Arab terrorist Bashar Masalha has become a hero of the Palestinian Authority (PA), after murdering American tourist Taylor Force and wounding 11 others in a brutal stabbing spree in Jaffa (Yafo) on March 8. He was shot dead by police during the attack.
After his body was returned to the PA by Israel last week, official PA TV praised the murderer as a “martyr” 11 times in its broadcasts of the funeral that was attended by hundreds, as revealed and translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).
PMW previously revealed that the very day after the lethal attack, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction praised Masalha as “the heroic martyr,” in a glorification of terrorism echoed in the funeral broadcasts.
The status of “martyr” in Islam, which the PA bestows upon terrorists who die in the act, represents that highest religious achievement as they believe “martyrs” are forgiven of their sins and marry 72 dark-eyed virgins in Paradise. The PA TV reporter referenced this belief by saying the massive funeral was “a large national wedding befitting of martyrs.”
“His family, friends, and people of the region took it upon themselves to ensure that this (burial) would be a large national wedding befitting of martyrs…the martyr was accompanied to his last resting place in the cemetery for martyrs in Hajja,” said the official PA TV reporter.
TV wasn’t the only medium where the PA heaped praised on the murderer, in a less than subtle encouragement of future attacks.
Its official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, reported that “Masalha died as a martyr on March 8, after carrying out a stabbing operation in Jaffa, in which he killed an American tourist.”
PMW, which tracks PA media, confirms that Abbas has not condemned a single terror attack during the ongoing wave of attacks that has cost the lives of 34 victims since last September. Even when visiting US Vice President Joe Biden urged a condemnation in March, Abbas only “offered condolences” but did not condemn the terror.
To the contrary, he has justified the attacks as a “popular peaceful uprising.”
