IDF Paratroopers Brigade Commander Col. Nimrod Aloni told Army Radio that the Palestinian public is generally very supportive of the current surge of violence against Israelis.
“There are a few people who absolutely want calm, but in recent weeks, unlike previous surges of terrorism, the violence is generally characterized by very broad support from the Palestinian street,” he said.
“Anyone who claims that the Palestinians are condemning this wave of terrorism simply doesn’t read the news.”
PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly claimed that the terrorists are setting out to kill Jews out of “despair and frustration” and the lack of a “political horizon.” Yet no one has yet found even one terrorist who claimed to have attacked a Jew for this reason.
However, many have said that they set out to kill Jews to “defend” Al-Aqsa Mosque, seemingly influenced by the romantic notion of Abbas’ repeated fictitious claims that Jews were plotting to destroy the mosque, followed by fantasies of themselves as heroes charging forth to rescue it.
A poll conducted by the Watan Center for Studies and Research published in Arabic last week found that 48% of Palestinians believe the real goal of the “intifada” is to “liberate all of Palestine.”
More than 75% of Palestinians support the use of violence against Israel and 72% want the current “intifada” to continue.
{Matzav.com Israe News Bureau}
