PMW Bulletin May 24, 2012

PA daily op-ed expresses hope for Israel's destruction
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=6896

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@palwatch.org
f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.palwatch.org

An op-ed in the official PA daily published on May 15, the anniversary of
the founding of the modern state of Israel, reiterated the Palestinian
Authority's consistent denial of Israel's right to exist and its hope and
expectation for Israel's destruction.

In the op-ed, Israel's establishment is demonized:

"The greatest theft in history... the most criminal act that humanity has
ever seen... [the establishment of a] fascist state upon the ruins of the
Palestinian people, which has suffered the greatest and ugliest ethnic
cleansing known to modern history."

The op-ed continues with the anticipation of Israel's destruction:

"We remember you, all of Palestine. You are present within us... until we
return to you, oh Haifa, Acre, and Jaffa, all of historical Palestine... and
all the temporary ones [Israelis] will go away... May their [Israeli]
independence collapse, and may Palestine come back to life."

Significantly, the writer of this op-ed is not a regular staff writer of the
official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, which may indicate that the editors
accepted this op-ed for publication because of its content.

Palestinian Media Watch reported in March of this year that the Minister of
Social Affairs Majida Al-Masri also expressed the destruction of Israel as
the goal of the PA:

"We demand that everyone push ahead with reconciliation [between Fatah and
Hamas] and to end the state of division, so that we will be able to stand
against the occupation, to halt its activities against our prisoners, and to
turn to the struggle to liberate Palestine - all of Palestine."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2012]

The Minister of Social Affairs said this at a PA event in the presence of
the PA Minister for Women's Affairs Rabiha Dhiab and the Minister of
Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake and other officials.

The following is an excerpt of the op-ed denying Israel's right to exist and
expressing Israel's destruction as a goal:

"The [Palestinian] fathers will die and the sons will forget their right to
this land (i.e., within state of Israel) - that is the theory that the
occupation (i.e., Israel) upheld and spoke about for decades, and which,
with time, it gambled with as a framework for its attempts to plant foreign
settlers on Palestinian land, and to cause its historical and national
identity to disappear. It spoke about this until it established its fascist
state upon the ruins of the Palestinian people, which has suffered the
greatest and ugliest ethnic cleansing known to modern history... May 15
[1948] is Nakba Day, the day of emigration, the day of expulsion and
uprooting of the Palestinian people from its soil, from its homeland, from
its towns and its villages, which were destroyed by the Nazi Zionist Hagana
and Stern units (i.e., Jewish pre-state armed defense units), which expelled
the inhabitants with armed force and wanton killing. They carried out dozens
of massacres against the inhabitants, the owners of the land, which they
burned and seized using all means. What happened - happened, and an entire
nation emigrated, against the background of world silence and confusion of
the Arab armies at the time, who withdrew before the greatest theft in
history, and before the most criminal act that humanity has ever seen... We
dream about the oranges of Jaffa, about the Carmel [Mountain] in Haifa,
about our memories that are present there, about the history of our fathers,
which continues to be a testimony to our stolen right - the eternal right
that is not nullified or forgotten with the passage of time, as they had
hoped, and as expressed in their famous statement, 'The adults will die and
the youth will forget.' For 64 years we have not forgotten the light breeze
of the Galilee, we have not forgotten the hymn of life in Tel Al-Rabi'a
(i.e., Arabic translation of Tel Aviv, to wrongly imply the existence of an
Arab village of that name prior to Tel Aviv), we have not forgotten the
fragrance of the narcissus on the slopes of the Carmel. We remember you, all
of Palestine. As long as we remain far from you, you are present within us
as pain and sorrow, until we return to you, oh Haifa, Acre, and Jaffa, all
of historical Palestine, so that life will return within us, and life will
return within you, and all the temporary ones [Israelis] will go away. May
their theory collapse, may their independence collapse, and may Palestine
come back to life."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 15, 2012]