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editorial
Palestinian TV Offers Hint
Of Unrest Over Incitement
T
heir reasoning isn’t necessar-
ily noble, but the majority of
Palestinians interviewed on official
Palestinian government television opposed
school-age youth taking part in stabbing
and other terror attacks on Israelis.
Most interviewees dismissed youth-
perpetrated terror on principle, a good
sign, while a few nixed it because they
felt it was ineffective in freeing the West
Bank from Israeli military occupation, not
because it was morally wrong.
Notably, all interviewed by Fatah-run
Awdah TV branded TV as a source of
information for provoking youth to com-
mit stabbing attacks in protest of how
Israel allegedly has hamstrung and dam-
aged their lives.
That’s the gist of an insightful report
by Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch.
PMW keeps tabs on how government-run
news media sway Palestinians living under
Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in the
Gaza Strip.
The Feb. 28 report provides a rare
glimpse into the feelings of ordinary
Palestinians. It points up the range of
concern about TV incitement of highly
impressionable kids. It reminds ever so
grimly how Palestinian schools, via dis-
torted texts and teaching, also incite kids
to kill Jews.
No wonder the nearly six-month wave
of Palestinian stabbings and attempted
stabbings waged against Israeli civilians
and soldiers is the work largely of 15- to
25-year-olds — with 10 percent of the
stabbers or would-be stabbers younger
than 16. In the course of these attacks,
Israeli forces have killed many of the
assailants, who thus became revered
“martyrs for Allah.”
Youthful terror-mongers are por-
trayed as role models in schools run by
the Palestinian Authority. The Fatah-led
P.A. governs Palestinian-controlled areas
of the West Bank. At one youth soc-
cer tournament, a 13-year-old boy who
stabbed a 13-year-old Israeli and nearly
killed him was introduced as someone
to emulate.
PERCEPTIVE TAKES
The PMW-translated transcript of the
Awdah TV interviews reveals the depth of
pent-up disgust on the Palestinian street
over government-inspired incitement,
notwithstanding P.A. President Mahmoud
Abbas’ outright rejection of a U.S. peace
initiative advanced during a March 9
meeting with Vice President Joe Biden in
Ramallah.
One person said for “our children,
unfortunately, their entertainment is the
weapon.” Another said “our children are
required, like the adults, to resist with
every means — with knives, with rocks,
with Molotov cocktails.” A third said
“most of the stabbings taking place are
very weak, and they do almost nothing to
change reality.” A teacher said, “I believe
you need to sow love of knowledge in a
child; that is most important. That he
should go and fight while still a child — I
am totally against that.”
Plainly, some parents have the will and
ability to stop their kids from watching
incitement on TV. Others oppose the
incitement but lack the heart to block out
its contagious effects.
HINTS OF HOPE
The teacher gave the most constructive
interview, telling the Awdah TV host:
“I think the media play a large role.
Especially our TV channels. Even when
the situation has calmed down a little,
you see that there are broadcasters among
us [as well as] known satellite channels
that begin to incite. Even if the incite-
ment is indirect, it is incitement. You feel
that the child does not know what to do.
Unfortunately.”
This teacher understands the tangled
politics through which she tries to impart
learning.
Sadly, the Awdah TV host’s concluding
plea for sweeping reform is sure to fall on
deaf ears in the corridors of the P.A. gov-
ernment in Ramallah.
“Enough with this incitement on TV
screens, on [Facebook] pages and social
media,” pronounced the courageous host.
“We must protect our children and must
develop a strategy of struggle built on
responsibility.”
She added, “Enough spilling the blood
of our children.”
A strategy of struggle built on respon-
sibility? What a novel and refreshing
thought.
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letters
Limmud Michigan
A Wonderful Event
I attended Limmud Michigan held in Ann
Arbor on March 13. This event brought
together the Metro Detroit community,
as well as those from other areas such
as Grand Rapids and Toledo. It was an
incredible day of Jewish learning, net-
working and camaraderie.
This was a highly organized event run
by dedicated volunteers. The number of
educational topics to choose from was
8 March 24 • 2016
impressive. The presenters of the sessions
I attended were all knowledgeable and
passionate about their topics. I thoroughly
enjoyed all of the sessions I attended.
Other facets of the event, such as the lunch
and klezmer concert, were excellent as
well.
A hearty thank you to the steering com-
mittee and volunteers for such a wonderful
inaugural event. Your hard work certainly
showed! I would be happy to help with
next year’s event!
Nancy Goldberg
West Bloomfield
CORRECTIONS
• “Why Be Jewish” (March 17, page 14)
should have reported that Ashira Solomon
works at Akiva Hebrew Day School in
Southfield, not her husband, Ethan. In
addition, the Conservative convert to
Judaism visited the mikvah at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield. There is no
mikvah at Adat Shalom Synagogue in
Farmington Hills.
Phyllis Levy. Ruth Levitt. Sheryl
Lapides. Adele Marks. Margo
Maxman (later Stark), whom
I met the day of rehearsal for
graduation. She asked what kind
of gum I was chewing and if I had
a piece for her. After graduation,
we chewed on a number of Friar
Tuck burgers at Robin Hood Grill
on Livernois in Sherwood Forest
until she left for her summer job
as a camp counselor after which I
never saw her again.
Marilyn Markowitz. Madeleine
Palmer. Audrey Rosin. Anne
Spizman. Sharon Sklar. Lorraine
Tendler, who was in love with our
pianist classmate Jerry Coleman
Harrison. While working as a
DJ at Wayne State University’s
campus radio station, I produced
Jerry’s 78-rpm recording of Bach’s
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
backed at random with the jazz
standard Sweet Lorraine. She
rushed to my studio to ask me to
thank Jerry for expressing his love
to her.
Of 1,200 students in the Detroit
Central High School 1951 gradu-
ating class, many have moved
away, drifted away or passed away.
But those of us still around here
like to get together every once in
a while. We did the 50th reunion,
the 55th, the 60th and now are
organizing the 65th. All under the
leadership, direction and kvetch-
ing of a previously unnamed
pretty classmate who would be
embarrassed if I told you she’s
Ruthie Chodoroff Newman, who
does an amazing job of getting
each of us to complete our plan-
ning assignments.
OK, so I’m risking her reaction.
Meanwhile, here’s what you might
want to know: On Sunday, Sept.
18, 2016, members of the Detroit
Central High School classes of
1951 will gather for brunch at
Tam-O-Shanter Country Club to
again remember our time in caps
and gowns.
For information, call classmates
Janet Lowinger Halper at (248)
682-4986 or (561) 750-7907; or
Rhoda Leach Taub at (248) 626-
0322.
Best to not call Ruthie. She
might be hiding somewhere.
*