PA Hate TV: Israelis murder brides and Jaffa is Palestinian
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, October 10, 2005

Two foundations of Palestinian Authority hate ideology are the denial of Israel's legitimacy as a state and the depiction of Israel and Israelis as cruel and inhumane murderers. The PA under Mahmoud Abbas continues to promote this hate ideology. The following are two examples of these hate messages, as they appeared on Palestinian Authority Television in recent days. [PA TV, October 6, 2005]

In the first, an actor depicting an Israeli soldier gleefully and cold-bloodedly murders a bride in her wedding gown. In the second, a televised play has the Palestinian actor declare that the Israeli cities of Jaffa and Haifa are Palestinian, and the PA audience responds with cheers and applause.

1. Israeli soldier murders a bride in her wedding gown

To view this clip click here

The Canaanite is a Palestinian-produced series for daily viewing during the month of Ramadan. The story centers on a young man who, according to the script, underwent torture in Israeli prisons and feigns insanity.

The scene opens with a bride dancing by herself in her flowing gown on the beach. An Israeli soldier sees her from his watchtower, and then races to the beach to murder her. Her murder is followed by the sick evil laughter of the hook-nosed Israeli soldier.

Filfil, the series' hero, runs and holds the dead woman in the water. Unable to revive her, he stands in rage, races off and fires his rifle in the air. The next scene sees the hero wake up- it had all been a dream.
[PA TV, October 6, 2005]

2. PA Play: Israeli cities "Jaffa and Haifa are Palestinian"

To view this clip click here

A play filmed in front of a live audience and broadcast on PA TV shows Palestinian actors depicting terrorists (called "resistance fighters") in Israeli jails. One prisoner recounts how he was repeatedly beaten by an Israeli soldier for saying he came from Jaffa. Jaffa is an Israeli city, part of Tel Aviv, but the PA often defines it is an as "occupied Palestinian city." The soldier insists the prisoner say he is from Gaza.

Upon hearing the story, a second prisoner responds, almost in tears, "No, definitely not! Jaffa and Haifa are ours! Jaffa and Haifa are ours!" The studio audience reacts with cheers and applause. This presentation of all of Israeli cities as "Occupied Palestine" is reflected throughout PA society, media and education.

Text from the PA TV play:

Prisoner A: "The soldier asked me, 'Where are you from?' I said, 'From Jaffa,' so he hit

me. He asked me again, 'Where are you from?' I said, 'From Jaffa,' so he hit me. I could not stand it any more, so I told him, 'Tell me what to say!' "He said, 'Say you are from Gaza! Jaffa and Haifa are not yours.'

Prisoner B: "No, definitely not. Jaffa and Haifa are ours! Jaffa and Haifa are ours!"

[Cheers and applause]
[PA TV, September 25, 2005]

EU-funded Palestinian "human rights" group sanctions terror and murder of Israeli civilians
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, September 9, 2005

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) presents itself as a legitimate human rights organization. Indeed, it is perceived as such internationally, and receives funding from the EU's European Commission, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, the Ford Foundation and others (see listing below).

However, Palestinian Media Watch's examination of PCHR's statements has revealed an alarming pattern of defending terrorists and their activities. Two recent press releases, both this week and last month, chide terrorist groups for their carelessness in implementing terrorism against Israel - but only because their military activities targeting Israeli civilians have been carried out from Palestinian civilian populated areas, resulting in Palestinian civilian casualties.

Worse still, PCHR goes beyond the impropriety of ignoring the Israeli casualties from these often-deadly terror attacks - which have killed three Israeli children under the age of four and other civilians in the last year. PCHR expressly supports the idea of the "military activities" continuing, even though these attacks have been targeting Israeli civilians, as long as the terrorists pick their launching spots to avoid Palestinian casualties.

Last month Palestinian terrorists launched rocket attacks aimed at civilians in the Israeli city of Sderot. These terror attacks failed: One rocket hit a Palestinian hospital and another hit a home, killing a Palestinian child and injuring nine others.

In response, the PCHR issued a lengthy press release, criticizing the terrorists - not because they launched rockets at Israeli civilians, but because of their "repeated mistakes;" that is, hitting Palestinian civilians instead of Israeli civilians.

Moreover, the self-proclaimed "human rights" organization went so far as to expressly support continued terror against civilians. In the final paragraph, instead of condemning the attacks that have been killing Israeli children, they placed conditions on these attacks: Future attacks should be launched from an acceptable place:

"PCHR ... calls on them ['the resistance'] to abstain from launching any military activities from inside or near civilian areas..."

The PCHR's practise of attaching the label of "resistance fighters" to terrorists whose missiles have been exclusively targeting civilians is likewise an improper term for a group defending "human rights."

This week the pattern continued when an explosion of a Hamas weapons cache located in a residential area killed four Palestinian civilians. The PCHR release ended with another statement sanctioning terror:

"PCHR reminds the Palestinian resistance groups of their duties towards the protection of civilians, and calls upon them to abstain from conducting any military activity inside or near residential areas...

"PCHR also condemns the use of violence and weapons to express anger and frustration."

The total PCHR message, then, is that terror attacks on Israeli civilians are acceptable "resistance" - as long as they are launched away from Palestinian civilians and as long as they kill only Israelis. Consistent with this ideology, none of the press releases on the PCHR website expresses condemnation for any rocket attacks that have hit their civilian targets and killed Israeli civilians, including young children.

Palestinian Media Watch research has likewise found that PCHR falsifies news items to fit its political anti-Israel political agenda.

One example is the July 16 press release, issued after Israel killed three Palestinian terrorists. While all three Palestinian dailies identified the dead as belonging to Hamas or Islamic Jihad, the PCHR falsely reported in its press release that is was only Israel who "alleged" their membership in the "resistance groups": "The IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces] state" that they "belong to the military wing of Hamas."

This distortion allowed PCHR to mask the true identities of the terrorists and give support to its fallacious assertion that Israel was targeting "civilians." The title of their press release stressed this lie: "IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces] Escalate Attacks on Civilian Targets."

In addition, PCHR's definition of Hamas and Islamic Jihad - groups that specialize in suicide terror against civilians and who are on the terror lists of America and European countries - as "resistance groups" raises yet more questions regarding PCHR's status as a legitimate "human right" organization.

Falsifying a news report to defame Israel is not Palestinian human rights but Palestinian propaganda. Instructing terrorists to protect Palestinian civilians while continuing to launch rocket and other attacks on Israeli is not defending human rights, but rather defending and promoting terror.

European and American Donors

PCHR's website indicates that it is funded in Europe by:

• The European Commission
• The Swedish Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists
• Oxfam Netherlands
• Christian Aid (UK)
• Dan Church Aid (Denmark)
• Ireland Aid
• The Royal Danish Representative Office to the PA
• The Representative Office of Norway to the PA

Donors from the US include:

• The Ford Foundation
• The Open Society Fund
• Grassroots International

PCHR holds "Special Consultative Status" with the UN's Economic and Social Council.

This seems to be yet another example of the growing number of documented cases in which well-meaning Western organizations fund Palestinian projects and organizations that either directly or indirectly promote, support or honor terrorists.

PCHR Press Releases

This week's PCHR press release, issued after the weapons cache exploded, reaches this conclusion:

"PCHR remains gravely concerned at the continued storage of explosives in civilian populated areas by Palestinian resistance groups, which endangers the lives of Palestinian civilians and violates their right to life."
[PCHR press release, Spetember 6, 2005]

This is followed by an admonition to the "resistance groups" not to conduct "military operations" in or around civilian areas:

"PCHR strongly condemns such acts and remains gravely concerned at repeated mistakes in firing those rockets hitting [Palestinian] civilian areas and endangering civilians. PCHR also reminds the Palestinian resistance groups of their responsibilities with regard to protection of civilians in keeping with international law, and calls on them to abstain from launching any military activities from inside or near civilian areas."
[PCHR press release, August 3, 20005]

It is clear that the term "military activities" does not refer solely to attacks against Israeli military targets, as that same term was used to refer to rocket attacks against civilians in the Israeli town of Sderot.

