Abbas Zaki

Abbas Zaki (Arabic: عباس زكي‎) is the former representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon and a member of Fatah's central committee.[1] On March 23, 2009, Zaki escaped an alleged assassination attempt outside Mieh Mieh near Sidon, which killed his deputy Kamal Naji and three other Palestinian officials.[2] As a result of the conflict in the Nahr al-Bared Camp in Lebanon, Zaki proposed setting up a Palestinian security force of 4,000 to 5,000 members in the refugee camps in Lebanon to prevent the formation of extremist groups.[3]

Zaki described Fatah al-Islam as "an ignorant group, hiding themselves behind Islam, and practicing the most ugly crimes against women and children in the camp of Nahr al Barid."[1] In May 2009, Zaki suggested that if unity talks between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo fail, Abbas should form a new government that will lay out a new approach to Hamas.[4]

Ahead of Fatah's sixth conference on August 4, 2009, Zaki stated "I'm sorry to compare, but the Israelis elected Lieberman and appointed him as Foreign Minister, and a similar mistake was made by the Palestinian people in electing Hamas, which is setting up all the obstacles preventing the improvement of the national unity."[5]

In response to United States president Barack Obama's U.N. Speech on Palestinian Statehood on September 23, 2011, Zaki called Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu "trash", and said "The greater goal cannot be accomplished in one go.... If Israel withdraws from Jerusalem, evacuates the 650,000 settlers, and dismantles the wall – what will become of Israel? It will come to an end."[6]

In a statement which aired on the official Palestinian Authority TV channel on March 12, 2014 (as translated by MEMRI), Zaki stated "Those Israelis have no religion and no principles. They are nothing but advanced tools for evil. They talk about the Holocaust and so on. So why are they doing this to us? Therefore, in my view, Allah will gather them so that we can kill them. Every killer is bound to be killed. There is no other option."[7][8][9]

References
  1. Abbas Zaki: "Fatah Al Islam an ignorant group, hiding behind Islam" Ma'an News Agency. 2007-05-26. Archived December 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Lamb, Franklin (2009-03-24). "Who Tried to Kill Palestinian Ambassador Abass Zaki and Why?". Counterpunch. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  3. "PLO Lebanon official calls for Palestinian force in refugee camps". Haaretz. Associated Press. 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  4. Zaki: Abbas will form new government if Cairo talks fail Ma'an News Agency. 2009-05-05. Archived December 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Zaki compares 'unfortunate' election of Hamas to that of Lieberman". Ma'an News Agency. 2009-08-04. Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  6. "Fatah Central Committee Member Abbas Zaki Calls Netanyahu and Obama 'Scumbags' and Says: 'The Greater Goal Cannot Be Accomplished in One Go'". MEMRI. 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  7. Fatah Central Committee Member Abbas Zaki: Allah Will Gather the Israelis So We Can Kill Them, MEMRI, Clip No. 4191 (transcript), March 12, 2014 (video clip available here).
  8. PA: 'Allah Will Gather Israelis So We Can Kill Them' by Ari Yashar, Arutz Sheva, March 13, 2014.
  9. Fatah Official: Allah Will Gather Israelis so We Can Kill Them by Lori Lowenthal Marcus, Jewish Press, March 13, 2013.
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