| PA daily op-ed expresses hope
for Israel's destruction
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
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 25, 2012 |