SPECIAL COMMENTARY
Listening To The Palestinians
ing any claim to Jerusalem's Western
Wall as a site holy to the Jewish peo-
ne of the most important
ple. (Palestinian historians now say the
lessons of the renewed
Temple
was in Yemen.) Most recently,
intifada in the Mideast is to
Palestinian Autjority leaders
take what Palestin-
have denied the Holocaust.
ian leaders have to say at face
Dr. Jareer Al-Kidwah, an
value when they speak to
education adviser to Yasser
their own people, in Arabic.
Arafat, stated recently that
That may sound too basic
claims that Jews were mur-
to mention, but over the last
dered in the Holocaust are
seven years, since the Oslo
"all lies and unfounded
process began, many Israeli
claims" to evoke sympathy
officials have dismissed the
from the world. He asserted
harsh message as empty
there was "no Dachau, no
rhetoric, and many in the
GARY
Auschwitz. [They] were dis-
press, including me, did not
ROSENBLATT
infection sites."
treat the reports seriously
Special to
These reports are not
enough.
the Jewish News
difficult to verify. Itamar
"Let them have their
Marcus, a soft-spoken for-
words," I recall hearing for-
mer New Yorker now living
mer Israeli Prime Minister
in Israel, has spent the last
Shimon Peres say a few years
five years monitoring official Palestin-
ago here, "that's all they have. Judge
ian television, radio and newspapers,
them by what they do, not what they
and he says Palestinian leaders have
say."
never equivocated about their goals
Unfortunately, events of the last sev-
and intentions.
eral months have borne out that what
"They are quite open to their own
they — the Palestinians — are doing is
audience, and the constant themes are
precisely what they were saying.
the de-legitimation of Israel's right to
The message, from Palestinian
exist, and the need to continue the
Authority political and religious lead-
revolution."
ers, is that the Jews have no historic
Marcus and his team of five transla-
ties to the land; that Israel, the enemy,
tors who form the Jerusalem-based
must be destroyed; and that the peace
Palestinian Media Watch were among
process is temporary, and a means to
the first to predict an outbreak of hos-
achieving the ultimate goal of replac-
tilities this past summer, some weeks
ing the Jewish state with Palestine.
before Likud party leader Ariel
The renewed intifada, then, is not
Sharon's controversial walk on the
about borders or settlements or con-
Temple Mount, which has widely
tested holy places. It's about a com-
been attributed as'the immediate
plete denial of Jewish history, includ-
cause of the renewed violence.
During an interview in New York
Gary Rosenblatt is editor and publish-
last week, Marcus explained that this
er of the New York Jewish Week. His e-
past summer there was a sudden and
mail address is Gary@jewishweek.org
New York
0
minimizing the significance of
this issue, has undermined its
efforts to achieve peace.
Fifth, and las't, should Israel
conclude an unwise peace
treaty with the PA, it could
become sufficiently weakened
to invite a new Arab-Israeli
war. Rather than conclude a
treaty with the present leader-
ship of the PA, it would be
wiser to wait for a Palestinian
leader who can be a credible
"partner for peace.
To believe that no such
leader is possible for that peace
MUM be made with Arafat or
someone like him is a mistake
— a mistake similar to that
which England's Prime Minis-
ter Neville Chamberlain made
when he concluded a land-for-
peace deal with Hitler in Sep-
ternger 1938, one year befc,re
World War II began.
Irving,Warsitawsky
West Bloomfield
dramatic increase in the amount of
footage shown on Palestinian televi-
sion of violent clashes between Israeli
soldiers and Palestinian youth, much
of it from the first intifada of the late
1980s. "It went from five or 10 min-
utes a day to more than 90 minutes,
and the rhetoric stepped up in the
quantity and quality of its nastiness. It
was clear they were planning more
violence," Marcus said.
The footage focused on the heroism
and martyrdom of youngsters, and
Friday sermons from Muslim clerics
called for eternal war against the Jews.
As usual, Marcus alerted the Israeli .
media and government officials, but it
was only in the wake of the late Sep-
tember renewed violence that his
media watch reports began to receive
serious attention.
Over the last two months, he says
he has been inundated with calls from
Israeli, American and European media
outlets requesting interviews and more
information about what Palestinian
leaders are saying to their people. He
is only too willing to comply, gratified
that news groups are starting to pay
attention to the realities of the Pales-
tinian message, even at this late date.
Building Awareness
Asked if he sometimes felt like a
prophet of old, calling out a warning
to his fellow Jews, Marcus laughed,
but acknowledged that he had often
been frustrated by the lack of concern
among his fellow Israelis. Two years
ago, he said, they knew every detail of
the Monica Lewinsky scandal but were
unaware of what was being said about
them by their Palestinian neighbors.
"My job is to make them_ aware,"
he said, pointing out that he considers
his role to be a source of information,
not a political advocate. "The more
exposure, the more pressure on them
[the Palestinians] to change."
And while his personal politics are
known to be on the right, his credibil-
ity is solid with mainstream Israeli
media and government officials. The
Associated Press, Washington Post, New
York Times and Jerusalem Post have
interviewed him or cited his findings
in recent weeks.
"It's a sign his message is getting
through," says Jeff Barak, editor of the
Jerusalem Post, who added that while
Marcus was always respected on the
right, "now, given what we've seen
over the past two months, the left,
too, is saying not enough attention
has been paid to what the PA is telling
its own people."
The difference, though, is how the
left and right interpret his findings. Peo-
ple on the right say the virulently anti-
Israel reports confirm why the Oslo
peace process is a sham. Those on the
left say the information underscores the
need to make peace and redress these
negative views and stereotypes.
Marcus says that personally, he is an
optimist, and that he sees the current
crisis as "a difficult time we're going
through." But he also notes that one of
the most depressing aspects of his work
is seeing how Palestinian youngsters are
taught to hate Jews, from textbooks to
children's television programming.
"From the youngest age, they are told
over and over again that the Jews came
from Europe after World War II and
stole the land of Palestine from them,"
he said, "and they are told there is no
historical connection between the Jews
and Israel. No wonder they look at us
with such hatred in their eyes."
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12/29,
2000
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