In a massive show of force, armed gunmen from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades held “a military exercise” in the streets of the Palestinian city of Jenin.

These are some of the pictures depicting the events:

As a result of its active participation in terror and direct responsibility for the murder of hundreds of Israelis, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades has been designated as a terror organization by Israel, the US, Canada, the European Union, and others.

For many years, the international community in general, and the US in particular, have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to establish and build the security forces of the Palestinian Authority. These PA Security Forces are meant to be fighting terrorism. So how can an internationally designated terror organization openly conduct a “military exercise” in broad daylight in the middle of a Palestinian city? Where were the PA Security Forces? 

To answer these questions one needs to look no further than the identity of the organization that published the pictures.

The pictures and others were posted on the Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture.

Fatah is headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades is the military wing of Fatah.

Accordingly, it is entirely irrelevant who funds the PA Security Forces and what the expectations of the international donors were. Abbas will never use the PA Security Forces to combat, or even control, terrorists from his own party.

Fatah, including its terrorist military wing, is the most dominant member of and controls the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). When US President Biden considers reopening the PLO office in Washington DC, he must take into account that in practice, he is opening the doors of the US to members of an organization that includes a body that has been designated as a terror organization by the US itself as well as internationally.

Similarly, when the EU provides aid to the PA, it must take into account, that the PA gives hundreds of millions of shekels/euros every year to the PLO. The PLO funds its member organizations including Fatah and its EU-designated terrorist wing.

In an ideal world, PMW would recommend that for the sake of security and peace, the international community must demand that the PA immediately act to disband all Palestinian terror organizations and collect all the illegally held weapons. But unfortunately, when the terrorists are part of the PA apparatus and the head of the PA is also the head of the terror organization itself, it would appear that there is little to be expected.  

Photo: palwatch.org