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Abbas says attacks on Israelis a ‘justified popular uprising’

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Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday said that the current wave of violence, which has seen at least 21 Israelis killed, is a “justified popular uprising.”

The violence which began at the start of October has consisted mainly of stabbings and vehicle attacks on Israelis. In the latest attack yesterday, a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem drove his car into a crowd of commuters at a bus stop, injuring 14 people including a 15-month-old baby.

Abbas has been accused by Israeli leaders of stoking the violence with incendiary rhetoric, especially over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which is holy to Muslims and Jews. Despite numerous public denials by Israeli leaders, Abbas continues to claim that Israel is trying to alter the status quo which allows only Muslim prayer at the site. He has also accused Israel of “executing” Palestinians who have been shot and killed by Israeli forces as they have carried out knife or vehicle attacks.

Speaking yesterday, Abbas said that the attacks were a “justified popular uprising” and were being “driven by despair [at the fact] that a two-state solution is not coming.” In response, Israel Prime Minister’s Spokesman Mark Regev said “There can never be justification for wanton attacks on civilians.”

Meanwhile, a poll published yesterday by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research indicated that 67 per cent of Palestinians support knife attacks against Israelis. The survey also found that 66 percent of those asked (71 percent in the Gaza Strip and 63 percent in the West Bank) said that an armed intifada would “serve Palestinian national interests in ways that negotiations could not.” The poll also suggested that 65 per cent of Palestinian want Abbas to resign.

In related news, Abbas yesterday announced a reshuffle to his cabinet, appointing new heads of the justice, culture and social affairs portfolios. Ziad al-Zaza, a senior Hamas leader told AFP that the changes “move the national consensus and Palestinian reconciliation a lot further away.”