What does Mahmoud Abbas want?

In a speech before the UN General Assembly in September 2016, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said he wanted to "coexist alongside the State of Israel in peace and security and as good neighbors"  ("Abbas' full speech at the UN General Assembly", haaretz, September 22, 2016). He also said that:

-There is no conflict between us and the Jewish religion;

-He supports "the efforts to confront terrorism, extremism, sectarianism and violence;

-His hand "remains outstretched for making peace".

These are wonderful sentiments. But since that speech, Abbas has shown that he doesn't believe a word he said. 

During the last 10 months, Mahmoud Abbas has done three things: (1) declared war against the holiest sites of Judaism; (2) inflamed violence against Israel and the Jews of Israel; and (3) stretched out his hand, not to make peace with Israel, but to ennoble Arabs who have committed acts of terror against Israel.

For example, he declared war against the Jewish religion by getting UNESCO to 'unJewish' the two most important Jewish holy sites in the world (the Temple Mount  in Jerusalem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron). UNESCO voted to proclaim these two sites to be Muslim only. UNESCO even declared the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron to be a 'Palestinian World Heritages site' (Tovah Lazaroff, et al, “UNESCO rules Cave of Patriarchs as Palestinian”, jerusalempost, July 7, 2017).

Abbas inflamed violence against Israel through his political party, Fatah. When Israel recently announced it would place metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount following a recent Arab terror attack that spilled onto the Temple Mount, Abbas' Fatah, which he runs with an iron fist, didn't call for peace or calm.  It called for an Arab 'Day Of Rage' in Jerusalem  (Adam Rasgon, "Fatah calls for 'Day of Rage', jerusalempost, July 18, 2017). In case you don't know, a call for a 'Day of Rage' is a call to Arabs to rush into Jerusalem to riot, destroy and throw Molotov cocktails.

Once Israel had decided to remove the 'offending' metal detectors from the entrance to the Temple Mount, Abbas didn't call for a return to normal life. Instead, he encouraged  Arabs to continue rioting (Nan Jaques Zilberdik, "Abbas encourages Palestinians to keep rioting in Jerusalem", palestinianmediawatch, July 26, 2017). 

He has stretched out his hand repeatedly not for peace with Israel but to honor 'martyrs' who have been killed by Israelis as they (the so-called 'martyrs') have tried to kill Jews in Israel. Abbas doesn't call these individuals an obstacle to peace'. He honors them. He names streets, schools and tournaments after them. He's even created a program that incentivizes the killing of Jews (Eli Lake, "The Palestinian Incentive program for Killing Jews", bloomberg, July 1, 2016).

   
So far as Mahmoud Abbas is concerned, Christians can use metal detectors to protect their Vatican. Muslims can use metal detectors to protect their Holy Mosque in Mecca. The Jews, however,  may not protect their Holy Temple Mount. They must be forced by threats of rioting to remove metal detectors from the Temple Mount--even after Arab terrorists had desecrated the plaza of the Temple Mount, making such protection necessary. 

Israel, fearing Arab riots, has surrendered. It has removed the 'offending' metal detectors. 

But Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn't stop there. He went further. Apparently, removing protective metal detectors from the entrance to the Temple Mount wasn't a sufficient appeasement in the face of Arab outrage. Almost at the same time the metal detectors were being removed, Netanyahu announced he wanted to surrender 'land for peace'. The 'land' he chose was closer to Tel Aviv than to Jordan, leaving Tel Aviv exposed to rocket fire from such a close (future) 'Palestinian' enclave.  

Abbas got it right when he called the events of this week a victory against Israel. The Palestinian Authority was also right when it termed the events of this week a defeat for Israel.

Arabs are sensitive to appearances. They are alert to actions that suggest defeat and weakness. They know well what weakness and defeat look like.

They know full well how Netanyahu--and Israel--look right now. In this incident with the Temple Mount metal detectors, both Netanyahu and the entire Jewish state  have 'weakness' and 'defeat' written all over them. 

To celebrate, Palestinians have increased the intensity of their rioting in and around Jerusalem. 

Once the metal detectors disappeared, Islamic clerics allowed Muslims to return to the Temple Mount for prayer. They didn't just go to the Temple  Mount to pray. They went to riot (David Rosenberg, “Arabs riot on Temple Mount after metal detectors removed”, arutzsheva, July 27, 2017).

Judging from Abbas' actions and public statements to Palestinians, he is not a man who wants his people to live in peace with Israel. Clearly, he wants something different.  

What does Mahmoud Abbas want? He wants to see Israel firebombed. He wants to see Arabs stoning Jewish-owned cars on highways. He wants to see Israel torn apart by Arab rioters rampaging through Jewish streets.

He wants Israel destroyed--stone by stone, street by street, highway by highway and city by city.

Our Jewish Prophets of Old tell us that, in the days before our Final Redemption, the enemies of the Jewish people will attack Jerusalem. They will attack in order to conquer the Temple Mount for the last time. 

Right now, it looks  like we're living that Prophecy.