PA TV: Singing to Israel's destruction

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook- October 29, 2007

While the Palestinian Authority announces in English its demand for a two-state solution, to its own people in Arabic it continues to define all of Israel as "Palestine," and to promise Israel's destruction. A new video clip, broadcast numerous times daily since it first appeared on Fatah-controlled TV last week, passionately promises "Mother" that every Israeli city will be "liberated" because its "identity is Arab" and "Palestinian”:

"We will liberate the Land… [which] is Arab in history and identity, Palestine is Arab in history and identity."

And to ensure that no one limits the land of the future "liberated Palestine," the song defines the scope of Palestinian cities, which include all of Israel:

"From Jerusalem and Acre and from Haifa and Jericho and Gaza and Ramallah
From Bethlehem and Jaffa and Be'er Sheva and Ramle
And from Nablus to the Galilee, and from Tiberias to Hebron”

This is significant not only because it was broadcast on Fatah TV, but because the constant repetition of this clip promising Israel's destruction comes at the very time that the world is preparing for a peace conference.

Arafat's Palestinian Authority was notorious for this duplicity. It signaled its real beliefs and intentions only in Arabic, while in English it said what the West and Israel needed to hear to sustain what is widely recognized today as a deceptive peace process. Arafat was successful, with Israel repeatedly giving in to his demands. Israel paid dearly for its trust in Arafat's English pronouncements, with more than 1,000 killed and tens of thousands wounded in the Palestinian Authority-led terror war.

Today's leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was Arafat's right hand man and partner during the first duplicity period. To Israel and the U.S. in English, he is talking peace. To his people in Arabic, through his TV and schoolbooks [Click for PMW report on PA schoolbooks], he is promoting hatred and promising the destruction of Israel. Is Abbas following Arafat's successful duplicity tactic? It is incumbent upon Israel and the world to verify this before going further.

Click to view video on YouTube or PMW website

The following is from the text of the song:

“Oh mother, they destroyed our house
The house of my brother and my neighbor [2X]
Do not be angry, oh mother, we got more stones [2X]
We are Palestinians, we are not terrorists [2X]

We have the right, oh mother, we want to bring our home back
Hand in hand, and arm in arm, we will protect your land, Palestine
We will pray in Al-Aqsa and the [Church] of the Nativity, Islam and Christians
[2X]
We will liberate [Palestine] the Land of Religions.
And we will build Jerusalem of the homelands.
We are the sons of glory, oh mother …

We are Palestinians we are not terrorists
We are the students of freedom we are not terrorists

Oh Arab, oh noble son, your blood is in my blood and your business is my business
Peace will be achieved through unity, oh my brother and cousin
The land is Arab in history and identity
Palestine is Arab in history and identity
We will live in peace, oh mother, and our lives will not be wasted
…
Oh mother, they destroyed our house
The house of my brother and my neighbor [2X]
Do not be angry, oh mother, our rocks increased [in number]

From Jerusalem and Acre, from Haifa and Jericho and Gaza and Ramallah [2X]
From Bethlehem and Jaffa, from Be’er Sheva and Ramla, [2X]
from Nablus to the Galilee, from Tiberias to Hebron [2x]

[Images of all these Israeli cities are broadcast]
[PA TV, October 23, 2007]

Palestinian Authority TV visualizes a world without Israel:
Shows map of Israel covered by Palestinian flag

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - October 17, 2007

As preparations for the American peace conference continue, the leaders of the Palestinian Authority have announced their demands for a future Palestinian state with an area of 6205 square kilometers. This would include the Gaza strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. However, the message they have conveyed to their people for years, and continue to convey on the eve of the conference, is that "Palestine" exists and it replaces all of Israel.

A clip broadcast by Fatah-controlled Palestinian television this week shows a map in which Israel is painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag, symbolizing Israel turned into a Palestinian state.

The description of all the state of Israel as "Palestine" is not coincidental and is part of a formal educational approach throughout the Palestinian Authority. This uniform message of a world without Israel is repeated in school books, children's programs, crossword puzzles, video clips, formal symbols, school and street names, etc. The picture painted for the Palestinian population, both verbally and visually, is of a world without Israel.

