If the suffering were not so raw, I would laugh at the irony of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas proclaiming his commitment to peace on the same day as his party officially celebrated the murder of six Israelis.
On Monday, two Palestinian terrorists shot dead six Israelis and wounded 22 at a Jerusalem junction. While this was happening, Abbas was meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. In his official statement, he said he "strives for freedom and independence" and promised his state would be "a peace-loving, non-armed state based on political pluralism and the peaceful transfer of power."
Abbas told Starmer of his so-called commitment to "living side by side with the State of Israel in security, stability, and good neighborliness."
Simultaneously, Abbas's Fatah movement posted on social media its joyful celebration of "the heroic operation in the heart of Jerusalem city this morning," which it called a "natural response to the occupation's crimes."
Soon after, the Fatah posted an uncensored picture of a murdered Israeli man, alongside the words "a very good morning."
Abbas officially responded to the terror attack by saying, "We reject all forms of violence and terrorism,” and yet his government will pay the families of the two terrorists 1400 NIS monthly for the rest of their lives.
Two weeks ago, official PA TV urged its citizens to "Kill Jews one by one." On Monday, two people did just that.
As The Jerusalem Post's editorial rightly stated last night, this is the same Palestinian Authority, which seeks international recognition as the legitimate government of a future Palestinian state but which has consistently failed to unequivocally condemn terror attacks. The same PA, which cannot even govern the West Bank effectively without Israeli security coordination, now demands control over Gaza as well.
Palestinian statehood
And yet the international community - Canada, France, the UK, to name a few - have all announced their plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly this month.
"As blood is spilled on Jerusalem’s streets, the international community rushes toward a predetermined outcome that ignores these harsh realities," the editorial added.
Anyone who thinks the Palestinians deserve a state, or that such a state would miraculously be 'peace-loving and neighborly,’ is either living in la la land, or is masking their desire for dead Jews behind an obsequious façade of diplomatic intent.
As Zionist Organization of America President Morton Klein said on Monday, “Not only has Abbas refused to specifically condemn these murderers, his intact Fatah charter still calls for the ‘armed struggle’ against Israeli Jews and the Jewish ‘demolition’ of the Jewish State.”
In Starmer's July 29 speech about his intent to recognize a Palestinian state, he said that such a state "is not in the gift of any neighbour and is also essential to the long-term security of Israel."
On what planet would such a state have any conceivable benefit to Israel's security?
Following their meeting on Monday, Starmer praised Abbas's "commitment to reform of the Palestinian Authority." Having served 20 years of his four-year term, Abbas has had ample opportunity to reform the Palestinian Authority. Has he? No.
And yet he successfully swanned into the UK - the once paragon of democracy - and convinced the country's feckless leader of his desire for peace, reform, and rainbows.
But over here in Israel, the irony is spectacularly unfunny; six Israelis were murdered in cold blood while commuting.
Yaakov Pinto, 25; Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Pash; Rabbi Israel Matzner, 28; Rabbi Yosef David, 43; Sarah Mendelson, 60; and Rabbi Mordechai Steintzag, 79.
Whole words. Whole lives. Loved ones, families, dreams, and hopes.
The gifting of a state to violent, jihadist people who glorify terror against Jews is the greatest form of gaslighting. It's saying, 'kill Jews and we will grant you legitimacy.' It is saying 'dead Jews don't matter.'
The world has sacrificed Jewish lives in the pursuit of the 'greater good.'
But it is clear to me at least that no 'good' will come from giving Palestinians a state while they still view martyrdom-through-murder as their greatest achievement.