Two months after Palestinian Media Watch first
reported that a square in a Palestinian city was to be named for
the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, the Palestinian Authority announced the
cancellation of the inauguration ceremony. After the initial
story, PMW published five follow-up bulletins, including one earlier
this week reporting that the day chosen by the PA for the
naming ceremony was to be today, March 11, the anniversary of the
terror attack that killed 37. Israeli news reported that PM Netanyahu
asked George Mitchell and then Vice President Biden to put pressure
on the PA to cancel the event. Late yesterday the Palestinian
Authority cancelled today´s event.
Below is the timeline of the Dalal
Mughrabi Square story, showing how it grew over the last two months
through PMW´s reporting, with links to the PMW
reports.
The following is today´s story about the cancellation,
which includes statements
by PMW director Itamar Marcus about the danger of incitement,
especially the
turning of terrorists like Mughrabi into role models for
children.
Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon:
"PA
reportedly cancels ceremony to name public square after terrorist.
A security cabinet discussion on establishing a formal
government mechanism to monitor Palestinian incitement was put off
Wednesday for at least a week, a day before a ceremony scheduled in
Ramallah to formally name a public square after Dalal Mughrabi, the
terrorist who led the 1978 Coastal Road massacre...
Israel has
complained to the US administration about the naming ceremony, and
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly asked US Middle East
envoy George Mitchell to convince Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas to cancel it. The ceremony is scheduled to take place
on the 32nd anniversary of the attack, the worst terrorist incident
in Israel´s history, in which terrorists commandeered a bus and
murdered 37 people, including 10 children. Mughrabi was killed during
the attack. According to media reports quoting Palestinian sources
Wednesday night, the PA has ordered the cancellation of the
ceremony.
Itamar Marcus, the director of Palestinian Media
Watch, which has been monitoring incitement in the PA for years, said
that under the new initiative, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser,
currently the director-general of the Strategic Affairs Ministry and
formerly the head of Military Intelligence research and assessment
division, will every three months issue an incitement report card.
´One of the biggest problems is the incitement, and how it
creates heroes and role models for kids. The naming of the square is
a clear message that whoever kills most Israelis is the greatest
hero,´ Marcus said.
Marcus said his organization has been in
contact with Kuperwasser, the director-general of the Strategic
Affairs Ministry, and discussed creating an index that would quantify
the incitement.
´The message that is important to get across is
that without peace education there cannot be peace, and if you teach
and promote hatred there cannot be peace,´ he
said.
The following is the timeline of the Dalal Mughrabi Square
story:
Dec. 31,
2009: PMW releases story of PA´s intention to name square after
Mughrabi
Click to view PMW´s release of PA´s
naming of square after terrorist Dalal Mughrabi.
Jan. 7, 2010: PM
Netanyahu protests PA´s honoring Mughrabi to the US
"Today, and a week ago, senior officials
from the Prime Minister´s office conveyed a protest to the US against
Mahmoud Abbas... that the governor of Ramallah named a square in her
[Mughrabi´s] honor."
[Israeli News Channel 2]
Jan. 10: PM Netanyahu opens cabinet meeting with criticism of
PA´s honoring Mughrabi
"Whoever sponsors and supports naming a square in Ramallah in
honor of a terrorist who murdered dozens of Israelis on the Coastal
Road - encourages terror."
[Galei Zahal, (IDF radio), Jan. 10, 2010]
Jan. 11: PMW
reports that PA Minister of Culture, Siham Barghouti, rejects
Netanyahu´s protest
"Honoring them this way [by naming places after Martyrs] is
the least we can give them, and this is our right."
[Al-
Ayyam, Jan. 11, 2010]
Jan. 17: PMW reports that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
rejects Netanyahu´s protest
"I do not deny [the naming]. Of course we want to name a
square after her [Mughrabi]... [We] carried out military activities;
can I then later renounce all that we have done? No, I don´t renounce
it."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 17, 2010]
Feb. 3: Ashraf
Ajrami, former PA Minister of Prisoners´ Affairs, defends
naming
"[PA] talk about
Shahids (Martyrs) is
considered, from their [Israel´s] point of view, extremism and
support for terror... Likewise, naming a square after Dalal Mughrabi
is [according to Israel] reason for criticism and attack."