 

Palestinians: Allah, Kill Americans

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - October 9, 2007

The Palestinian Authority (Fatah) daily newspaper’s political cartoon today illustrated a prayer for the killing of Americans. A Muslim is shown kneeling in prayer facing a US B-2 Stealth Bomber. The words of his prayer are encased in missiles aimed at Americans:

"Allah, scatter them!”
“And turn their wives into widows!”
“And turn their children into orphans!”
“And give us victory over them!”
[Al Hayat Al Jadida October 9, 2007]


This curse for the death of Americans is a special prayer for Al-Qadr Night (the 27 th day of Ramadan, noted in the corner of the cartoon), when Muslims customarily pray in mosques throughout the night.
This continues the identification by the PA and Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction with those who fight and kill Americans. The most recently published 12 th grade PA schoolbooks, for example, call those who fight American soldiers in Iraq "brave resistance.”

[Click here for full PMW report on PA schoolbooks]

 

Abbas appointee:
"Muslims are masters of the world,
its leaders and teachers,
even if the West rejects this."

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - October 2, 2007

One of the defining principles of Hamas and the Islamic Brotherhood is their insistence that the only truth is Islam and that the world is destined to be enlightened only when ruled by Islam. A similar Islamic supremacist ideology was expressed recently in an article by a Palestinian Authority religious leader who was appointed last year by Mahmoud Abbas as member of the Supreme Fatwa Council: "Muslims are masters of the world, its leaders and teachers, even if the West rejects this."

"The Muslims and their societies are more advanced and more sublime than the West and its societies… are more perfect in value system and humanity. The fact that there are those who believe that these are Western values – it is a delusion and false, since the Muslims are masters of the world, its leaders and teachers, even if the West rejects this."

This continues the ongoing social-religious evolution that PMW has been reporting for some time, in which the radical Islamic ideology of Hamas is being adopted by the Fatah of Mahmoud Abbas. See PMW's recent report on the newest PA schoolbooks, "From Nationalist Battle to Religious Conflict".

The following was written by Dr. Hamza Dhib Mustafa, member of the Supreme Fatwa Council, appointed by Abbas in August 2006:

"To what does the publication of the declaration of human rights in the West testify in 1948? Didn’t Islam issue something much greater 14 centuries ago?

"Despite these rights, reserved for humans… we see chilling and embarrassing operations from the states who claim to be democratic, or is it possible that they classify themselves as one of the states of the First World, since… what did the United States do in South America? What did America do in Iraq and Afghanistan? And what does the Israeli occupation do to our Palestinian people, by occupying its land, the requisition of its property and its banishment to everywhere on the face of the earth?

"All this in the era of the declaration on human rights. Despite this declaration, humanity is still suffering much from the degradation of human respect, from racial discrimination and from social injustice, and by whom? By those that declared these rights!...

"Yet, these rights… Islam espoused them 14 centuries ago… Europe and the West in general, would never have reached these principles, had they not been influenced by the advanced Islamic culture and had they not borrowed much from it, including this declaration…

"Islamic societies are cultured, humane and righteous societies, since oppression had not found its way to them and the killing did not spread nor extend among them. They do not go beyond the punishment defined by Islamic law with all that pertains to human rights, regardless of their religion, race, color and their countries [of origin], since human beings are equal from the point of view of Islam… Everyone is equal under the law in terms of their rights and obligations…

"It says in the Quran… in the words [of Allah], praise him: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.” [Quran, 49,13]

"This and more, Islam promises various rights to the human. It promises him freedom of religion and citizenship, freedom of thought, the right to property, political freedom and his right to employment. The thing that has no doubt… is that Islam preceded Europe and the West, in general, with all that pertains to matters of human rights by no less than 13 centuries …

"The Muslims and their societies are more advanced and more sublime than the West and its societies. They are earlier in human civilization, and are more perfect in value system and humanity. The fact that there are those who believe that these are Western values – it is a delusion and false, since the Muslims are masters, leaders and teachers of the world, even if the West rejects this. It is no wonder that this is rejected by the West, the most eager rival of Islam, its followers and its culture. But shocking and amazing is that these are opinions of some Muslims, and this misdirects their compass from the path of truth, righteousness and wisdom.

