A Palestinian activist with a history of making false statements about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including repeated claims that rockets fired at Israel don't carry explosives, was interviewed by MSNBC's Ali Velshi on Wednesday afternoon.
Diana Buttu, a former advisor to the Palestinian Liberation Organization, was brought on by Velshi to discuss President Donald Trump's announcement that he will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and begin the process to move the U.S. embassy there. She called the announcement a "nail in the coffin" for the non-existent peace process.
The decision to feature Buttu as an expert on the situation is surprising given her history of ignoring the facts. That ignorance was last exhibited during a 2014 interview with CNN's Jake Tapper during which she denied the fact that Hamas had ordered people to act as human shields as well as the existence of a "culture of martyrdom" among Palestinians.
Previously, during a series of interviews with Western media in 2008 and 2009, Buttu repeatedly insisted that Qassam rockets fired by Palestinians do not carry explosives. She repeated her claim in 2012 during a speech at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a fellow.
News reports at the time directly contradicted Buttu's assertions.
Buttu's other false statements, many listed here by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, include that no Israelis were killed by Palestinian suicide bombers between 1997 and 2007, which ignores the 24 Israelis murdered by Palestinian suicide bombers during the period, according to the group.
More recently, Buttu was published in the New York Times, where she argued for the Palestinian Authority to be shuttered and replaced by a "community-based decision making" body more representative of groups such as the terrorist organization Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist.
Buttu has also complained that the Palestinian Authority cooperates with Israeli security because it interferes with Palestinians opportunity to engage in "resistance."