Israeli posters calling for the killing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sparked fears that he would face the fate of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, who died in mysterious circumstances in 2004.
The Palestinian presidency’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeinah, said that incitement against Abbas’ life “crosses all red lines.”
In a statement, he warned the Israeli government against any acts that would harm the president, stressing that such acts of incitement were unacceptable.
Jewish terrorist organizations had posted photos in the occupied West Bank depicting Abbas as a shooting target and calling for his death. The Palestinian president is accused by Israel and the US of inciting the public against Israel and paying money to fighters.
The recent developments brought to mind the joint US-Israeli incitement that preceded the siege against Arafat. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, sources warned of “a lurking idea to get rid of Abbas, similar to what happened with Arafat.”
“The [Palestinian] leadership is aware that the United States is seeking an alternative leadership. The incitement against the president is not a coincidence,” the sources said.
Saeb Erekat, the general secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, held the Israeli government responsible for any threat against Abbas’ life.
In a statement, Erekat underlined that the posters “constitute a declaration for the open assassination of the path of peace pursued by the president and the Palestinian leadership and the elimination of the two-state solution.”
The PLO official called for immediate action to curb Israel’s policies and practices that violate international legitimacy, “before it is too late”, and to hold the Israelis accountable for violations and crimes against the Palestinian people.
In Cairo, the Arab League condemned “terrorist calls by settlers”, describing them as “converging with inflammatory statements by many Israeli officials against President Abbas.”
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and the occupied Arab territories, Ambassador Said Abu Ali, said in a press statement: “The General Secretariat considers these provocative calls extremely dangerous… that fall in the context of the escalating war that is waged by the occupation against the Palestinian people, land, and sanctities.”
