As Hamas began firing its deadly barrage of rockets at Israel last week, young Israeli Arabs, including children, gathered in Nazareth to reject the presence of Israelis – “Zionists” – in Israel and call for a third intifada against their Jewish neighbors.

Footage of the protest, broadcast live by official PA TV, shows the Israeli Arabs, both male and female, clapping and chanting. The crowd, in their teens and early twenties, wore the keffiyah scarf that has become associated with Palestinian nationalism as they shouted: “Rise up intifada…We are your youth, Palestine… [We say] openly, openly, openly: We don’t want to see a Zionist, with spirit and blood we’ll redeem Al-Aqsa.”

Last Friday, another large protest was held in the West Bank town of Jenin, where young Palestinian men waving Fatah flags clapped and chanted as they marched.“Millions of Martyrs are marching to Jerusalem,” they cried.

“Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Millions of Martyrs are marching to Jerusalem. Happy are you, O mother of the Martyr. If only my mother was in your place.”

The demonstrations follow numerous calls by senior Palestinian officials for a third intifada against Israeli Jews.A day before the rocket strikes from Gaza began, Palestinian Faction Coordination Committee member Muhammad Dweikat appeared on PA TV, telling viewers in the West Bank: “The time has come for all our people to rise up against this occupation and against what is happening in Jerusalem.”

[Watch on YouTube]

The word in Arabic translated as “rise up” comes from the same root as the word “intifada” – a word the Palestinians have used to describe their previous terror campaigns against Israel.

Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch commented: “While the eye of the international media has been focused on Hamas’ attack against Israel and the retaliatory strikes in Gaza, the ongoing violence that Mahmoud Abbas originally triggered in Jerusalem and the West Bank has been largely ignored.

“Indeed, the fundamental reason why Hamas launched its missile attack against Israel which has brought death and destruction to Israelis and Palestinians, was because Hamas could not allow its political rival Mahmoud Abbas to be seen as the sole defender of Jerusalem.”