Coastal Road Massacre memorial
Coastal Road Massacre memorialIsrael national news photo / Media Commons

Israel has allowed several hundred foreign terrorists to enter Judea in recent days in order to allow them to participate in a leadership conference planned by Fatah, the party currently leading the Palestinian Authority. Among those who have been granted entry is Khaled Abu Isba, one of the terrorists who carried out the infamous Coastal Road Massacre.

In the Coastal Road Massacre of 1978, 12 terrorists infiltrated Israel from Lebanon, murdered an American photographer and hijacked two buses. A total of 38 Israeli civilians were murdered in the attack, 13 of them children, and another 71 were wounded.

Isba, one of two terrorists to survive the attack, served only seven years in prison before being released in a prison exchange deal.

In an interview with local Arab media, Isba expressed surprise and joy at having been allowed into Judea and Samaria. He said he plans to stay in the area, and bring his wife and children as well. “I won't leave,” he insisted.

Isba shared his hope that the conference would “restore Fatah's dignity” and return to “popular resistance” -- “resistance” being a term often used to refer to terrorist attacks on Israelis. Isba is not alone in his hopes; several senior Fatah members have hinted that the organization will pass resolutions calling not to recognize Israel and to commit violent attacks against Israelis.

The notorious Fatah killer spoke with media in a Bethlehem building located a 15-minute drive from Jerusalem.

Senior Fatah man: Ally with Iran

A second well-known member of Fatah, former senior PA official Hatem Abdul Qader, told the Bethlehem-based Maan News that he plans to promote an allegiance between Fatah and Iran. “The challenges that face the Palestinian people... obligate the Fatah movement to formulate its regional strategic alliances based on new principles and criteria,” he said.

Qader clarified that Fatah, the organization that leads the PA, should seek help from Iran, but that the PA itself should not.

While Iran has traditionally supported the Islamist Hamas and not the more secular Fatah, it would happily support Fatah as well, Qader said. Iranian leaders supported former Fatah head and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat in his lifetime, he pointed out.

Qader served as PA minister of Jerusalem Affairs until July of this year. He now serves as Fatah's Jerusalem Affairs liaison.

Both the PA and Fatah insist that historic Jerusalem, and new neighborhoods that are home to roughly 300,000 Israeli Jews, be relinquished to the PA as the capital city of a new Arab state, to be created in Judea and Samaria. Qader is in charge of coordinating Fatah's efforts to gain control over the capital city wherever possible.