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Who Is the Palestinian Authority’s New ‘Moderate’ Vice President?
Hussein al-Sheikh in an interview with TML News. Photo: Screenshot.
Hussein Al-Sheikh is often portrayed as a moderate by the international community, and he was appointed last weekend by Mahmoud Abbas as the new vice president of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has long been reporting how Al-Sheikh’s statements and activities reveal support for terrorism, glorification of terrorists, promotion of terrorism through Pay-for-Slay, and support for unity with Hamas, even after October 7, 2023.
PMW Director Itamar Marcus elaborated further on this yesterday on ILTV Israel News.
Whether the appointment was an attempt by Abbas to name a successor, or just another attempt at portraying a “revitalized” PA, as demanded by the international community, Al-Sheikh, who was the secretary general of the PLO Executive Committee, reflects views and policies that are closely in line with the old PA leadership.
Support for Hamas
Al-Sheikh is committed to defending Hamas and portraying Israel as the true enemy. After proclaiming in November 2023 that “our arms are still open” to Hamas, Al-Sheikh in December 2023 denied ever saying that Hamas was “not a role model” and instead asserted that “the real terror is” Israel:
PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh: “I didn’t say that Hamas is not a role model…
When the world spoke and demanded that Hamas be defined as a terror movement – who set out against the world? Was it not Mahmoud Abbas, who stood at the UN podium and said: ‘No, Hamas is not a terror movement’? The real terror is the occupation [i.e., Israel]. The real terror is the settlement enterprise.”
[Former Head of Fatah Commission of Information and Culture’s Information Office Munir Al-Jaghoub, X (Twitter) account, Dec. 19, 2023]
Encouraging Armed Struggle Against Israel
Al-Sheikh has also called for all factions, including Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, “to fight this enemy [Israel] on all fronts, in all arenas” — terms used by PA leaders to include terrorism and violence:
PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh: “[Fatah] called on all the Palestinian national action factions [i.e., Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad] to create a broad front against the Israeli aggression. It is no secret that there is a quiet and calm dialogue between us and Hamas.
I hope that this dialogue will succeed … You need to fight this enemy [Israel] on all fronts, in all arenas, without exception. You need to fight it on the ground and in the international organizations and authorities …
The central topic in all the leadership’s meetings is strengthening the Palestinian popular resistance against the occupation’s army and the settler herds … This strengthens the Palestinian negotiator and doesn’t weaken him. I said this before: Are we stopping anyone [from resisting]? Are we tying anyone’s hands?” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Feb. 27, 2023]
Insistence on Rewarding Terrorists
Hussein Al-Sheikh is as insistent as Mahmoud Abbas about continuing the PA’s Pay-for-Slay program, and incentivizing terror attacks through financial rewards for terrorists and their families.
In fact, he has invoked the same line used by Abbas that “even if we are left with one penny, it will be paid to the families of the Martyrs and the prisoners”:
In the speech he gave … on behalf of Fatah, PLO Executive Committee Secretary and Fatah Central Committee member Hussein Al-Sheikh emphasized the leadership’s permanent and firm commitment, according to which our Martyrs, our prisoners, and their families are a red line — ‘Even if we are left with one penny, it will be paid to the families of the Martyrs and the prisoners.’” [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 8, 2023]
Personal glorification of terrorists
Al-Sheikh also has a history of honoring terrorist murderers. He met with terrorist murderer Karim Younes upon his release from prison. Al-Sheikh also mourned terrorist Walid Daqqa, who died of cancer while serving a life sentence for taking part in the kidnapping and brutal murder of Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984.
Al-Sheikh described Daqqa as a “freedom-fighter,” and lauded his “legacy of struggle and sacrifice” as an inspiration for future generations:
Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Hussein Al-Sheikh mourned today freedom-fighter Walid Daqqa, who died in an Israeli prison today, after being exposed to the crime of medical negligence and the policy of deliberate slow death practiced by the Israeli Prison Service administration against Palestinian prisoners.
He stressed that Israel ignores all international conventions, agreements, and human rights regarding prisoners, emphasizing in particular that it deprives them of their right to receive treatment. He considered it a full-fledged crime compounding the series of crimes of the Israeli occupation. He added that Daqqa left behind a legacy of struggle and sacrifice that will serve as a source of inspiration for future generations.
[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, April 7, 2024]
Hussein Al-Sheikh is far from a moderate, and is not reflective of any sort of meaningful change within the Palestinian Authority, neither substantive nor even structural.
On the contrary, he embodies the PA leadership’s ongoing commitment to terrorism and demonization of Israel, even while engaging with international bodies under the pretense of diplomacy.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Who Is the Palestinian Authority’s New ‘Moderate’ Vice President? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.