t.co/dMaQBnbfqi
— Yonathan Arfi (@Yonathan_Arfi) June 1, 2025
Beyond France, other European countries have also experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents in recent weeks.
On Monday, several headstones were vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in a suburb of Belgrade, located in north-central Serbia, marking the second such incident in the country in recent weeks.
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US Vetoes UN Security Council Demand for Gaza Ceasefire
Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from Israel, June 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The United States vetoed a UN Security Council demand on Wednesday for an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the enclave.
“The United States has been clear we would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote.
“This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground, and embolden Hamas,” she said of the text that was put forward by 10 countries on the 15-member council.
The remaining 14 council members voted in favor of the draft resolution.
Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza. It has renewed its military offensive in Gaza – also seeking to free hostages held by Hamas – since ending a two-month ceasefire in March.
The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in Israel in an Oct. 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave.
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Trump Picks Lawyer Who Called Oct. 7 Attack a ‘Psyop’ to Lead Federal Watchdog Agency
Paul Ingrassia. Photo: Screenshot
Paul Ingrassia, a 29-year-old lawyer who was recently nominated by US President Donald Trump to lead a federal agency dedicated to combating corruption and protecting whistleblowers, seemingly dismissed the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2o23, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel as a “psyop,” or “psychological operation, in resurfaced social media posts.
“This ‘war’ is yet another psyop to distract Americans from celebrating Columbus Day,” Ingrassia wrote on X/Twitter on Oct. 8, 2023.
“I think we could all admit at this stage that Israel/Palestine, much like Ukraine before it, and BLM before that, and covid/vaccine before that, was another psyop,” he posted a week later. “But sadly, people fell for it. And they’ll fall for the next one too.”
On the actual day of the Oct. 7 massacre, Ingrassia compared illegal immigration into the US to the Hamas-led onslaught.
“The amount of energy everyone has put into condemning Hamas (and prior to that, the Ukraine conflict) over the past 24 hours should be the same amount of energy we put into condemning our wide open border, which is a war comparable to the attack on Israel in terms of bloodshed — but made worse by the fact that it’s occurring in our very own backyard,” he posted. “We shouldn’t be beating the war drum, however tragic the events may be overseas, until we resolve our domestic problems first.”
Trump announced last week that he picked Ingrassia to serve as head of the US Office of Special Counsel, a position that requires confirmation by the Senate.
The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal ethics agency that works to ensure fairness and accountability within the government. Ingrassia’s role, if he is confirmed, would involve investigating claims of wrongdoing, such as retaliation against whistleblowers or improper political activity in the workplace. The official can recommend disciplinary action and reports serious findings to Congress, helping to protect federal employees and uphold the integrity of the civil service system.
Ingrassia also maintains a relationship with and defends alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate, who has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media. Tate wrote on X/Twitter that he refuses to “listen to women, Mexicans, or Jews” and that Jewish people are “subverting Western populations into mass genetic suicide” by advancing what he described as misguided immigration policy. Tate has also accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza against Palestinians and engaged in Holocaust denialism.
The furor surrounding Ingrassia is the latest dustup the Trump administration has had regarding controversial personnel and antisemitism.
The Trump administration’s appointment of Kingsley Wilson as deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense also sparked widespread criticism due to her history of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and extremist views. Wilson, formerly associated with the Center for Renewing America, has a documented history of social media posts endorsing white supremacist ideologies, including claims about the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank — a Jewish man whose wrongful conviction and subsequent murder galvanized the founding of the Anti-Defamation League. In 2023, she tweeted that Frank “raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl,” a statement aligning with neo-Nazi narratives.
Late last month, the Pentagon announced that Wilson will be promoted and serve as the department’s new press secretary.
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