Senior Palestinian figures have moved swiftly to distance themselves from any expression of support at grassroots level for the terrorist attacks in the US.
They also accused the media of misrepresenting broad Palestinian reaction to the New York and Washington atrocities by failing to adequately report repeated condemnations from a wide range of Palestinian leaders.
The Palestinian representatives were reacting to news footage of joyous reaction from some members of their community to the US events, which was shown repeatedly on television around the world.
However, in the West Bank city of Ramallah around midday yesterday, and in Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the US events, there was no overt evidence of celebration.
The atmosphere on the streets in both places was sombre and subdued.
Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, the media officer of the Arab League and former Palestinian minister, Dr Hanan Ash-rawi, described any celebrations of the atrocities as "aberrations" and "misguided" in their nature.
"Unthinking reactions are counterproductive and do not serve the Palestinian cause," she said.
"We believe on behalf of the Palestinian people and leadership, on behalf of the Arab people and the Arab leadership, that this horrendous and massive act of terrorism against innocent American people is an act of absolute immorality and evil."
Her own people were under occupation and siege and were daily being shelled and killed. "And yet from the heart of the Palestinian people who are suffering this ongoing state terrorism, we reach out to the American people and we express our extreme sorrow and condolences.
"We stand together. We feel their pain and we feel that the perpetrators have to be identified and punished and that all acts of terrorism have to be stamped out from the root.
"We think that this is a turning point in the history of wars and confrontations.
"This is an invisible enemy, an enemy of all humanity and human rights and freedom, and we as Palestinians are struggling for freedom, human rights, democracy and the rule of law."
Questioned about the scenes of celebration seen on television, Dr Ashrawi said there was a "consensus" among all the Palestinian parties and factions in condemning the US attacks. "Now, if there are aberrations, exceptions, individuals who, as a result of their own sense of victimisation, would react without much thought, in a misguided way, then certainly it is the role of everybody, whether it is political or civil leadership or intellectuals or any other, to articulate a clear message and to show that such visceral, unthinking reactions are counterproductive and do not serve the Palestinian cause and do not serve the moral fibre and standing of the Palestinian people.
"But I wouldn't make a blanket judgment and I wouldn't use the exception to condemn the majority."
When asked how she would explain the scenes on television to an American audience, she said: "I think this was done at the beginning, without much thought, without understanding what was happening, without knowing the human dimension and implications and suffering."
Mr Ghassan Khatib, a Jerusalem-based Palestinian political analyst, pointed out that 11 "martyrs" who died in Middle East violence were to be buried later in the day and he claimed Israel was exploiting the fact that the focus of world attention was elsewhere to step up its attacks.
"That is why we call upon the international community to pay attention to the escalation Israel [has] started."
He also called on the international media "to be fair in trying to avoid the premature accusations that Israeli media and Israeli politicians have been trying to promote, unfortunately, on account of the suffering and human tragedies in the United States".