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New Year, Same Terrorism: Palestinian Authority’s Ruling Party Keeps Promoting Violence
A group of Palestinian children being taught that Israel will be destroyed. Photo: Palestinian Media Watch.
Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority (PA), continues to promote terrorism as legitimate, necessary, and inevitable. This comes more than three decades after Yasser Arafat was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for claiming that the PA and PLO (also ruled by Fatah) had given up terror.
Fatah’s terror wing recently used the anniversary of Fatah’s founding — January 1, 1965 — to amplify its ongoing glorification of its Martyrs and “prisoners,” i.e., terrorists, and to promote “armed struggle” as the “foremost” form of “resistance,” which is the “shortest and only way to deter” Israel “and expel it from our land”:
On the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the Intilaqa of the Palestinian revolution and the Fatah Movement … we renew the covenant with the Martyrs, the prisoners, and the wounded [i.e., terrorists] — our compass will continue to point towards Jerusalem, and our rifles will be directed at the occupation [i.e., Israel] … We in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades emphasize the following permanent principles … Resistance in all its forms, foremost among them the armed struggle, is the shortest and only way to deter this oppressive enemy and expel it from our land. [emphasis added]
[Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Telegram channel, Dec. 31, 2025]
The Intilaqa, or “the Launch,” of Fatah refers to its first terror attack against Israel, when it attempted to blow up the National Water Carrier.
When Fatah says that the “only way” to “deter” Israel is through “resistance in all its forms” as well as when it uses terms such as “all means” and “armed struggle,” it consistently refers to shootings, stabbings, car-rammings, Molotov cocktail attacks, and other acts of terror against Israeli civilians.
In recent months, similar statements have been made by various senior members of the PLO, the parent body that established the Palestinian Authority.
PLO Executive Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad stated that he supports “armed struggle” to serve the Palestinian “political cause”:
PLO Executive Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad:“The Palestinian cause is a political cause and not a military one. However, politics is not disconnected from military activity and is particularly not disconnected from the struggle activity … an armed struggle of a people fighting to regain its land and its rights.”
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Nov. 11, 2025]
Hamada Farana, who is a member of the Palestinian National Council, which is the PLO’s legislative body, promoted “armed struggle” and “popular intifada” as means and tools.
Palestinian National Council member and political commentator Hamada Farana:“[We need] an agreement on the methods of the struggle. We must see the armed struggle, popular intifada, and negotiations as means and tools — not as principles. Therefore, when a shared political platform is formulated [between Fatah and Hamas] and there will be a unified representative institution, then necessarily they will reach the [appropriate] means. If armed struggle will be required, they will conduct armed struggle. If a popular intifada will be required, they will hold a popular intifada. If negotiations will be required, they will conduct negotiations.”
[Official PA TV, Capital of Capitals, Nov. 27, 2025]
Tamer Aziz, who is a political bureau member of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, a faction within the PLO, was proud to “renew the oath” to armed struggle and recalled the Intilaqa as well:
Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) political bureau member Tamer Aziz: “We stand with admiration and respect in memory of the late leader, the symbol, the Martyr Yasser Arafat to renew the alliance and the oath with him, with the Launch [of Fatah], with the first bullet, the first Martyr, the first proclamation of the Launch of Fatah-Al-Asifah.”
[Official PA TV, Nov. 11, 2025]
These statements reveal an unbroken pattern that has never changed. Across its factions and institutions, the PA continues to openly promote terrorism as a usable and repeatable tool, to glorify terrorists as role models, and to reaffirm it as a core strategy.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a researcher at Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), where a version of this article first appeared.
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UK Prosecutors Try to Reinstate Terrorism Charge Against Kneecap Rapper
Member of Kneecap Liam O’Hanna, also known as Liam Og O hAnnaidh and performing under the name of Mo Chara, speaks to supporters outside Woolwich Crown Court, after a UK court threw out his prosecution for a terrorism offense, in London, Britain, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
British prosecutors sought to reinstate a terrorism charge against a member of Irish rap group Kneecap on Wednesday for displaying a flag of Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah at a London gig, after a court threw out the case last year.
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, whose stage name is Mo Chara, was accused of having waved the flag of the banned Islamist group Hezbollah during a November 2024 gig.
