By Ryan Jones
Dec 05, 2005
Senior members of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades hailed Monday's ?suicide? bombing in Netanya as a fully justified response to Israeli ?aggression,? while their boss, PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas, warned the move would harm ?Palestinian? interests.
The Brigades, a ?military wing? of the ruling Fatah faction, vied with Islamic Jihad for credit for the massacre of five innocent Israelis out for a morning of shopping. Fifty others were wounded in the attack.
Media reports later in the day corroborated the Islamic Jihad claim, and the Brigades resigned themselves to supporting the actions of their terrorist brothers.
Regardless of who carried out the attack, ?this is an important act, since it makes it clear to Israel that the organizations, despite of their commitment to the calm, are also committed to a certain balance in their responses,? Abu-Mahmoud, a senior Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades member, told Ynet.
He said Israel's anti-terror measures ?cannot occur without a response of the Palestinian resistance, at any time and in any place.?
But while Israel's actions target and usually end in the deaths of known and wanted terrorists, ?Palestinian? attacks such as Monday's purposely aim for the slaughter of innocent men, women and children.
Abbas, meanwhile, reacted to the bombing in typical unsympathetic fashion.
Rather than express sorrow at the loss of innocent life and condemn the immoral practice of targeting civilians, Abbas chided the terrorists for using tactics not in line with his regime's current agenda.
The Palestinian Authority is working to increase international pressure on Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samara as it did from Gaza, and sees ?suicide? bomb attacks at this time as detrimental to that cause.
Abbas' callous response to the terrorist murder of Israeli Jews has again called into question his commitment to peaceful coexistence.
Most Israelis would cease to see the so-called Arab ?moderate? as a true peace partner if it turns out he supports the use of terrorism, but simply opposes the timing of recent attacks.