Conclusions

The Western-funded Palestinian Centre for Human Rights is involved in anti-Israel hate propaganda, falsifies news reports in order to defame Israel, instructs terrorists about acceptable locations from which to murder Israeli civilians, and condemns Palestinian rocket attacks because they missed their Israeli civilian targets and killed Palestinians instead. Those organizations that fund this centre in the belief they are contributing to the cause of human rights are actually funding terror promotion, and must share responsibility for its consequences.

PA Ministry of Culture Glorifies Murderer of 29
PA honors female terrorists, past and future
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, August 22, 2005

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and its newspapers continue to honor past and future female suicide terrorists.

Past Terrorist: Hanadi Jaradat

The PA's Ministry of Culture released its "Book of the Month" today, a poetry collection honoring suicide terrorist Hanadi Jaradat, who murdered 29 Israelis. It was distributed as a special supplement in the daily Al-Ayyam.

Entitled What Did Hanadi Say? the collection includes a poem glorifying Jaradat's act of suicide terror, calling it "the highest goal":

"O Hanadi! Shake the earth under the feet of the enemies! Blow it up! Hanadi said: "It is the wedding of Hanadi the day when death as a Martyr for Allah, becomes the highest goal."

The poem is dedicated to Jaradat (pictured), called "the Rose of Palestine," who murdered 29 Jews and Arabs in a suicide bombing in a Haifa restaurant in October 2003.

The poem criticizes the Arab nation for ignoring Jihad:

"Where is the [Arab] nation..? The armies hid, nothing left in the field ... not the sound of Jihad, all of them, at the moment of decision, surrender, obey the enemies..."

She complains:

"O Hanadi..! The flag of the nation is not flying in the fields of Jihad."

The poem ends as Hanadi takes the initiative:

"O Hanadi! Shake the earth under the feet of the enemies! Blow it up! It is the wedding of Hanadi the day when death as a Martyr for Allah, becomes the highest goal, that liberates my land."
[Al-Ayyam, August 22, 2005]

This glorification of a mass murderer was not a private enterprise, but was published by the PA Ministry of Culture.

Future terrorists: New Hamas Woman Terror Brigade

In another example of honoring female terrorists, the PA's official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, yesterday trumpeted the establishment by Hamas of a brigade of aspiring female terrorists.

This picture of women training with American-made automatic rifles was published, along with text describing the various roles for which the women are in training.

Following is more text of the poem 'What Did Hanadi Say?' and the Al-Hayat Al-Jadida article on Hamas' new recruits.

"What did Hanadi say?"

[Dedication:]

"To the Rose of Palestine, the Iris of [Mount] Carmel, the Martyr for Allah Hanadi Jaradat"

What did Hanadi say
When she was told [her brother] Fadi died as a Matryr for Allah..?
Where is the [Arab] nation..?
The armies hid
Nothing left in the field
Save the hostile sound
Not Palestine that was once theirs
Not the sound of Jihad
All of them, at the moment of decision
Surrender, obey the enemies…
O Hanadi! O Hanadi!
Revenge calls!
She shouted: 'O the light of my eyes!
O my beloved, I long for Haifa'
O Hanadi! O Hanadi..!
The flag of the nation is not flying in the fields of Jihad
And the thieving enemy
Continues in his stubbornness...
O Hanadi! O Hanadi!
Shake the earth under the feet of the enemies!
Blow it up!
Hanadi said: ... 'It is my wedding
It is the wedding of Hanadi
The day when death as a Martyr for Allah becomes the highest goal
That liberates my land
["What Did Hanadi Say," PA Ministry of Culture Publication of the Month Supplement, Al-Ayyam, August 22, 2005]

"Armed women troops in Al-Qassam brigades"

"Sources in Hamas revealed the existence of women military troops in the Izzadin Al-Qassam brigades [the armed wing of Hamas]. This step came after Al-Quds Brigades, the militant wing of the Islamic Jihad, released eight months ago a video in which tens of women fighters and martyrdom-seekers, dressed in a "loose" army uniform, were practicing [using] all sorts of sophisticated weapons and missile launchers.

"The Palestinian Media Center reporter who met these troops said that he underwent a full search and went through extreme security measures before reaching the women's training facility.

"According to sources in Al-Qassam brigades, this unit, which consists of several Palestinian women civilians, is trained in using all sorts of weapons that can be found inside the Gaza Strip, for example Al-Qassam rockets...

"These women were training in groups. One group was trained to prepare and plant explosives, another was trained using missile launchers, another was trained using mortars, and another was practicing an assault maneuver.

"A member of this unit said these women train for joining the efforts of jihad and liberation.

"This woman, who was a spokeswoman for the unit, was wearing an army uniform, and a veil covered her face, and she was carrying a machine gun on her shoulder, and a gun on her hip.

"It is worth mentioning that the phenomenon of women militant troops is unique among the Islamic movements. The militant role of women was first revealed by the self-sacrificial actions carried out by Hiba Al-Daraghma and Hanadi Jaradat of Al-Quds Brigades [of the Islamic Jihad], and Reem Riyashi of Al-Qassam Brigades [of Hamas]."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 21, 2005]

Visual Messages in the PA Media - May 2005
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, June 15, 2005

Introduction

Visual symbols and pictures have always played an important role in reinforcing the ideological messages of hate the Palestinian Authority has been sending to its people.

The following are examples from May 2005.

1. Promoting violence, and the murder of Jews
2. Denying Israel's right to exist
3. Dehumanization of Jews
4. Libel - Jews control and endanger the world

1. Promoting violence and the murder of Jews

This dagger piercing the Star of David appeared for eight seconds on a PA TV program about refugees.

2. Denying Israel's right to exist

PA visual images portray "Palestine" as temporarily occupied by Israel. These visuals often include the symbol of the key - signifying the PA's claim to be the true owners of all of Israel. Lately, these visuals have depicted the key approaching Israel. This reflects the PA's sense of progress towards its goal of "returning."

	Left: Bird approaches Israel with key. Note the lock on Israel about to be opened. Text above map: "The Catastrophe" (PA term for the creation of Israel). Al-Ayyam, May 14, 2005 Bottom: Boys parading with giant keys. Text on keys: "We will definitely return." Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 16, 2005

Text on right: "The Catastrophe" (1948). Blood-drenched text on left: "The Return" "Refugees" approach with the key to 'unlock' Israel. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 12, 2005

Palestinians claim that they possess key to Israel. Note: keyhole forms the shape of Israel. Text on key: "Right of Return" Text above dove: "The day of the catastrophe." (Israel's creation) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 18, 2005

	Left: Key hangs from Israel - claiming ownership to all of Israel. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 15, 2005 Bottom: Al-Ayyam, May 15, 2005

	Children receive awards for excellence. Shape of award is an outline of all of Israel (see inset). Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 15, 2005

3. Dehumanization of Jews

The dehumanized Jew will use America to destroy peace. Text on eagle: "America." Text around dove: "Russia," "Turkey," "Britain." Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 4, 2005	The dehumanized Jew plots the destruction of Arab holy sites. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 9, 2005

4. Libel - Jews control and endanger the world

The world is said to be under the boot of Israel. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 5, 2005
	Victorious Jew atop bleeding world. Surrendering Arab beneath. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 14, 2005
Jews are shown to be orchestrating world events through violence. Bullet holes and blood form the musical notes. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 8, 2005

PA TV: Israel established through theft of land and murder of infants; Palestinians hold "key" - ownership of Israel
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, June 17, 2005

Introduction

While the Palestinian Authority focuses on the West Bank and Gaza in international forums, to its own people, delegitimizing Israel's existence as a state continues to be the cornerstone of its ideology. Two recent broadcasts on official PA television reinforced this hate message, presenting Israelis as killers and thieves who "stole" Arab land to create the state, and promoting the symbol of the "key" - the claim to be the rightful owners of all of Israel.

