Editor's Letter
jarc
Palestinian Arab Charade
D
on't think the anti-Jewish vitriol spewing from the
Arab-controlled West Bank is bluster. It's part of
a cunning strategy to indoctrinate the kids, incite
their parents and infect the rest of the world.
The saddest part of the propaganda is that its messenger,
the Palestinian Authority, governs the West Bank under the
the Fatah banner and is considered politically moderate.
It may be a bit "left" of Hamas, the
terrorist organization that rules the
Gaza Strip. But let there be no doubt:
The P.A. may not order acts of terror
against Israel, but it does little to dis-
courage it or punish the terrorists.
Further, P.A. TV, under the control
of President Mahmoud Abbas, is
manipulated to dehumanize Jews and
demonize the Jewish state. Its air-
Robert Sklar
waves have become a metaphor for the
Editor
Zionist hatred taught, nurtured and
championed within the West Bank,
ironically the biblical Jewish lands of Judea and Samaria.
Consider the Jan. 29 sermon that was broadcast. It called for
the genocide of Jews. It branded Jews as enemies of God and
humanity. It compared Jews to Nazis, a familiar Arab refrain.
It pitted Jews against Palestinian Arabs.
The official P.A. daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, is no
less an instrument of incitement to violence. In January, it
marked the 45th anniversary of the Fatah movement's found-
ing by including praise for terror attacks and for terrorists.
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em-day Israel, the Gaza Strip, Judea, Samaria and parts of
what are now Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Beyond that, it's clear that Arabs living in the disputed ter-
ritories known as the West Bank and Gaza Strip imagined
themselves as a distinct ethnic group. So they appropriated
the term "Palestinian:' which used to mean a Jew living in pre-
state Israel. The term now refers to an Arab living in the West
Bank, Gaza Strip or parts of Jerusalem. The shift in mean-
ing underscores how the P.A. and the Palestine Liberation
Organization grasp the power of language and the idea that if
you will something to be true, perhaps it will be perceived as
so. Adolf Hitler applied that "logic" with some success to whip
up the German masses leading up to World War II.
Stark Imagery
Gut wrenching as the Jan. 29 sermon was, I felt compelled to
share it. You need to know what's being disseminated on P.A.
TV. The hate isn't only politically expedient. It runs deeper. It's
burrowed within much of the Arab soul in the Middle East,
unfortunately.
The sermon propounds: "Oh Muslims! The Jews are the
Jews. The Jews are the Jews. Even if donkeys would cease to
bray, dogs cease to bark, wolves to cease to howl and snakes
to bite, the Jews would not cease to harbor hatred toward
Muslims. The Prophet said that if two Jews would be alone
with a Muslim, they would think only of killing him."
Is that not mythical invention?
It gets worse ...
"Oh Muslims! This land will be liberated, these holy places
and these mosques liberated, only by means of a return to
the Koran and when all Muslims will be willing to be jihad
A Leader?
fighters for the sake of Allah and for the sake of supporting
It's outrageous that Abbas permits official government chan-
Palestine, the Palestinian people, the Palestinian land, the holy
nels to be infested with anti-Semitism. He's the guy Israeli
places of Palestine."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to negotiate
I read "jihad fighters" to include suicide
with. He's the guy who U.S. President Barack
bombers, "Palestinian land" to include the
Obama says "genuinely wants peace."
State of Israel and "holy places" to include the
Abbas' shadowy ways don't surprise me.
Western Wall.
Abbas was never a friend of the West, regard-
The sermon goes on, "The Prophet says: 'You
less of how much Western leaders have tried to
shall
fight the Jews and kill them until the tree
invoke such a friendship. He sees life through
and
the
stone will speak and say, Oh Muslim, Oh
ashen-shaded lenses. On Dec. 16, he told
servant
of
Allah.'"
Israel's left-leaning newspaper Haaretz that
The
tree
and the stone will go on to say,
West Bank mosques no longer are prone to
"Oh
Muslim,
Oh servant of Allah, there is a
incite; the sermon declaring that "The Prophet
Jew
behind
me;
come and kill him." Jihad is
says: `Kill the Jews' came just 44 days later.
Palestine's
only
salvation, the sermon concludes.
The Jan. 29 sermon aired on P.A. TV railed
The
Palestinian
Authority has a right to ridi-
about the "loathsome occupation in Palestine,
cule
Jews.
But
remember
the source as the West
its land, its holy places by the new Mongols
implores
Israel
to
resume
peace talks. It's hard
and what they are perpetrating upon this holy, P.A.'s Mahmo ud Abbas
to
engage
a
negotiating-table
partner who dis-
blessed and pure land — killing, assassination,
dains
you
and,
in
effect,
promotes
killing
you.
destruction, confiscation, Judaization, harassment and split-
No less an Israeli authority than Palestinian Media Watch
ting the homeland."
maintains that President Abbas and his Fatah movement,
much like Hamas, glorify violence against Israel and instruct
Changing Terms
kids to embrace violence as the key to resolving conflict with
I fumed while reading excerpts of the transcript of that ser-
"Palestinian foes" — like Jews. ❑
mon, as translated by Palestinian Media Watch, Israel's pre-
mier anti-Zionist watchdog organization.
I wasn't just mad about the Jew-hating canards expressed.
FO
Can Israel ignore Arab hate in
1—
I also realized once more how adept Palestinian clerics are at
a: the interest of negotiation?
v)
making myth sound true. They view their "Palestine really
Ci
z Can Abbas be trusted despite
just a generalized geopolitical territory, as an Arab nation-
o his inflammatory rhetoric?
state devoid of only United Nations recognition. Of course,
a.
Jews were plentiful in ancient Palestine, which included mod-
,
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year long.
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February 11 • 2010
5