The charge was thrown out in September after a court ruled it had originally been brought without the permission of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General, and also one day outside the six-month statutory limit.
But the Crown Prosecution Service said it would challenge the ruling and its lawyer Paul Jarvis told London’s High Court on Wednesday that permission was only required by the time Ó hAnnaidh first appeared in court, meaning the case can proceed.
Kneecap – known for their politically charged lyrics and anti-Israel activism – have said the case is an attempt to distract from what they described as British complicity in Israel’s so-called “genocide” in Gaza. Israel strongly denies committing a genocide in the coastal territory, where it launched a military campaign against Hamas after the Palestinian terrorist group invaded Israeli territory.
J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, who goes by DJ Próvaí, was in court but Ó hAnnaidh was not required to attend and was not present.
KNEECAP SAYS PROSECUTION A DISTRACTION
Ó hAnnaidh was charged in May with displaying the Hezbollah flag in such a way that aroused reasonable suspicion that he supported the banned group, after footage emerged of him holding the flag on stage while saying “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”
Kneecap have previously said the flag was thrown on stage during their performance and that they “do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.”
The group, who rap about Irish identity and support the republican cause of uniting Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, have become increasingly vocal about the war in Gaza, particularly after Ó hAnnaidh was charged in May.
During their performance at June’s Glastonbury Festival in England, Ó hAnnaidh accused Israel of committing war crimes, after Kneecap displayed pro-Palestinian messages during their set at the Coachella Festival in California in April.
Kneecap have since been banned from Hungary and Canada, also canceling a tour of the United States due to a clash with Ó hAnnaidh’s court appearances.
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German-Israel Deal Strengthens Cyber Defense, German Minister Says
A German and Israeli flag fly, on the day Chancellor Friedrich Merz meets with Israeli President Isaac Herzog for talks, in Berlin, Germany, May 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
A new German-Israel agreement aims to counter cyber threats and enhance security infrastructure, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told parliament on Wednesday.
Dobrindt signed the agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem over the weekend.
The collaboration includes the development of a joint “cyber dome” system, an artificial intelligence and cyber innovation center, drone defense cooperation, and improved civilian warning systems.
“We have already had a trusting partnership in the past, which we want to strengthen further,” Dobrindt said. “Israel has extensive experience in cyber defense. We want to benefit from that.”
The German Interior Ministry said on Monday the agreement would extend to protecting energy infrastructure and connected vehicle networks, in addition to enhancing collaboration in civil protection, counter-terrorism, and criminal prosecution.
European countries are facing increasing pressure to fortify their cyber defense systems against sophisticated attacks.
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France Explores Sending Eutelsat Terminals to Iran Amid Internet Blackout
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot attends the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, Jan. 13, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
France is looking into sending Eutelsat satellite terminals to Iran to help citizens after Iranian authorities imposed a blackout of internet services in a bid to quell the country’s most violent domestic unrest in decades.
“We are exploring all options, and the one you have mentioned is among them,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday in the lower house after a lawmaker asked whether France would send Eutelsat gear to Iran.
Backed by the French and British governments, Eutelsat owns OneWeb, the only low Earth orbit constellation, or group of satellites, besides Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The satellites are used to beam internet service from space, providing broadband connectivity to businesses, governments, and consumers in underserved areas.
Iranian authorities in recent days have launched a deadly crackdown that has reportedly killed thousands during protests against clerical rule, and imposed a near-complete shutdown of internet service.
Still, some Iranians have managed to connect to Starlink satellite internet service, three people inside the country said.
Even Starlink service appears to be reduced, Alp Toker, founder of internet monitoring group NetBlocks said earlier this week.
Eutelsat declined to comment when asked by Reuters about Barrot’s remarks and its activities in Iran.
Starlink’s more than 9,000 satellites allow higher speeds than Eutelsat‘s fleet of over 600, and its terminals connecting users to the network are cheaper and easier to install.
Eutelsat also provides internet access to Ukraine’s military, which has relied on Starlink to maintain battlefield connectivity throughout the war with Russia.
Independent satellite communications adviser Carlos Placido said OneWeb terminals are bulkier than Starlink’s and easier to jam.
“The sheer scale of the Starlink constellation makes jamming more challenging, though certainly not impossible,” Placido said. “With OneWeb it is much easier to predict which satellite will become online over a given location at a given time.”