PA Adviser Calls American Infant's Killer 'Heroic'

JERUSALEM, Israel -- An adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has praised the terrorist who killed an American-Israeli baby and wounded seven others Wednesday in Jerusalem as a "heroic martyr."

Sultan Abu Al-Einein posted the praise on his official Facebook page, according to the group Palestinian Media Watch.

A security camera captured images of Abdul Rahman al-Shaludi, an Arab resident of east Jerusalem, driving off the road in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan Wednesday and accelerating as he ran over pedestrians waiting for a train.

Al-Anein was only one of many Palestinians who glorified the killer. 

Abbas's Fatah party posted an obituary on Facebook describing his death as a "wedding" -- a reference to the 72 virgins Islamic martyrs are to receive upon their death.

In part, the obituary reads, "The Palestinian National Liberation Movement [from Abbas's Fatah party] Silwan Branch accompanies to his wedding the heroic martyr Abd Al-Rahman Al-Shaloudi, who carried out the Jerusalem operation, in which settlers in the occupied city of Jerusalem were run over. Rest in peace! We are loyal to you."

In 2013, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers had called on Abbas to condemn previous statements by Al-Anein glorifying murderers, but Abbas didn't respond.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad also welcomed the act of terrorism and called for another Intifada, or armed uprising.

The Jerusalem Post reports the groups urged the Palestinian Authority to "halt its security coordination with Israel and to act in resistance in the West Bank."