ABBAS AND HIS MEDIA CONDEMN ISRAEL
FOR KILLING PALESTINIAN ROCKETEERS

BY MICHAEL WIDLANSKI Tuesday, 30 May, 2006

Palestinian leaders and media roundly condemned Israel today for
killing a group of Palestinian Arab terrorists who were shooting rockets and
mortars into Israel, calling the men "martyrs," "citizens" and
"resisters"-all positive terms in Arabic.

"Planes of the Israeli occupation shot at a group of four resisters in
Beit Lahiya (part of Gaza) killing four of them," declared Voice of
Palestine radio in its noontime (5am NY) broadcast Tuesday, later citing the
names of all the men and calling them martyrs.

"President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned the barbarous slaughter"
committed by Israel, declared VOP anchorman Nizar Al-Ghul. He said three
other Palestinians had been killed in other combat.

It was the fourth day in a row that Dr. Abbas and his strongly
controlled media have lionized those shooting at Israel, while calling
Israeli leaders "war criminals."

On the average, there have been three to five rocket attacks into Israel
in recent days, and there have been several attempted suicide bomber
penetrations each week.

Abbas, generally considered a "moderate," has not condemned these
attacks, nor the continued attempts by Palestinian organizations-Hamas,
Islamic Jihad and even his own Fatah movement-to smuggle suicide bombers
into Israeli cities.

Two such men-one strapped with a bomb, and the other his field
guide-were captured on the Number 60 Road from Nablus towards Ramallah and
Jerusalem late Sunday.

In the meantime, the moderate Abbas is continuing his hiwar
watani-national dialogue-with Hamas and Jihad, trying to get them to
recognize Fatah supremacy and tactical leadership, despite the Hamas victory
in the January legislative voting.

© 2006 Michael Widlanski Associates-Material may be cited

Dr. Michael Widlanski is a specialist in Arab politics and communication
whose doctorate dealt with the Palestinian broadcast media. He is a former
reporter, correspondent and editor, respectively, at The New York Times
,The Cox Newspapers-Atlanta Constitution, and The Jerusalem Post.