On the eve of the anniversary of the horrific 2002 Passover massacre in Netanya’s Park Hotel, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas has delivered a stinging reminder that “moderacy” on the Palestinian side is a relative term.
The Jerusalem Post reports that the Al Quds Mark of Honor, the PLO’s highest medal, will be given to two female terrorists who helped kill Israelis.
Ahlam Tamimi, a Hamas-linked terrorist in prison for assisting the suicide bomber who killed at least six people in the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, and Amra Muna, who seduced Ophir Rahum over the Internet and then lured him to Ramallah to be murdered, will be awarded the medal.
Conferring the Al Quds Mark of Honor is decided at the discretion of the Palestinian Authority’s president, and he alone has the final say when choosing the Palestinians to be honored with the medal.
It is highly unlikely that this appalling story will be covered by the mainstream media, which regularly describes Abbas as a “moderate”. While this may be true in comparison with the absolute fanaticism of Hamas, this incident is yet another demonstration of how the media is too quick to cast Palestinian leaders in these terms.
Abbas, as recently as February, did not rule out returning to the path of armed “resistance” against Israel and took pride in the fact that he had been the first to fire on Israel and that his organization had trained Hezbollah. This, in addition to his history of Holocaust denial.
So why does the mainstream media continue to refer to various Israeli politicians or civilians who live over the Green Line as “hard-line”, “uncompromising”, “intransigent”, “implacable” and other similar terms while Abbas and other Palestinians are presented as “moderate”?
In a similar vein, former US President Jimmy Carter laid a wreath Tuesday on the grave of Yasser Arafat, whom he claimed, fought for the advancement of the Palestinians and other just causes in the world. Is this the same godfather of terror responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents in a bloodstained career? Or was he a “moderate” Palestinian leader?
Demand more from your media – ask why some unpleasant truths are systematically under-reported while Palestinian leaders are inaccurately described in gracious political terms.
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