“The world has gotten over” Antisemitism – EU-funded human rights center director

The world has "gotten over" Israel's "claims of Antisemitism," said the head of an EU-funded NGO on official Palestinian Authority television just a month before the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre of Jews. According to Omar Rahal, director of the SHAMS Human Rights and Democracy Media Center, complaints about Antisemitism were all false "claims" by "Netanyahu and his extremist government," whereas Palestinians are the ones who are the victims of Israel's attacks:

"The Palestinian discourse has gained dominance, and the claims of Antisemitism and violent discourse – the world has now gotten over them and there have been direct responses from presidents and state leaders to [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu and the pillars of his extremist government. In other words, go find another topic [to talk about]. They [Israel] are the ones who attacked us."

[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Nov. 16, 2025]

Rahal is absolutely correct on one point, however. Palestinian hate speech, which calls for "Palestine to be free from the river to the sea" and for the globalization of the Intifada, has indeed gained dominance. When that combines with a world that has "gotten over" claims of Antisemitism, attacks on Jews in Israel and around the world inevitably become commonplace. When Antisemitism is denied as real, when violence against Jews is erased as a distinct phenomenon, and when Jews are collectively portrayed as aggressors who deserve blame everywhere, then the cost is paid in Jewish lives.

It is also unsurprising that such an outrageous statement would be featured on official PA TV. Considering how PA TV routinely denies the Holocaust, one would be hard-pressed to expect better.

The question here, though, should be: where is the condemnation of the EU and UN for Rahal's public statements? Rahal's SHAMS organization is supported by the EU and proudly advertises its partnership with the UN Economic and Social Council. It incredibly also lists the International Organization for Tolerance as one of its many partners. Palestinian Media Watch calls on the EU, the UN, and all international donors to examine not the slogans of their funded NGOs but their actual messages.