The first is from a so-called "historical" TV series depicting events before and during Israel's War of Independence in 1948. The daily broadcasts distort history, presenting Israelis as well armed evil soldiers fighting with British support against valiant Arabs defending their villages. The seven Arab armies that attacked Israel are not shown.

In one of the many vicious libels in the series, actors portray Israeli soldiers murdering an infant in cold blood after destroying his family's village. See a portion of the series here.

The second is through a cultural program in which dancers carry giant keys on their backs. The "key" symbolizes the PA's claim to ownership of all of Israel and its plan to "return".

See this clip here.

New Hate Song on PA TV: Israelis kill Palestinians in God's name
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, April 1, 2005

Despite vows by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to remove incitement to hatred and violence against Israel from official Palestinian television, the incitement continues, with new programming on PA TV.

A cultural program broadcast this week features a song laced with hatred of Israel, accusing Israel of torturing, mutilating and killing Palestinians in the name of God.

As Palestinian Media Watch has reported in the past, PA TV has for years used songs and music videos as a vehicle to impart educational messages, and has even mandated the killing of Jews as a religious necessity for Muslims.

To view the report, Kill a Jew - Go To Heaven, click here

This week's program promotes hatred in a new way. Perhaps to justify the PA's portrayal of genocide as religious necessity - the message here is that Israel is killing Palestinians in God's name.

PLAY VIDEO

In the program, A Mirror of the Palestinian Heritage, a woman is seen writing the words, "a mirror of the Palestinian heritage," over a map of Israel - thus portraying all of Israel as occupied "Palestine." The song to which the women dance accuses Israel of heinous crimes against the Palestinians, and accuses Israel of committing all these evils in the name of God.

The following is an excerpt from the TV program.

O my God, hear my prayer (twice)
Here I am O Lord, alive
In your name, my God, they tortured me
In your name, my God, they banished me
In your name they exterminated
In your name they ruled
O my God, hear my prayer
They bombed the land, divided it and stole it
The truth they mutilated
Freedom they suppressed
And our fields they burned.

Our villages they uprooted
With their houses replaced them
In your name, my God, they tortured me
In your name, my God, they banished me
In your name, they destroyed
In your name they ruled.
O my God, hear my prayer
In our homes they attacked us
They threatened us with destruction
They pushed us to annihilation.

With bombs they burned us
In blood they drowned us
In dungeons they cuffed us
On the anvil they put us.

Parents of dead 17 year-old criticize only the
poor planning that led to son's suicide death
January 16, 2004

Introduction

Seventeen-year-old Iyad Al-Masri died last week when the suicide bomb strapped to his body exploded prematurely killing only himself. His family this week expressed outrage and demanded an investigation - not of the decision to recruit a 17-year-old boy for a suicide operation, but of the poor planning that left "no chance of success." They complained that he was sent during a time of curfew on the city and their son had no experience leaving the city during a curfew, "which made it impossible for him to reach his target." They further complained about the "exploitation of the anger" of their son in recruiting him following his brother's recent shahada (death for Allah).

No criticism is expressed of the act of recruiting their son, a 17-year-old, for a suicide terror mission, had it been planned properly and succeeded in killing Israelis, as well.

The following is the translation of the family's complaints in the PA daily

"The Shahid's [someone who died for Allah] family expressed its reservations about what had happened to its son, and described it as a death in vain, which raises legitimate questions and necessitates an investigation of what happened...

"The family, which lost two of its sons within 11 days, doesn't hide its reservations of what seems to be an exploitation of the anger within the youth Iyaad Al-Masri after the murder in cold blood of his little brother Amjad by the occupation soldiers, and its disapproval of having sending him [Amjad] to his certain death...

"The family said that her son was sent to commit a shahada-seeking operation [i.e. a suicide bombing] "that had no chance of success and that its outcome was obvious," while mentioning that the group that sent Iyad to commit the suicide attack did not take into account the chances of his success or failure though everyone knew that he was doomed to die. The father, who emphasized his national affiliation, said that he and every member of his family are proud of their national affiliation, and that they are no different than any Palestinian in supporting the uprising against the occupation and opposition to its aggression. He noted that the group that enlisted his son and sent him to commit an attack of sacrifice under the conditions that existed, exploited the circumstances that had been created as a result of his brother becoming a shahid, without taking into consideration the giving of his [Iyad's] life for nothing...

"The family of the Shahid is raising a number of question they want investigated...

"The Shahid's father pointed out that his son was sent to carry out the attack while Nablus was under curfew and strict military closure, and his son had never left the city [during a curfew], which made it impossible for him to reach his target."
[Al-Ayyam, January 14, 2004]

The 72 "Dark Eyed" Maidens as rewards
for shahids taught again in PA media
January 7, 2003

As part of its promotion of suicide terrorism, the PA has repeatedly taught its population the Islamic tradition that shahids (people who dies for Allah) will receive numerous heavenly rewards, including 72 (or 70 according to other sources) "Dark Eyed" Maidens of Paradise.

These teachings have been seen in numerous televised religious sermons, as well as in a music video broadcast hundreds of times on PA TV during the last three years, which shows a shahid arriving in Paradise and being greeted by the Maidens

There is even evidence that Palestinian men have seen this goal of marrying the 72 Maidens as reason to aspire death as a shahid. In a TV broadcast, a Palestinian mother of a man named Abdallah, who died in clashes with Israel, explains her personal acceptance of her son's death as a shahid, because it was his wish to marry the "Dark Eyed" Maidens of Paradise rather than an earthly woman.

One of the early sources for this Islamic tradition of the 72 Maidens, according to the official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, is cited in an a literary analysis of Muhammad's language. A Hadith [prophetic tradition] describes the rewards of the "prophets, the righteous and the Sshahids":

"[Muhammad said in the Hadith explaining the words of the Koran promising 'comfortable dwellings in the Garden of Eden,' There is] a palace of pearls in the Garden of Eden and in it seventy courts of ruby... And in each court [there are] seventy houses of green emerald stone. In every house, seventy beds. On every bed, seventy mattresses of every color and on every mattress a woman."

"The style of the Prophet [in this Hadith] ... is intended to fill Muslims with desire for the Garden of Eden ... to be worthy of it, because... only three dwell there: prophets, righteous and shahids."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 2, 2004]

1. Mother: My son aspired to shahada in order to marry the Maidens of Paradise.

Mother of Abdallah on PA TV

"He would always dream of shahada, it was his first and last goal in life... I told him: 'Dear, we all want to be shahids...'

"He said: 'In this entire world I can't think of anyone to marry... I want to marry the Dark Eyed.' I said: 'If these are his thoughts I wish for him shahada.'"
[PA TV, January 21, 2003]

To view the interview click here

2. Music video depicting shahid greeted by Maidens

This music video, depicting a shahid joining beautiful maidens in heaven, has been broadcast hundreds of times over the past three years on PA TV. The clip begins with scenes depicting a romance that is cut short when soldiers shoot a woman in the back. The woman immediately goes to heaven, where she joyously joins other young woman all dressed in identical long white gowns - the "Maidens of Paradise."

The Maidens are dancing in water, a clear depiction of the Islamic tradition of the Afterlife, which the Koran repeatedly says has "flowing streams." Later in the video, the man visits the woman's grave and soldiers shoot him in the back as well. At the moment he falls to the ground, he goes up to heaven and joins the "Maidens."

To view the "Maidens of Paradise" music video click here.

