Palestinians: Prime Minister Shtayyeh's Straight-Faced Lies to Official US Delegations

by Bassam Tawil 

• Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has shown that he can include two lies in one short sentence.
• During the meeting [with a US Democratic delegation], Shtayyeh blamed Israel for the fact that the Palestinians have not held general elections for nearly two decades. He also accused Israel of "attempting to combat the Palestinian democracy." Shtayyeh's remarks, reported by the Palestinians' official news agency Wafa, show that Palestinian leaders apparently think that many foreigners, especially Americans, are stupid enough to believe anything that comes out of their mouths.
• Shtayyeh lied both when he claimed that Israel was responsible for obstructing Palestinian elections and that Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip enjoy democracy.
• "The truth is Abbas canceled the elections because all credible public opinion polls showed that this month's legislative vote would have decimated the ruling clique of his Fatah party and ushered in a whole new politician configuration. This would have seen Abbas's rivals Marwan Barghouti and Nasser Al-Qidwah emerge as the new leaders of Fatah. If this scenario were to occur, a whole class of millionaires who turned the Palestinian struggle into a lucrative industry, generously funded by 'donor countries,' was at risk of losing everything. .... There is nothing that Abbas can say or do at this point to restore the people's confidence in his authority. Arguably, he never had their confidence in the first place. By canceling the elections, he has crossed a red line, thus placing himself and a few others around him as enemies of the Palestinian people, their democratic aspirations, and their hope for a better future." — Ramzy Baroud, editor of The Palestine Chronicle and author of five books,, arabnews.com, May 3, 2021.
• So, evidently Abbas's decision to call off the elections really did have nothing to do with Israel. It was mainly the result of Abbas's totally justified fear that his divided Fatah faction would once again be trounced by Hamas.
• Yet, Shtayyeh seems unwilling to allow the facts to get in the way of his straight-faced lies. In the past two years, Shtayyeh has been repeating his lie, that the elections were canceled because of Israel, on almost a weekly basis. He has repeated this lie to virtually every foreign dignitary or delegation he meets with, including, recently, the US Democratic Congressional delegation.
• About Shtayyeh's other lie that he keeps repeating, that Palestinians have democracy, one does not need to be an expert on Palestinian affairs to know that unfortunately the Palestinians are actually controlled by two undemocratic, repressive regimes: the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
• Shtayyeh, it seems, also forgot to tell the Congressional members who came to see him... that the Palestinians do not have either a free and independent media or a functioning parliament.
• Shtayyeh further forgot to tell his visitors that his own Palestinian Authority government was viciously cracking down on Palestinian journalists, human rights activists, political opponents and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the West Bank. The same holds true for the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has also been targeting human rights workers, peaceful protesters, journalists and political activists.
• In the past few years, Palestinians have taken to the streets to protest Palestinian corruption and repression.
• In 2019, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in Ramallah to protest the Palestinian Social Security Institution and the impending tax hikes required to fund it. Palestinians also took to the streets to blast the killing of the heroic human rights activist, Nizar Banat, beaten to death by Palestinian security officers in June 2021.
• The demonstrators shouted slogans calling for the Palestinian president to step down and demanding justice for the slain human rights activist: "Oh Abbas, take your dogs and go away!" "The people want regime change", "Down with the [Palestinian Authority] military rule," and "Shame, shame, the Palestinian Authority assassinated Nizar Banat."
• While talking about Palestinian "democracy," did Shtayyeh bother to tell his American guests that a majority of the Palestinians do not criticize the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for fear of their lives, especially after the "example" that was made of Nizar Banat?
• Did Shtayyeh bother to tell the US Congressional delegation and other foreigners who ask to visit Ramallah that, according to recent public opinion polls, a vast majority of the Palestinians believe there is corruption in institutions controlled by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas?
• Recently, the Palestinian Coalition for Accountability and Integrity published a report naming officials close to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of suspected of involvement in financial corruption. Last year, even then Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde criticized corruption in the Palestinian Authority. Saying that widespread corruption was hindering Swedish economic aid to the Palestinians, she emphasized serious hesitation about Swedish economic support.
• The Palestinians, who every day see a democracy in Israel -- for more than seven decades -- can only dream of having one like it.
• Palestinian leaders such as Shtayyeh are accustomed to lying to foreigners, whom they view as ignorant and gullible. Many of these foreigners are also blinded by their hatred for Israel and Jews to the point that they are willing to swallow the lies offered with smiles by Palestinian officials.
• Those who visit Ramallah and fail to challenge the lies they hear only reaffirm the disrespectful view these leaders have of them. Worse, those visitors are also complicit in the campaign of disinformation and brainwashing that has long been waged by these Palestinian leaders with the aim of vilifying Israel, demonizing Jews and above all, cruelly suppressing their own people.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh lied to a visiting US Democratic Congressional delegation both when he claimed that Israel was responsible for obstructing Palestinian elections and that Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip enjoy democracy. Shtayyeh's remarks show that Palestinian leaders apparently think that many foreigners, especially Americans, are stupid enough to believe anything that comes out of their mouths. Pictured: Shtayyeh speaks at the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on February 18, 2023. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has shown that he can include two lies in one short sentence. On August 8, he met with a visiting US Democratic Congressional delegation in his office in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians where he and his boss, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, live and work.

During the meeting, Shtayyeh blamed Israel for the fact that the Palestinians have not held general elections for nearly two decades. He also accused Israel of "attempting to combat the Palestinian democracy." Shtayyeh's remarks, reported by the Palestinians' official news agency Wafa, show that Palestinian leaders apparently think that many foreigners, especially Americans, are stupid enough to believe anything that comes out of their mouths.

Shtayyeh lied both when he claimed that Israel was responsible for obstructing Palestinian elections and that Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip enjoy democracy.

Continue Reading Article