U.S. Army Issues No Apology After Complaints, Confirms the Palestinian Flag Is Also Symbol of Terror

A Palestinian man waves his national flag and shouts slogans during clashes with Israeli forces at the Nahal Oz crossing with Israel, east of Gaza City, on September 27, 2013. Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in the Gaza Strip as others threw stones at policemen at Damascus Gate in Arab east Jerusalem, lightly injuring one, in ongoing small-scale clashes that followed Friday prayers, a spokeswoman said.Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Despite protests from Palestinian authorities that a recently declassified U.S. Army manual lists the Palestinian flag -- colored red, white, black and green -- as a designated symbol of terror, Army officials made no apologies for the attribute.

Last week, TheBlaze reported that Palestinian supporters were upset by the U.S. Army's designation of the flag as a terrorist logo because they believe it is essentially a symbol of the Palestinian people and a possible symbol of any future Palestinian state.

However, it is also a symbol used by the Abu Nidal organization, also known by the names Fatah Revolutionary Council and Arab Revolutionary Brigade. The group has been listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization for the last twenty years and it is one of 18 terrorist groups listed in the Israel and Palestine section of the  2009 Army manual.

"The handbook offers no evaluation of Palestine or the Palestinian people or nation," Col. Chris Kubik, with U.S. Army Training Doctrine and Command (TRADOC), told TheBlaze.

Kubik said the Army handbook, which is considered a hip pocket reference for deployed soldiers, "refers only to the terrorist organization Abu Nidal."

"Abu Nidal has chosen the Palestinian Flag as the symbol or logo of their group; thus the logo is depicted in the handbook as associated with Abu Nidal," he added.

The story was first published last Friday in Gizmodo, a technology blog, after the Army's TRADOC declassified the 60 page plus document.

It provides basic information soldiers need overseas to identify insurgents, terrorists, paramilitary and other militant groups worldwide, as well as the visual symbols these groups use.

"I'm glad the Army stood its ground and made no apologies because Abu Nidal is a designated terrorist group of Palestinian origin and should be listed as such," said a U.S. Army official, who works overseas but who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter. "If the Palestinian authority finds it offensive that their flag is listed as a terrorist logo they should pressure Abu Nidal to change it  or find a new flag if they won't."

Gizmodo's website wasn't short of comments, as noted in TheBlaze report last week.

Jean Salim, asked, “Why is there a Palestinian flag in an article with terrorist in the title?”

“Probably has to do with the terrorist attacks committed by the Palestinian Authority," said another reader in a post. "I don’t get it either, but committing terrorist attacks seems to earn the label of terrorist in the cockamamie world we live in.”

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