3. This promise of "72 Dark Eyed" Virgins as taught on PA TV by PA religious leaders

"When the shahid meets his Maker, all his sins are forgiven from the first gush of blood. He is exempted from the torments of the grave; he sees his place in Paradise, he is shielded from the great shock, and marries 72 Dark Eyed. He is a heavenly advocate for 70 members of his family, on his head is placed a crown of honor, one stone of which is worth more than all there is in this world."
[Ismail Al-Radouan, PA TV August 17, 2001]

To view this clip, click here

PMW comment

As PMW has reported previously, Palestinian Authority leaders and media have repeatedly encouraged young Palestinians to seek shahada - death for Allah, using a variety of persuasive tactics. In sermons, discussions and music videos still broadcast on PA TV, young people are indoctrinated to pursue 'martyrdom' for its "sweetness" and the rewards it brings. This latest example is another reinforcement of the repeated message; romantic and utopic portrayals of the heavenly rewards of martyrdom.

It should be stressed that this bulletin is not meant to be a critique of the Islamic religion or traditions, but merely an indication of how the PA uses these traditions to promote its war against Israel.

It does so by reinforcing the lesson for Palestinian youth that death is not to be feared; rather, they should actively seek shahada as a duty and for its many rewards.

Jerusalem Post Op-Ed
January 4, 2004

Pedagogy of Hate
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

If you want to know what's really at the heart of the Palestinian conflict with Israel, don't ask the politicians or the diplomats. Go to the new experts: Palestinian children. Unlike the rest of the world, they've been paying close attention to what their leaders and educators have been teaching them and they are ready to practice what they have been taught.

For instance, children interviewed on PA TV last week state clearly and without reservation that Israel has no right to exist, and that their goals for which they're willing to sacrifice their lives is Israel's destruction and the expulsion of all Israelis.

"They [the Jews] came to take Palestine, that is Tel-Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, Acco, Ramle. All these cities belong to Palestine," one youth explains in the broadcast, echoing years of standard Palestinian Authority indoctrination. And because he is convinced that Israel has no right to exist: "We hope, hope, hope and I emphasize these things, that the Arab countries and the foreign countries, all the countries of the world, will support the Palestinians and will expel the Israelis."

"We must expel all Israelis from Palestine. Because Israel - there is nothing called 'Israel' in the world. The Israelis [came] from Holland, America, Iran."

The children are seen promising they will keep fighting, generation after generation, "until they liberate Palestine."

Furthermore, they don't fear death in the struggle because it is shahada - death for Allah. "Even if all the Palestinian children, Palestinian youth, Palestinian women, and Palestinian men die, we will not surrender!"

None of this is surprising to anyone who has been paying attention to what goes on in the PA educational system and its educational TV. Israel is erased from PA maps and schoolbooks, and historians deny Israel's history and right to exist. Educators at all levels teach that Israel is a foreign colonial implant.

Despite PA claims to the contrary, its textbooks continue to delegitimize Israel and dismiss it as a foreign occupier: "Palestine faced the British occupation after the First World War in 1917, and the Israeli occupation in 1948."
[National Education, Sixth Grade, pg. 16].

Children are taught that all of Israel is part of "Palestine". For example: "Among the famous rocks of southern Palestine are the rocks of Beersheba and the Negev." About "Palestine's" water sources children are taught: "The most important is the Sea of Galilee..."
[Our Beautiful Language, Sixth Grade, Part A, pg. 64; National Education, Sixth Grade, pp. 9-10].

Such messages of delegitimization have been affirmed by Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei. He is on record as rejecting the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. "President Bush said that Israel is a Jewish state, which is a cause for our concern. This should not have been said."
[Al-Nahar (Lebanon), Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 15, 2003]

PA affiliated historians frequently appear on educational TV to reinforce this message. Just last week, the historian and educational TV host Dr. Issam Sissalem reiterated what he has said on numerous broadcasts, that Jews "...have no history or connection to this land" and are nothing but a "cancer" planted by Britain to control the Middle East.

In the same educational broadcast last week, another historian resurrected The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the infamous anti-Semitic forgery citing it as one of the foundations of the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

"...The Zionist movement began at the Basel Congress to plan the exploitation of the powers struggle, and the struggle of Europe over the Middle East..." said Dr. Riad Al-Astal, a history lecturer at Al-Azhar University in Gaza.

Consequently, when we view children on PA TV who say they want to destroy Israel, to liberate "Tel-Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, Acco, and Ramle," and to expel the Jews, we are seeing children who are accurately regurgitating the sentiments inculcated and reinforced throughout PA society.

Indeed, years of anti-Israel indoctrination have been alarmingly effective in teaching PA youth that the Jews have no link to Israel, that Israel has no right to exist and that the overriding goal of the next generation - even at the cost of their lives - should be to eliminate Israel.

The essence of the conflict is Israel's very right to exist - not the question of borders, territories or refugees`. Peace negotiations that do not address the PA's educational system and its indoctrination will be short-term paper agreements doomed to failure.

Palestinian children have already figured this out. Perhaps the rest of us need to stay after school.

PA celebrates "Geneva Initiative"
while rejecting its only concession
December 2, 2003

Introduction

The Palestinian Authority has been publicly praising the Geneva Initiative, signed yesterday between its representatives and representatives of Israel's extreme left, while clearly telling its own people that it rejects the one clause that obligates the PA to make concessions.

The Palestinian Authority sees the Geneva agreement as a major achievement, since prominent Israelis have agreed to 100% of the Palestinian territorial demands. These Israeli concessions are all clear and explicitly worded. A clear map is included with the agreement.

The only Palestinian concession - that they give up their demand to have "refugees" settle in Israel - was worded ambiguously. While the agreement validates UN resolution 194, seen by the Palestinians as giving them the 'right' to settle in Israel, Israel would determine the final number allowed to settle, based on various undefined formulas.

The explicitness of Israel's concessions juxtaposed against the ambiguity of the Palestinian concession has enabled the Palestinian Authority to truly celebrate - Israel is obligated; they are not.

This dual message has been stated repeatedly to the PA population. Today's PA daily had no problem hailing the agreement while simultaneously rejecting the Israeli interpretation regarding refugees. The paper included two full pages of reports on all the Palestinian demonstrations against the agreement's clause to limit "the right of return," and included three explicit statements by PA leaders rejecting the idea of relinquishing "refugees' rights."

The following statements are all from today's official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida

"The Minister of Foreign Affaires, Dr. Nabil Shaath, emphasized that the Palestinians will never give up the right to return to their houses, and will negotiate only about the procedures of returning..."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 2, 2003]

"The Chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Rafiq Al-Natshah, emphasized that the Palestinian problem started with the refugees and will not be solved unless the refugees return to their homes. He mentioned that the sacrifices and the struggle of our people will not allow anyone to forsake nor to concede any of our people's rights. He added: 'Anyone who imagines that our people want peace at the expense of its rights is wrong and if the peace initiatives come at the expense of the right of our people, let all the peace initiatives go to hell...'"
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 2, 2003]

"The President [Arafat] blesses the conference of peace forces in Geneva... and then immediately followed with: "...adhering to the legitimate international decisions which include: [UN Resolution] 194."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 2, 2003]

In summary, the Palestinian interpretation of the Geneva Initiative is that Israel is obligated to hand over all the land, and the refugee issue has to still be decided.

This is why the Palestinians are celebrating.

QUESTIONNAIRE ON ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN
ATTITUDES TOWARD TERRORISM
September 2003

Public Opinion & Marketing Research of Israel (PORI), Ltd.

1. First, in your opinion, which nation or people is the single greatest threat to WORLD peace? I need you to pick only one nation or people you think is the single greatest threat to WORLD peace.

2. In the war between the United States and Saddam Hussein, whom did you support?

3. And in general, do you ____ the people who are attacking American troops in Iraq right now?

4. In your opinion, were the people who flew planes into New York's World Trade Center ____?

5. And who do you believe planned the 9/11 attacks against the United States?

6. Terrorism is NEVER justified under any circumstances.

7a. Hamas is a terrorist group.

7.b Hamas are freedom fighters.