“Quite a number of the People of the Book [Jews and Christians] wish they could turn you (Muslims) back to be infidels after you have believed, from selfish envy, after the Truth hath become Manifest unto them.” [Quran, 2,109]

[Dr. Hamza Dhib Mustafa, member of the Palestinian Authority Supreme Fatwa Council, Al Quds, Aug. 28, 2007]

 

Palestinian Authority celebrates
9-11 terror attacks

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - September 17, 2007

The Palestinian Authority continues a long tradition of celebrating the 2001 World Trade Center terror attacks by publishing cartoons in its official daily that glorify Osama Bin Laden and the attacks, or mock the suffering of the U.S. This year's cartoon shows Bin Laden smiling while making the “V” for victory sign with two fingers in the shape of the burning Twin Towers. The PA daily that published the cartoon, Al Hayat Al Jadida, is owned by the PA and controlled by the office of Mahmoud Abbas. The only text on this cartoon is "Exclusive to Al Hayat Al Jadida," which means it was prepared specifically for the official Palestinian Authority daily. (See below for past visual examples of the way the PA has used cartoon images of the 9-11 terror attacks, published around the anniversary of the event, to celebrate the attacks, mock the U.S., and portray Arabs and Muslims as the true victims of the attack.)

Text: “Exclusive to Al Hayat Al Jadida” [Al Hayat Al Jadida, September 12, 2007]

The Palestinian Authority has a long history of celebrating the 9-11 terror. The world was shocked by televised scenes of Palestinians celebrating the attacks in the streets the day they took place. A December 2005 poll found that "65% of Palestinians support(ed) Al Qaeda actions in the USA and Europe.” (Fafo – Institute for Applied International Studies – Norway. Survey Dec. 22, 2005). Earlier this year, a former Minister from Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party wished Al Qaeda success in its attacks against the U.S., and in its targeting of President George W. Bush. The Fatah leader, Abu Ali Shahin, said in an interview on official PA TV: "Oh [Al-Qaeda] brother, leave us and focus on your business. You have Bush! Do to Bush what you want, and we wish you success with Bush, even more. I, Abu Ali Shahin, wish you success with Bush... We are fighting the Americans and hate the Americans more than you!" [PA TV, Jan. 1, 2007]

Text: "September" followed by legs that form "11" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, September 11, 2002, reprinted from Al-Wattan of Kuwait]

The official PA media's repeated glorification of Bin Laden is a reflection of the deep hatred of the U.S. by the Palestinian population. This hatred is the result of years of hate incitement against the U.S. by Palestinian political leaders (such as the hate promotion by Abu Ali Shahin cited above), by the PA media and even in official Western-funded schoolbooks. PMW has documented this anti-American hate promotion in many reports and bulletins.

(Palestinians see Twin Tower victims as Iraqis and Palestinians.) Text on left tower: Palestine Text on right tower: Iraq [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept 12, 2003]

It should be noted that the U.S. continues to fund PA institutions and the Palestinian Authority itself, and to support it politically, while ignoring the continued Palestinian hate promotion against the U.S. While there has been repeated legislation in the U.S. to prevent US money from going to terrorists and their supporters, it seems that the U.S. Congress has not restricted the funding of institutions and governments who promote anti-American hatred.

Text on wall: "September", Twin Towers form "11" over dead bodies Text on left tower': "Rights of Nations" Text on right tower': "American Hegemony" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, September 11, 2002]

Text: "September 11 - the day of the greatest conspiracy against the Arabs and Muslims." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida September 13, 2002]

Text on left tower: Arabs Text on right tower: Muslims [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, September 13, 2002]

The Washington Post:
PMW report "pushes USAID" to "take action"

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - September 9, 2007

The Washington Post and The Washington Times both published articles this week citing research by Palestinian Media Watch. The Washington Post article on US funding in the Palestinian Authority stated that it was PMW reports that pushed the U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID] to "take action":

"Pushing USAID to take action, according to its Tuesday presentation, was a recent report by Palestinian Media Watch that Al-Quds Open University -- a U.S. aid recipient -- 'hosts branches of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations.'"

