Where’s the Coverage? PA Official’s Doublespeak

On the way to a family Passover seder near Hebron, Baruch Mizrachi was shot dead by a terrorist sniper and his wife and son were wounded. It is unclear whether or not Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned this heinous act.

According to The Jerusalem Post:

Contrary to the accounts of the meeting in Ramallah of Israeli [opposition] members of Knesset Horowitz and Bar, Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh says Abbas has not condemned Passover eve killing of Baruch Mizrachi.

But it is clear that another high-ranking PA official has condemned the terrorist act. According to Artuz Sheva:

PA Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash met with Israeli journalists and condemned the murder on IDF Radio.

“This Israeli who was murdered, it hurts [. . .] we condemn the killing of any person,” Al-Habbash stated. “The principle of killing and violence is completely unacceptable.”

But wait, Palestinian Media Watch reports that, on official PA television:

Just two weeks ago, this same Al-Habbash defended and honored all Palestinian terrorists who are in Israeli prisons:

“All the Palestinian prisoners who protected [our] land, honor and homeland are prisoners of freedom; they are prisoners of war. They are not criminals, will never be and have never been. Their hands committed no crime. They were defending themselves. They are an inseparable part of this national Palestinian movement and one of its authentic elements.”

That doesn’t sound like much of a condemnation of terrorism. In fact, Al-Habbash has made a number of troubling statements in the past including glorifying terrorists, calling for jihad in Jerusalem, and alleging that Israel intends to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque in order to build the Jewish “alleged Temple.”

You may also recall that CAMERA previously posted that Al-Habbash admitted that peace talks are nothing but a ploy, using as a “model” an instance where Mohammad concluded a peace treaty and then came back and breached it through violence.

A high ranking PA official says one thing to Israelis and the opposite to Palestinians. He calls for sham peace talks. And yet, the media is silent on this duplicity. Where’s the coverage?

Watch a video of PA President Mahmoud Abbas applauding after Al-Habbash says, “I don’t think that there is anyone who doesn’t know where Jihad is supposed to take place… Jerusalem is the direction, Jerusalem is the address.