8. Last year the Tulkarem Shahids Memorial Soccer Championship For Children was named after Abd Al-Baset Odeh, who killed 30 Israelis in a suicide bombing. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

9. If the [Israeli] Ministry of Education wanted to name a youth soccer tournament after Baruch Goldstein, who killed unarmed Palestinians in an attack, would that be a good ting or bad thing?

10. Do you consider Palestinian bombings of Israeli buses and restaurants to be acts of terrorism?

11. When Palestinian leaders refer to "occupied territories," do you think they mean _____?

12. Do you believe God wants Jews to fight Muslims?
     [Do you believe Allah wants Muslims to fight Jews?]

13. If the Palestinians were to stop the terrorist attacks and give up the right of return, should Israel withdraw from all the territories, including East Jerusalem, and grant them statehood?

14. If Israel were to leave all the territories, including East Jerusalem, and grant statehood to the Palestinians, should Palestinians give up the right of return?

15. And if Israel were to leave all territories, including East Jerusalem, and grant statehood to the Palestinians, should Hamas and Islamic Jihad give up their armed struggle against Israel?

16. How would you feel if a future Palestinian state were to be governed by Shariah law?

17. Which of the following is most important to you?

* Dying defending one's religion or people
**Dying for Allah

18. Democracy is the best form of government.

METHODOLOGY

All three surveys were written and coordinated by Frank Luntz. Interviews were conducted by PORI among the three populations:

Israeli Jews:

PORI - Public Opinion Research of Israel conducted this survey by telephone (CATI) among a sample of 600 Adult (18+) Israeli Jews. The survey was conducted on September 23rd and 24th, 2003. The margin of error is +/- 4%.

Israeli Arabs:

PORI - Public Opinion Research of Israel conducted this survey by telephone (CATI) among a sample of 400 Adult (18+) Israeli Arabs. The survey was conducted on September 24th and 25th, 2003. The margin of error is +/- 4.9%.

Palestinians:

PORI - Public Opinion Research of Israel coordinated this survey of face-to-face interviews among a sample of 607 Palestinians. The interviews were conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion. The survey was conducted between the dates of September 21st and September 27th and has a margin of error of +/- 4%.

PORI, founded in 1966, is one of the senior research institutes in Israel. The firm has conducted numerous research projects for overseas governments including the US Department of State, media and academic clients that include the Pew Research Center and the BBC, as well as international corporate work for companies that include Boeing and IBM.

The Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, founded in 1994, has overseas clients including US Department of State, Gallup International and the UN Development Program.

PA Society's Universal Support for Suicide Bombers
September 24, 2003

Introduction

Two weeks ago, PMW reported that Palestinian Authority (PA) social organizations and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) were refusing to sign a US-required anti-terror clause, which states, that the beneficiary organization will not transfer any money to terrorists or terrorist organizations. During these past two weeks the opposition to the US is growing more organized as 26 organizations gathered in Bethlehem to publicly declare they would not sign the US anti-terror clause, while an even larger gathering is being planned. [See article below.]

It is also interesting to note that condemnation of the US anti-terror conditions is spreading in the Arab world. "Egyptian intellectuals promised to organize a media campaign [against the US demands]... They rejected the American document that established a condition and link between funding and signing. The Assistant to the Director General of the Arab Organization for [Human Rights] promised to raise the issue with other Arab countries and other Egyptian organizations."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, September 22, 2003]

It is ironic that on the very same page in the PA daily, right under the article repeatedly attacking USAID, is an advertisement by USAID offering scholarships to Palestinian students for study in the US.
[pg. 5, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, September 22, 2003]

Commentary and Analysis

There is far reaching significance to this collective refusal in the PA to sign the anti-terror clause, as their refusal not only defies US policy, but challenges a most fundamental premise regarding PA society. The common premise is that the general PA population rejects the murder of civilians through suicide terrorism, which would isolate suicide bombers on the fringe of PA society. However, when the entire organizational infrastructure, including social workers, psychologists, medical organizations and all social welfare organizations, refuse to sign an anti-terror declaration, it points to a PA society unified in their support for suicide bombers.

This has important ramifications as much international policy, including the Road Map and the attempted isolation of Arafat, is based on the premise that Arafat and those supporting terrorism represent a fringe element, and their isolation would bring about an intrinsic and presumably permanent change in PA policy. However, if the entire society supports terrorism, as the NGOs stand indicates, Arafat's isolation and replacement would not indicate a change of substance, and certainly not an intrinsic and permanent change.

Below is the article in Arabic attacking USAID above an English advertisement offering USAID scholarships to Palestinians.
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, pg. 5, September 22, 2003]

The following is the new article that appeared in the PA daily Al-Quds

Title: "The representatives of 29 NGOs [Non-Governmental Organizations] in the Bethlehem district reject the USAID document concerning support of the 'terror.' Our people are the victims of the terror".

"In the headquarters of the Social Workers and Psychologists Union in Bethlehem, a meeting took place with representatives from 26 NGOs ... [to] discuss the American Development Agency USAID document. [The US document] ... forbids aid to projects belonging to Palestinian agencies and organizations that support terrorism and assist it both directly or indirectly... Without signing this commitment, the funding will be stopped.

"Muhammad Halil Al-Laham, Head of the Popular [Welfare] Service Committee in the Al-Dehisha refugee camp, said that the proposed document by USAID is clear intervention in the affairs of the civil society institutions. The response to this document should not be ambiguous nor hesitant, it should be rejected clearly...

"Wijdan Al-Aza from the Working Woman's Society... demanded the rejection of any conditional funding or any foreign funding that does not respect not only the beneficiary Palestinian institutions, but also the legitimate goals of the Palestinian people, based on international legitimization.

"In coordination with the Civil Society Institutions and with the NGOs, Daod Bishara, a member of the Legislative Council, called to coordinate positions regarding this document and its conditions and to hold a general conference in the Palestinian territories in order to take a united position regarding this subject.

"At the end of the meeting, which was run by Adnan Ita from the Christian Youth Society and by Nabila Al-Dikak from the Social Workers Association, the participants decided to have a follow-up committee that would lead to another expanded meeting, and study the recommendations, with a remark that all those present stated their objection to signing and cooperating with [the terms of] this document.

Present at the meeting were also representatives from the District Headquarters and the Palestinian Ministry of Interior and from the Intelligence apparatus.

"In the same context, the Emergency Committee of the National and Islamic Forces in the district held a meeting, during which all the Civic Society Institutions were called to refuse to sign this document... "
[Al-Quds, September 23, 2003]

The Palestinian Authority Celebrates the Start of the Fourth Year of War
September 29, 2003

The official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, has published a cartoon this week marking the anniversary of three years of war against Israel. However, it does not describe the day as the end of the third year but writes: "The Palestinian Intifada enters its fourth year."

In addition, the cartoon celebrates the Israeli losses and suffering by depicting an Israeli squirming in pain, trapped in the fist of the Palestinian arm. The arm has three full-sized muscles, representing the three years of Israeli suffering, and a fourth small one just beginning to grow.

The PA's Arabic message to its own people, celebrating the war and the anticipation of its continuation another year, is in complete contrast to the English-language message to the world that it seeks an end to the violence.

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, September 30, 2003]

Palestinian Poll: A Husband May Beat His Wife if She Hurts His Manhood
October 9, 2002

Introduction

A poll conducted in the Palestinian Authority by a Palestinian public opinion company shows that a majority of Palestinians are of the opinion that a husband may prevent his wife from working, that a woman should strive to devote herself to her husband and that a husband is entitled to beat his wife if he thinks that she "hurt his manhood". Nearly half of Palestinians believe that neither law enforcement nor social welfare agencies' intervention in husbands' violence towards the wife is warranted, while at the same time a majority calls for tough punitive legislation for violence towards women.

These two attitudes are, it seems, not viewed as contradictory.