The Washington Times article reports on PMW’s recent bulletin documenting the increased influence of Islam in Palestinian society. The Times article opened with:

“Both Hamas and the supposedly secular Fatah are engaging in a new propaganda war, each portraying itself as the defender of the faith…according to a report being released today by the Palestinian Media Watch.”

Below are longer excerpts from both articles.

1) The Washington Post: “Plan for Terror Screening of Aid Groups Cut Drastically,” by Walter Pincus, August 30, 2007

"The Bush administration has decided to sharply scale back its plan to screen U.S. foreign aid contractors around the globe for potential terrorism connections, deciding instead to begin with a pilot program involving aid recipients in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip before expanding it worldwide…

"[U.S. Agency for International Development] officials said they would initially carry out a "pilot vetting program" with recipients of grants and contracts in the West Bank and Gaza… The global vetting idea grew out of a congressional amendment in 2003 that required the secretary of state to 'take all appropriate steps' to ensure that U.S. funds in the West Bank and Gaza do not reach any person or group that 'advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in or has engaged in terrorist activities.'" [Note: This law was in response to a PMW report that documented broad misuse of American funding and recommended six amendments to US law. Five of PMW's six recommendations were passed into US law.]

"A subsequent Government Accountability Office report criticized USAID's implementation of that program. Also pushing USAID to take action, according to its Tuesday presentation, was a recent [2006] report by Palestinian Media Watch, an Israel-based organization, that Al-Quds Open University -- a U.S. aid recipient -- 'hosts branches of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations.'"

"The organization [PMW] said the university had received in $100,000 in 2006 in 'in-kind' aid from USAID, and it also complained that USAID planned to provide $2.4 million in scholarships for about 2,000 Palestinian students without a guarantee that recipients are not 'members of the Hamas or Islamic Jihad student unions, have participated in their events, or have given any support to Hamas or Islamic Jihad, including voting for them in the council elections.'

2) The Washington Times, “Post-Oslo Gaza” by Joel Mowbray, September 5, 2007

"The tidy Western view of Palestinian politics coming down to Islamists vs. secularists faces yet another reality check. Both Hamas and the supposedly secular Fatah are engaging in a new propaganda war, each portraying itself as the defender of the faith, while accusing the other party of defiling Islam, according to a report being released today by the Palestinian Media Watch.

"While competing videos represent just a recent snapshot of the bitter struggle between Hamas and Fatah for Palestinian hearts and minds, it is indicative of the increasingly Islamic tenor of the culture that each group is attempting to stake out the Islamic high ground…

"After showing the destruction of a Gaza mosque caused by Hamas gunmen, the Fatah video has a close-up of a desecrated Koran with a grenade and bullet shells on top, and asks the question, 'Whose grenades are these?'"

"Fatah's video even goes so far as to say that the Islamic jihad terrorists killed in the attack were 'martyred' by Hamas — terminology typically used to describe a Muslim who is killed by an enemy of Islam.

"The video was released around the same time as an Hamas production that portrayed Fatah as rats removing women's head coverings and literally burning Korans. Rather than using actual footage, though, the Hamas video is entirely animated. The surprisingly professional cartoon features a hero, representing Hamas, that bears striking resemblance to Simba, the title character in Disney's 'The Lion King.'

"After the Fatah rats dance in their money and fire rockets at mosques, the Hamas lion defeats the rats, then stands on a hilltop looking off into the distance, with a Palestinian flag flying nearby…

"Anecdotal evidence coming out of Gaza, where Western journalists are no longer stationed, is that the area is in many ways starting to resemble fundamentalist Islamic police states Saudi Arabia and Iran. More and more men are reportedly sporting religious beards, and few women are venturing outside without a veil. Hamas thugs are also out roaming the streets scouring for un-Islamic activities, even recently breaking up weddings of Fatah members and accusing the celebrants of being 'Jews,' according to Palestinian Authority TV reports translated by Palestinian Media Watch…"