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by Ephraim D. Tepler
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas holds a leadership meeting in Ramallah, in the West Bank, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
“May their father be cursed,” sneered Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas, mocking the United States in a televised speech.
This crude insult wasn’t a one-off — Abbas repeated it and was met with laughter and applause by the audience. It takes some nerve for Abbas to say something like that, after the Palestinians have received over $2.1 billion in American taxpayer-funded aid just since October 7, 2023.
In the speech, which was broadcast on official PA television, Abbas did not just curse but openly ridiculed the US, boasting about his repeated defiance of American leaders and policies: “33 times I told them [the Americans] ‘No!'”
Abbas also used the occasion to lavish praise on Saudi Arabia for refusing to normalize relations with Israel, crediting Riyadh for conditioning any peace on the establishment of a Palestinian state.
This is not the first time that the Palestinian leadership has responded to American generosity with insults and rejection. Abbas and the PA have a history of disdain for the US, despite all that the US has done to help them.
Below is the transcript of Abbas’ recent remarks:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “Thanks to King Salman bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia, and the crown prince and prime minister, the esteemed Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their brave position against normalization with Israel and for conditioning this on the establishment of a Palestinian state. A great kindness, we thank him.
They [Americans] said to him: ‘Normalize,’ or something like that. You know the Americans, the Americans are like that. May their father be cursed (laughter and applause). I am not a great Arab leader, I am a dwarf, this small. 33 times I told them [the Americans] ‘No!’ But not everybody does that because I’ve got nothing to lose, may their father be cursed.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, April 23, 2025]
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), where a version of this article first appeared.