One possible explanation is that the support for punitive measures expressed by a majority of Palestinians does not apply to a husband's violence towards his wife.

"The Society for the Advancement of the Palestinian Working Woman, in conjunction with the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion Polls, conducted a poll under the supervision of Dr. Nabil Kokali, on the topic of violence against women..."

"56.9% of Palestinians feel that it is a husband's right to hit his wife if he thinks she hurt his manhood..."

"59.1% of Palestinians feel that it is a husband's right to prevent his wife from working outside the home..."

"66.4% of Palestinians declare that the crown of success of the Palestinian woman is devoting herself to the care of her children and her husband above devotion to herself"

"47.1% feel that there is no need for intervention of social or law enforcement agencies in instances of husbands attacking wives, because that is a family problem..."

"73.9% feel that a woman must think of how to become a mother and wife rather than engage in her economic and social freedom..."

"86% of Palestinians feel that the [Islamic] traditions and customs retard advancement of women..."

"68.5% of Palestinians feel that the [Palestinian] Authority should legislate firm punitive legislation for violence against women..."
[Al-Ayyam, Women's supplement 'The Woman's Voice,' October 3, 2002]

Winning Entries in PA Children's Letter Writing Contest
June 1, 2003

The Themes:
1 - Lod and Jaffa are Palestinian cities
2 - Glorifying violence, hate, and death for Allah (shahada)
3 - Hatred of America

Introduction

The Palestinian Authority Education Ministry has announced the ten first place winners from among one million letters submitted in a children's letter writing contest.

What is evident from the PA selections is that the PA Education Ministry continues to promote hatred and violence as values for Palestinian youth.

The ten winning letters all deal with the conflict and promote hatred and killing. Not a single letter promotes peace with Israel. The themes include longing for Israel's destruction, a desire to kill Israelis, and hatred for the US. Israelis are defined as the enemy, Israeli soldiers are depicted as taking bottles of blood of murdered children, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is vilified.

It is very indicative of the foundation of PA education that the very first letter cited is entitled "I will yet return to Lod - a letter to my enemy," in which the Palestinian child writes: "You do not deserve Lod, and after this day I will no longer accept the small pool [instead of the Sea at Jaffa]." Honoring the refusal to accept Israeli sovereignty over its cities Jaffa and Lod is teaching Palestinian children that Israel's destruction is a legitimate and reachable goal.

If among the million letters submitted, peace promoting themes were present and yet the PA leadership refused to include even one among the winners, it means the Palestinians are continuing their hate education. On the other hand, there was not even one peace-promoting letter it is equally disturbing as an ominous warning of how successful the PA education has been in creating a generation dedicated to hating Israel. Palestinian Media Watch has noted repeatedly that the PA education to hatred and violence, has been an accurate indicator of PA goals and behavior in the past.

The following are the letters as they appeared in the official ad published by the Palestinian Authority in the daily, Al-Quds

1. "A letter to my enemy"

"A letter to my enemy,
... I am Lara from Lod, and I am an eleven year-old girl living in the city of Ramallah. I used to accept that Ramallah is a substitute for Lod, and that the large sea has been exchanged for a small pool. However, in spite of this you stole my simple dream from me. You came to my little house and conquered it; you killed, you destroyed, and you carried out arrests. Therefore you do not deserve Lod, and after this day I will no longer accept the small pool. I will dream of the sea at Jaffa and the sunshine in Lod."
[Lara Amar Al-Janan School, Ramallah, Sixth Grade. Jaffa and Lod are Israeli cities - Ed.]

2. "My soul, my love, why do they keep me from you?"

"After we suffered from the attack upon my brother, the Shahid [someone who dies for Allah] Majdi, on April 24th 2002, I also lost my father, Naji, forty days later, when he was [killed] by the occupation.

"I hurried to look for you, my father, in the corners of the houses but I did not find you. I look at your empty bed, and see you as if in Hell. I am the one who saw the death of his brother at the moment that he became a shahid. My heart has turned into a sad block of pain. One day I will buy a weapon and I will blow away the fetters. I will propel my living-dead body into your arms, my father, and you will gather me into your hands. My soul, my love, why do they keep me from you?"
[Mahmoud Naji Chalilah, Jaba Boys Elementary, Jenin, Seventh Grade]

3. "A bottle of blood as a Mothers' Day Gift"

"To my fellow member of humanity, the Israeli soldier at the military roadblock,

"We celebrated Mothers' Day and then we went to a family nearby to join them for the celebration and give them our blessings because their son is missing. My brother, do you know why he is missing? He died after one of your comrades shot him, and he was killed at the age of 14.

"Did your mother celebrate Mothers' Day? I don't think you celebrated with her because of the assignments you have been given to carry out against the Palestinians. I suggest that if you pay her a late visit, you should bring her a gift; a bottle of the blood of a Palestinian child whom you have murdered on the way and whose mother is still looking for him. I am sure that your mother would be very satisfied with this gift."
[Jhouk Tarek Abd Al-Chalim Anavta Girls', Tenth Grade]

4. "Do they call you 'Grandpa'?"

"To Sharon, without any greetings,

"Sharon, you do not know how much I wish I could meet your grandchildren so that I could ask them if you play with them. Do they call you 'Grandpa'? Or are they afraid of you? I would like to tell you the secret of my hatred towards you. I do not hate you because of your religion, because I believe in Musa [Moses], may his memory be blessed. I hate you because you hate the children of my nation.

"We love peace just as much you love war. And I would like to let you know something. A very rude boy lives in my neighborhood, and do you know what they call him? They call him 'Sharon.'"
[Saja Etzam Marei Mahmoud Al-Hamshari School, Tulkarem, Seventh Grade]

5. "She was at peace with herself"

[This letter is addressed to the parents of the American Rachel Corrie, who died when trying to prevent an Israeli bulldozer from destroying Palestinian weapon tunnels in the Gaza Strip - Ed]

"To Mrs. Cynthia and Mr. Craig, the parents of the Shahida [a woman who died for Allah] of the Palestinian people, the American, Rachel Corrie, Washington,

"Rachel's pure spirit is still examining our intentions, and it asks us not to give in or to be defeated. Rachel did not cross the ocean in vain. It was in order to turn her body, which was small in size, into something great in terms of love and hope, [to be] like a protective shield to those who are exploited under the occupation.

"She came to take part in a symbolic trial against the president of her country, George Bush, because she knew that your president's administration obeys the Israeli government. The sharpest proof of this is that your country's government did not condemn the killing of your daughter, but sought to conduct an investigation into the incident. I would like to invite both of you to visit Palestine so that you could see how much Rachel was at peace with herself when she said what she did and did what she did."
Mahmoud Ibrahim Al-Satiti Jilabun Elementary School for Boys, Ninth Grade

6. A Letter to the Swiss Ambassador

"Your respected government constructed our school in 1995...

"And now Israel is currently building their fictitious security fence of separation only about five meters away from our school. Could you send the Israeli government a request to keep the wall away from our school, as far as possible?"

7. A Letter to an Israeli Soldier at the Roadblock

"I see you behind blocks of cement, on your back is this ammunition, this equipment that is too heavy for you to carry, your face shows toughness, in your heart is worry and fear. I see my friends while they are walking on their way to school and on their backs their school bag is filled with [school] equipment. On their faces is hope and happiness. I see a big difference between what we carry on our backs and what you carry on yours. You live with the hope of power, while we live with the power of hope."

