Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday backed the current wave of terrorist attacks against Israelis as a "justified popular uprising", claiming the young Palestinian Arabs who have been carrying out the attacks are doing so out of “frustration”.
Speaking at an anti-corruption conference held in Ramallah, Abbas claimed that the young terrorists are not sent by him or by other Palestinian groups to carry out attacks, but that the “popular uprising”, as he put it, derives from a sense of despair that characterizes the younger generation.
He added that "the younger generation who gave up on the two-state solution is forced to deal with checkpoints, settlements and settler attacks - as was reflected in the murder of Mohammed Abu-Khder, the torching of the Dawabshe family home and the aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
The comments came as a new poll found that two-thirds of Palestinian Arabs support the ongoing wave of terror attacks against Israelis, with the same percentage backing a larger "armed uprising" with more shooting attacks.
A full 67% back the use of knives, while 66% of those asked said an armed intifada with guns would "serve Palestinian national interests in ways that negotiations could not."
The survey was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR).
Abbas has consistently refused to condemn terrorist attacks against Israelis. In fact, he recently said that the murder of dozens of Israelis and the wounding of hundreds others is part of a "peaceful uprising."
Last month, the PA chairman claimed that the Palestinian people are living under unacceptable difficult conditions "as a result of the continued Israeli occupation and the escalation of settler attacks against Palestinian property and their holy places, which bring them to a state of despair and pressure."