Here's a shock:
Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, announced Tuesday it would no longer honor understandings reached with Israel, and called on its members to carry weapons to defend themselves against the IDF.
We call on all our members who handed over their weapons to the Palestinian security forces to report to their commanders so that they can be issued new weapons, said a leaflet distributed in Ramallah. ...
The latest leaflet is seen as a challenge to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's efforts to dismantle the Aksa Martyrs Brigades and other Fatah-linked armed groups in the West Bank.
This is not true. The Aksa Martyrs Brigades continue to be on Abbas' payroll. The gun amnesty is an Alladin "new weapons for old" deal, with the promise of new "official" guns after they traded in their old ones. Additionally, the terrorists were to receive up to $12,000 per gun. Abbas has done nothing but support the terror group, which is an official part of Fatah.
According to the group, Israel on Monday night arrested Iyad Bisharat and Ahmed Abu Jalboush, two Fatah gunmen whose names had appeared on the first list of pardoned fugitives.
We call on all our members to display caution and not to be deceived by the so-called amnesty from Israel, the leaflet read. We will no longer honor the agreements that were reached with Israel over the issue of the wanted men. We won't hand over our guns. This is a lie designed to split the Palestinian resistance.
The group said it had previously warned against the "plot" aimed at confiscating the weapons of Aksa Martyrs Brigades members in the West Bank. The Israeli enemy does not respect any commitments or agreements, it said....
"Israel expects the Palestinian Authority to take proper steps to root out terrorism against Israel, and to work with Israel to chart a more promising future for both sides," an official in the Prime Minister's Office said. "Incitement such as this only serves to ratchet up the situation, and would only harm the chances for progress between both peoples."
You have to love Olmert's spokesmen. The Palestinians claim Israel violated the amnesty deal and there is no response, even though the IDF certainly acted in response to their continuing terror involvement. Rather than saying this, however, Olmert's plan is to spout generalities about how Israel wants peace, under the theory that "people are tired of hearing about the conflict." In real life, however, when someone makes an unanswered accusation, fair observers assume it is true. But that wouldn't bother Olmert much, given that the Left has matured beyond simplisted notions like nationalism and patriotism.
By the way, where does this leave the more than 200 recently-released al-Aqsa Fatah terrorists who signed a pledge renouncing terror?