8 - 10

The last three are a letter to a father in an Israeli jail "who is rotting in a place where time passes like a tortoise," to a father who left when the children were young, and a letter to the UN Secretary-General complaining, "Why are you silent when major crimes are being perpetrated against us?"
[Al-Quds, May 28, 2003]

Mass Murderers are Heroic Symbols in the Palestinian Authority
March 12, 2003

Introduction

On March 11, 1978, Palestinians led by the woman terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, hijacked an Israeli bus. The hijacking ended with 36 Israelis murdered, along with American nature photographer, Gail Rubin, whom the terrorists shot when they spotted her taking pictures. The large number of Israeli civilians killed turned this act of terror for Palestinians into "one of the greatest successes of the struggle" [Al-Ayyam, March 9, 2000] and turned Dalal Mughrabi into the Palestinian's heroic, ideal woman - "Dalal is a symbol for the Palestinian nation" [PA TV, August 30, 2000]. Mughrabi is honored in names of summer camps, schools and colleges, police and military courses. Annual ceremonies and TV broadcasts commemorate the day of her terror mission.

This week, on the anniversary of her terror attack, the PA daily again wrote an article glorifying Dalal Mughrabi's mass murder. The following is the text.

"On the morning of March 11, 1978, a woman Palestinian fighter, Dalal Mughrabi, created a legend that would be taught for many years, when she and her Fedayeen unit infiltrated the Palestinian coastal plain near Tel Aviv [Palestinians routinely define all of Israel as "occupied Palestine" - Ed.] causing tens of killed and injured, after taking Israeli passengers as hostages on a bus along the coastal highway. She and her unit opened fire at the military vehicles in the vicinity, resulting in hundreds of injuries among the occupying soldiers, especially because this highway is frequently used by military vehicles transporting soldiers between the Zionist colonies in the suburbs and Tel Aviv. [Palestinians define all of Israel's cities as "illegal colonies" - Ed.]

"The army, headed by [Ehud] Barak, and with the assistance of tanks and helicopters, pursued the bus until it was finally stopped near the colony of Herzliya. A real battle took place between Dalal and her unit and the occupation forces... Journalists' cameras captured the blind hatred that overcame Barak and his soldiers during the operation...

"Twenty-five years after this heroine's death as a shahida [a woman who dies for Allah], many Palestinian women are following in her footsteps every day. Examples include Wafa Idris, [the first woman suicide bomber,] and Ayyat Al-Akhras, [the second woman suicide bomber,] who performed acts of shahada-seeking during the blessed Al-Aqsa Intifada to protect the homeland. The Shahida Dalal Mughrabi shall remain one of the symbols of the Palestinian national struggle."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 11, 2003]

Palestinian Mother Proudly Prayed for her Son to Die During her Mecca Pilgrimage
December 12, 2002

Introduction

Palestinian television frequently broadcasts interviews with parents who express joy that their children became Shahids, meaning they died for Allah in confrontations with Israelis or as suicide bombers. This week PA TV went further, interviewing a mother who had lost two sons, who proudly recounted that while on pilgrimage to Mecca she prayed that her son would die fighting Israelis.

Afterward, the woman was given time to express at length her detailed wishes that Israelis should live in horror, suffering regular terrorist attacks: "I have one wish for all Israeli mothers, for all Israelis. They should not relax, they should not sleep peacefully, they should always have nightmares, night and day, wherever they go, and whatever they do... No Israeli of any kind should live in comfort. Even in their sleep, they should have nightmares. We will blow them up day and night, wherever they go... If I see an Israeli I will blow up among them."

Below are excerpts from her interview

"[My second son Naji] became a Shahid on March 23, 2002, at the age of 20. Before I made my pilgrimage [to Mecca], he put his hands on my head and said: 'Be calm, mother, be calm, this is my wish. Pray for me, that I will be a Shahid.' When I did the circuit [an Islamic pilgrimage ceremony], in Mecca and Medina, I swear to Allah, that I prayed for him... And said, 'Praise Allah, my children asked for Shahada [death for Allah], and it is better than the way we will die. Their death is for Allah, death for our country, death for our Jerusalem ...

"I have one wish for all Israeli mothers, for all Israelis; They should not relax, they should not sleep peacefully, they should always have nightmares, night and day, wherever they go, and whatever they do... not only from bombings or attacks, but nightmares day and night. They should dream of how the Palestinian people kill them, and blow them up. They should not be relaxed, and should not sleep. Not them and not there sons, not their children, nor the Israeli army. They should not be able to travel on the buses, nor drive a tank, nor even ride a bike... Wherever they turn, the Israelis should see [someone] and say, 'Maybe it's a Palestinian.'

"This Jerusalem is our Jerusalem, and not yours. We are the children of Palestine, the Muslim nation, you will not live in comfort - not an Israeli's mother, nor a soldier's mother, nor a soldier's grandfather, nor a soldier's father. No Israeli of any kind should live in comfort. Even in their sleep, they will have nightmares. We will blow them up day and night, wherever they go. And I, as the mother of two Shahids, if I see an Israeli I will blow up among them."

Presenter: "Of course, we are always very proud of all of our Shahids."
[PA TV, December 5, 2002]

PA Arrests Terrorists - Then Stages their "Escape"
July 6, 2003

Introduction

Satisfaction is being expressed in Israel and the United States with the arrest of a small number of terrorists by the Palestinian Authority police. However, it should be remembered that in the past the PA would arrest terrorists under US pressure, only to subsequently free them under distinctly orchestrated "escapes," when US and world opinion was focused elsewhere. During one such "escape" the PA police literally took the terrorists out of jail and brought them to a university to "register for courses," where they were released.

The following is the description from the Palestinian daily of one of these "escapes," of three Islamic Jihad terrorists, in 1999

"Governor of Nablus Brigadier General Mahmud Al-Aalul, a member of the revolutionary committee of Fatah ... disclosed the details of the escape of three Islamic Jihad prisoners - Iyad Hardan, Ahmed Mihdawi and Asaad Daqa - from the Jinid prison, explaining that the prisoners escaped by taking advantage of the leniencies offered to them by the Palestinian Authority for humanitarian reasons.

"Last Saturday, the prison officials allowed the four prisoners to go to the Al-Quds Open University to register for studies. The four were accompanied by a single policeman and once there, the four entered the university while the policeman waited for them outside. After a few hours, only one of the four prisoners returned, the others did not. It was clear that the other three had escaped.

"Al-Aalul notes the high level of trust between the prison management and the prisoners as the reason that the prison sent only one policeman, and that their escape was unexpected."
[Al-Quds, October 6, 1999]

Encouraging Woman Terrorists
March 12, 2002

Introduction

Since the first suicide bombing by a woman this past January, there has been a growing movement directed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), to advance the ethos of the Palestinian woman fighter. This includes the glorification of woman terrorists and suicide bombers as symbols to be admired and imitated. The PA is now transmitting very clear messages to its female population; that they should see themselves as full and active partners fighting alongside Palestinian men in their attacks against Israelis.

"Partners in All of Life's Demands, Including Militaristic Ones"

An article appearing this week in the PA daily implores women to see their role as equal to men's including the following admiring the woman's role as terrorist:

"Her only wish is to carry out guerilla actions, so that her actions too would be added to other heroic acts done by women. She sighed, and wondered why women were not being drafted to the fight. Are women not man's partner? Are women not expected to be full partners in all of life's demands - including military ones...?!"
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 11, 2002]

This article also praises the two "heroines", who have acted as suicide bombers in recent months:

"Recently, the heroine Wafa Idris [the suicide bomber on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem] succeeded in carrying out the bombing in Jerusalem, and subsequently, the Shahida [a female that dies for Allah] Da'arin Abu Asiyah [suicide bombing at a roadblock]. These actions ... attest to the Palestinian woman's capability to perform successful actions..."

