Like Yasir Arafat and many other predecessors in the jihadist movement, Awad says one thing when he is among friends, and something else when speaking for mainstream consumption. He apparently didn’t expect his remarks to the Convention for Palestine to be reported, so he claimed to have been “taken out of context.”

Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell provided a statement attributed to Awad.

“…[A]n anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian hate website selected remarks from my speech out of context and spliced them together to create a completely false meaning.”

[Yeah, sure, pal. Why not produce video of Awad condemning the massacres of civilians and recognizing Israel’s right to exist? Answer: Because that video doesn’t exist, and Awad’s comments speak for themselves. — Ed]