How the PA “president” insulted the U.S. president prior to their initial meeting.

Palestinian Authority “president” Mahmoud Abbas exploited his visit with Donald Trump in the White House on May 3 to tell a lie so deceitful, it amounted to an insult: “we are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren on a culture of peace.” As many observers quickly noted, schools routinely are named after Palestinian suicide bombers, and Abbas’ party consistently glorifies murderers including on the very day Abbas met with Trump – his Fatah party honored 12 terrorists who murdered 95 people.

But that’s just the beginning of Abbas’ outrages against Trump; Abbas and his many organizations – Fatah, the PLO, the Palestinian Authority – insult the American president in outlandish and unpleasant ways.

On January 20, Fatah posted photos of anti-Trump protests that included a banner of Trump’s face stepped on by Palestinian protestors; a screaming Trump being warned to “Keep your populism away from Jerusalem”; and a sneering image of Trump with claims he is a racist. Protestors set fire to some images of Trump over a Twitter text announcing: “Activists of the popular resistance burn pictures of Trump before the entrance of the occupation wall of Bethlehem.”

(When Trump visits Bethlehem on May 23, you can be sure that all anti-Trump imagery will have been cleaned up.)

Fatah Twitter post January 20, 2017.

Abbas and his Fatah party organized anti-Trump protests on January 19 in the West Bank. The Fatah Facebook post states, “#Pictures of protests organized by the Fatah movement in the city of #Nablus against the promise of Trump to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to #Jerusalem.” The highlighted photo features a poster of Donald Trump as a screaming pile of manure.

Fatah Facebook post January 19, 2017.

A Fatah video shows a city circle decorated with professionally produced banners demanding that a belligerent-looking Trump not move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In the Trump banner, it states, “The world advances and the Trump administration regresses.” Next to it is a second banner of a wide-eyed Yasser Arafat ordering Trump to submit to Palestinian demands and not move the embassy. (Which, so far, he has done.)

Screenshots of Fatah Facebook video January 19, 2017

And in officially Palestinian Authority-controlled Hebron, videos emerged of Palestinian protestors gleefully throwing shoes at a similar unflattering poster of Donald Trump. The protestors proceeded to violently stomp on the image of Trump’s face.

Screenshots of video of Palestinians throwing shows at Donald Trump banner.

It is appalling that with the vast resources of the U.S. government and over $50 billion spent annually on intelligence gathering no one informed the White House of these readily accessible graphic insults against the president. In commercial real estate, it is standard practice to receive a dossier on any potential partners in a “deal” and I doubt Trump ever made an investment without knowing if it were genuinely viable – why isn’t Trump receiving the minimum level of intelligence on Abbas whom he bestowed the honor of a White House invitation? Was this overlooked or did intelligence agencies purposely leave out the insulting rhetoric Abbas and his party publicly spewed online to maintain the diplomacy of past administrations? And where is the media – so quick to criticize Trump over every minor faux pas yet not the glaring Palestinian propaganda easily accessible to anyone with a Facebook account?

That information might have aborted the farcical love-fest that accompanied Abbas’ visit with Trump. Trump surely would not have provided Abbas with a platform to legitimize his lies. By pretending the terror-glorifying Abbas and Palestinians are “peace partners” Trump falls into the same trap of his predecessors, all of whom pursued failed policies.

As Trump prepares to meet Abbas in Bethlehem, Fatah is ramping up its propaganda engine - but politely in English, for Americans are the current target audience. Note the flattering image of Trump with an America-friendly message: “President Trump / Freedom for our prisoners / Freedom for the Palestinian people / For peace to prevail.” The prisoners referenced include jihadists who have murdered American citizens in operations that include stabbings, shootings, and suicide bombings in places such as markets, restaurants, and buses, among others.

Fatah Facebook post May 21, 2017.

In the most recent social media posts, Abbas and his party left out the unflattering, burning, feces riddled images of Donald Trump. However, the Palestinians despise the US president even as they attempt to exploit his naivety about the Arab-Israeli conflict. In doing so, the Palestinian leadership has made a joke of Donald Trump.

It’s time for the U.S. government and the press to inform Trump of what Palestinians really think – if not, ultimately the joke will be on all of us.

Danielle Avel is a photojournalist and investigative researcher. She can be reached through her website, on Twitter @DanielleAvel and on Facebook.