Palestinian Authority Television (PA TV) as well has recently praised female suicide bombers. A rerun of an old clip was rebroadcast which stars a female singer. While she sings, pictures of extreme violence appear in the background. Suddenly, she is not merely a singer, but rather a warrior wearing an army uniform; she continues singing and encouraging violence, singing of her desire to fall as a shahida:

Shake the earth
Raise the stones
Allah Aqbar, O the young ones
You will not be saved, O Zionist
From the volcano of my land's stones
You will not be saved, O Zionist
From the volcano of my land's stones
You are the target of my eyes
I will even willingly fall as a shahid
Allah Akbar, O the young ones
[PA TV March 10, 2002. See this clip here]

The Palestinian media publicized opinion polls taken recently, showing that "the desire to seek revenge is greater among women than men. For example, 96% of female university students expressed support for suicide attacks, according to one of the surveys conducted."
[Al-Ayyam,"The Eighth Day" Supplement, February 7, 2002]

Wafa Idris - Creating a New Symbol and Ethos

The growing propensity to encourage women to adopt the role of fighters was sparked by the suicide bombing in Jerusalem, as the bomber, Wafa Idris, is presented by both men and women in the Palestinian Authority as an ideal role-model, worthy of imitation.

"...Raviha Diyav, member of the administrative staff of the Palestinian Women Union emphasized that the participation of Idris in the attack shows the determination and the resolve of the Palestinian woman to participate as full partners in the national struggle, alongside her brothers..."
[Al-Ayyam, February 1, 2002]

"...Attaf Yussuf, a columnist in the media supplement "The Women's Voice," claims that 'Palestinian women desire to participate alongside the men in all aspects of the struggle.'"
[Al-Quds, March 1, 2002]

Men in the Palestinian Authority, too, glorify her:

"...She represents the major role of the Palestinian woman in the national struggle... Zaad Abu Ayin, a member of the high-ranking Movement Committee of Fatah, delivered a speech in which he praised the heroism of Idris, as a member of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, belonging to the Fatah Movement..."
[Al-Ayyam, February 1, 2002]

In addition, a framework for terrorist activity has been created in her name:

"Senior officials in the Fatah Movement have said that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades ... has recently created a women's brigade, in order for women to take an active part in the war being fought in the Palestinian areas. The purpose of this brigade is to carry out attacks on the Israeli home front. The troop has been named the brigade in honor of the Shahida Wafa Idris."
[Al-Quds, March 1, 2002]

There are signs signifying that the Palestinian Authority intends to turn Idris into a new symbol for young Palestinian girls. Immediately following the suicide bombing, the Palestinian Authority held a memorial demonstration in her honor.

A photograph of this demonstration appeared in the Palestinian press, in which posters bearing her picture with the Dome of the Rock in the background are shown, together the following caption: "The Fatah Movement ... eulogizes with great pride the heroic shahida of Al-Amari Refugee Camp, the Shahida Wafa Idris."
[Al-Ayyam, February 1, 2002]

The demonstrators waving these posters are young girls, appearing to be perhaps first-graders.

Ethos of the Palestinian Woman Fighter - Dalal Al-Mughrabi and Others

One of the heroines of the Palestinian Authority has always been Dalal Al-Mughrabi, the female terrorist who participated in the kidnapping and murder in 1978 of Israeli bus passengers returning home from an outing. Despite the fact that this terrorist attack transpired many years ago, and although the event resulted in the killing of the male terrorists as well, the Palestinian Authority notes its anniversary, glorifying the personality and heroism of the woman participant - Mughrabi. In August 2000, for example, she was described in a cultural program in these words:

"Dalal is a symbol of Palestine... In this presentation we portray for the audience the role of warrior of the Palestinian woman, she who struggles... She who is building the Palestinian society... We remain faithful to Dalal, she who is part of the Palestinian consciousness..."

Immediately following this portrayal, an excerpt from a film was broadcast in which Palestinian actors portraying Israelis with skullcaps threaten a Palestinian at gunpoint, while interrogating them in the cemetery where Dalal Al-Mughrabi is buried.

Mughrabi then appears above her gravesite, as a woman very much alive and talking.
[PATV, August 31, 2000]

Her name even appears in crossword puzzles in the PA daily newspapers, for example, "Famous Palestinian shahida" - "Dalal Al-Mughrabi."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 23, 2000]

The article appearing this week in the Palestinian Authority press made another connection with Dalal Al-Mughrabi, including a revolting libel attributing to Ehud Barak abuse of Mughrabi's body, because of the Israelis' "shock and fear" of the Palestinian warrior:

"Most of the stories of the woman shahidas ... are still connected to the death of the Shahida Dalal Al-Mughrabi ...who, with her small group, succeeded in causing the greatest number of casualties amongst the Israelis. The head of the Israeli government and the Israeli security services went mad, as can be seen by the actions of the then Chief of Staff of the Israeli military, Ehud Barak, who stuck the bayonet of his rifle into the Shahida Al-Mughrabi's body, as well as performing other atrocities on intimate parts of her body - a testimony to both the level of their fear of the Palestinians and their fury even after the shahids had fallen. Despite the passing of so many years since the falling of the Shahida Al-Mughrabi, we feel as if her heroism was at work in yesterday's event... Even if a Shahida is absent from her body, the spirit of her struggle continues to live within the consciousness of women aspiring to perform similar acts of heroism, and especially in times when the Sharon government escalates its acts of aggression and oppression against our people."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 11, 2002]

In another women's supplement in the Palestinian Authority press, other woman terrorists are glorified:

"Women have been involved with the Palestinian national struggle since its very onset... Wafa is the first woman to make such a sacrifice, yet she is not the first to participate in this struggle. In the first military actions, subsequent to the occupation in 1967, women were participants. We all recall such names as Fatima Barnaai, Rasima Uda, Mariam Al-Shachshir, Aisha Uda, etc... These names, creating fear and horror in their hearts [of the Israelis]...

"33 years ago today, on February 21, 1969, two girls prepared for a mission, travelling to the supermarket, and wandered around with packaged explosives. Rashida placed the explosives she had, and then Asiyah, too, left the explosives she had been carrying in her bag, and as they exited they heard the explosion, resulting in the death of two and wounding eight others.

"The second package was meant to explode later, but a police officer found the package before it went off. Several days later, an explosion occurred in the cafeteria of the Hebrew University. This attack resulted in twenty-eight wounded. This action was perpetrated by Mariam Al-Shachshir from Nablus."
["The Women's Voice," Al-Ayyam, February 28, 2002]

The Present Fighting

During the fighting of the last year and a half, although the women did not assume an active role in the fighting until recently, the Palestinian Authority still attempted to encourage and praise any connection between the women and the war. One example is an article featured over a year ago in the Palestinian Authority's press, describing the "good girl" as one who wants an M-16 for her wedding:

Headline: "He who marries a good girl will not be asked for a high bride-price - a girl marries a warrior, and asks for a rifle in place of a dowry..."

"...the bride-price Jasmeen requests is a modest but strange one, a M-16 automatic rifle. Instead of asking for money and jewelry, the twenty-eight year old Jasmeen requests from her fiance to acquire a weapon for her so that she may join the fighters of the intifada. Jasmeen is an alias she assumes in order to escape the persecution of the occupation forces...

"'I do not want gold, or a diamond ring, or jewelry, but rather a M-16, and if only I can acquire this I will wish for no more to be paid by my fiance.' Her fiance, who is also a fighter, promises such a rifle to his bride-to-be ... a slender girl ... she does not appear to be a warrior - and yet she has been active in the intifada for a number of months already. At first she supplied information regarding routes to the places of fighting, supplying ammunition, food supplies, water and means of communication to the fighters, and through publicizing opinions on the internet. Now Jasmeen says she has learned how to put together a rifle, has done target and shooting practice, with her parents' encouragement..."
[Al Hayat Al Jadida, March 10, 2001].

Summary

The bombing in Jerusalem, carried out by the female terrorist, is presented as a turning point, and, in fact, was an unusual occurrence. However, the encouragement of women to accept an active role in the fighting cannot be seen as a new direction, but rather as a reinforcement of an already existent tendency to create the ethos of the Palestinian woman fighter. Furthermore, there are concrete signs that the Palestinian Authority intends to utilize this attack as a springboard to encourage women to take a more active part in the attacks against Israel.