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Should a Jewish Organization Provide a Platform to an Ex-Terrorist Who Minimized the Bibas Murders?
Edited by: Fern Sidman
The decision by Partners for Progressive Israel (PPI) to host Omar Dajani, a former representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), raises profound ethical and moral questions—particularly in the wake of his recent statements minimizing Hamas’s responsibility for the murder of the Bibas children. Given his past affiliations and present rhetoric, the question must be asked: Should a Jewish organization provide a platform to an individual who has served in a terrorist organization and continues to excuse its atrocities?
PPI’s event announcement refers to Dajani as an “adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team in peace talks with Israel from 1999 to 2001.” This phrasing conveniently omits a crucial fact: that this so-called “negotiating team” was an arm of the PLO, an organization responsible for decades of deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews worldwide. The PLO has long been associated with some of the most horrific acts of terror, including airplane hijackings, bombings, and the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Moreover, the period during which Dajani worked for the PLO coincides with the onset of the Second Intifada, a brutal wave of terrorism directed by the PLO leadership that claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Israelis and wounded thousands more. The uprising, spanning from 2000 to 2005, saw suicide bombings, shootings, and stabbings carried out with the full backing of the PLO’s leadership. Despite this, there is no known record of Dajani ever expressing remorse for his service within an organization orchestrating such violence, nor has he publicly condemned the attacks carried out by the PLO during that time.
Dajani’s actions following Hamas’s October 7 massacre further intensify concerns regarding his invitation by a Jewish organization. In the aftermath of the attack, Dajani posted the slogan “Free Palestine” on social media, a phrase that has been widely co-opted as a pro-Hamas rallying cry. His posts also included condemnation of former President Joe Biden, labeling him “Genocide Joe,” an accusation that aligns with Hamas’s propaganda efforts to delegitimize Israel’s self-defense.
Perhaps most disturbing are Dajani’s recent efforts to absolve Hamas of responsibility for the murder of the Bibas children—Ariel, 4, Kfir, 9 ½ months and their mother, Shiri, 32,—who were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and later savagely murdered in captivity in Gaza. Hamas initially claimed that the family perished in Israeli airstrikes, a narrative Dajani appears to have echoed. However, forensic evidence presented by Israeli authorities concluded that the children were brutally murdered by their captors, and their bodies mutilated to simulate injuries from bombings. By perpetuating Hamas’s false claims, Dajani is not only spreading misinformation but also aiding in the moral whitewashing of a terrorist organization’s crimes against innocent civilians.
Americans For A Safe Israel (AFSI) has been vocal in its opposition to PPI’s decision to host Dajani, with its national chairman, Moshe Phillips, making a clear and firm statement: “No Jewish organization should host an unrepentant ex-PLO terrorist official who whitewashes Hamas’s barbaric slaughter of the Bibas children.”
This position illustrates a broader ethical concern: What does it say about a Jewish organization if it chooses to provide a platform to someone who has not only worked for a terrorist entity but also continues to justify the actions of its successor groups? Dajani’s participation in the event is not merely a question of free speech—it is about whether a Jewish organization should lend credibility to someone who continues to excuse, minimize, and distort the atrocities committed against Jews.
Jewish organizations have a moral duty to uphold principles of justice and historical truth. Hosting someone who played a role in the machinery of terror and continues to distort reality in favor of violent extremists is an abdication of that duty. PPI’s decision not only disrespects the memory of the Bibas family but also risks normalizing the presence of individuals with direct ties to terrorism in Jewish communal spaces.
While open dialogue is an important value, there are reasonable limits. No reputable Jewish organization would invite a former Nazi propagandist to speak, no matter how “moderate” their current views might seem. The same standard should apply to a former PLO official who refuses to condemn the organization’s violent past and actively distorts the truth about Hamas’s war crimes.
PPI’s decision to host Dajani is a betrayal of Jewish moral integrity. Any institution that grants him a stage should be held accountable for legitimizing voices that seek to whitewash terrorism and undermine the Jewish people’s right to security and truth.