[Al-Ayyam, Feb. 3, 2010]
Feb. 25: Mahmoud Al-Aloul, General
Commissioner for Recruitment and Organization, emphasizes importance
of naming
"Mahmoud Al-
Aloul, member of the Fatah Central Committee and General Commissioner
for Recruitment and Organization, emphasized that it is important to
continue commemorating the memory of the Shahids (Martyrs) and the Palestinian acts of
heroism, and most importantly the anniversary of the Martyrdom of
Dalal Mughrabi, heroine of the Coastal Road operation [terror
attack], which falls on March 11th each year."
[Al-
Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 25, 2010]
March 7: PMW reports that PA daily
announces date for inauguration of square
"The El-Bireh Municipality has completed
construction work at the Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi Square ... and has
commenced preparations for its inauguration this Thursday, the
anniversary of Mughrabi´s Martyrdom... City Council member Aida Abu-
Ubeid said that the square is considered a symbol of the sacrifice of
the Palestinian woman. She also noted that flowers and trees will be
planted there, and that a picture of the Shahida Dalal Mughrabi will be placed at the center
of the square."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 7, 2010]
March 9: Israeli
Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein asks PM Netanyahu to
involve US in canceling the inauguration, as reported in Haaretz:
"The square is to be dedicated tomorrow
with senior PA officials in attendence, and Information and Diaspora
Minister Yuli Edelstein has asked Netanyahu to approach the American
administration about stopping the event."
[Haaretz website, March 10,
2010
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155420.html]
Yesterday, March
10, 2:00 p.m.: Abbas rejects PM Netanyahu´s demand to cancel the
event:
Initial radio
reports indicate that Abbas has rejected PM Netanyahu´s demand to
cancel the event, conveyed via the US special envoy George Mitchell.
Later reports now claim that Netanyahu´s office is "waiting to see"
if Abbas will cancel:
"Sources in the Prime Minister´s Office
said that Israel is waiting to see whether Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas]
will cancel the event. Senior political personnel have said that if
the Palestinians want peace, they must educate towards
peace."
[IBA website,
March 10, 2010
http://www.iba.org.il/bet/?entity=625801&type=1]
Yesterday, March
10, 3:00 p.m.: Israel hopes the US will condemn PA naming of
square after terrorist
"Israel is now demanding that the Vice President [Biden] at
least condemn the [PA] incitement - a topic Israel has complained
about before but now the PM has personally raised the issue with Vice
President Biden. The Palestinians plan to name on Thursday a square
in Ramallah for terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, the terrorist who
participated in the hijacking of what is known as the "blood bus" in
1978 [in which 37 were killed]. The PA is calling her a Martyr and
national hero. Israel protested to the US over this two months ago
and the Americans turned to the Palestinians but the Palestinians are
continuing with the inauguration [of the square to the terrorist
Dalal Mughrabi]. Senior officials in Jerusalem tell me [Udi Segal]
they expect the United States will raise this issue today with the
Palestinian Authority, and Israel is hoping at the very least for a
strong American condemnation of this incitement."
[Israel Channel 2 TV news]
Yesterday, March
10, 5:00 p.m.: Reuters reports PA will cancel the naming of
square after terrorist
Reuters by Ali Sawafta
RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 10 (Reuters) - The Palestinian
Authority ordered on Wednesday the cancellation of a ceremony to
honor a woman who led a 1978 hijacking of a civilian bus in Israel in
which 35 people were killed.
The cancellation of Thursday´s
ceremony coincided with a visit to the occupied West Bank by U.S.
Vice President Joe Biden, who met with Palestinian leaders as part of
Washington´s efforts to revive the moribund Middle East peace
process.
Three Palestinian officials involved in organising the
event to honour Dalal al-Mughrabi, killed in the Palestinian attack,
said Israel told the Palestinian Authority to cancel the ceremony at
which a traffic circle near Ramallah was to have been named after her
and a memorial plaque unveiled.
Yesterday, March 10, 7:00 p.m.: Fatah announces it
will not cancel ceremony. [Israeli radio]
Today, March 11: "PA reportedly cancels
ceremony to name public square after terrorist." [Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon]
"A security cabinet discussion
on establishing a formal government mechanism to monitor Palestinian
incitement was put off Wednesday for at least a week, a day before a
ceremony scheduled in Ramallah to formally name a public square after
Dalal Mughrabi, the terrorist who led the 1978 Coastal Road massacre.
The security cabinet is likely to discuss the incitement
monitoring mechanism in the near future.
Israel has complained
to the US administration about the naming ceremony, and Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly asked US Middle East envoy
George Mitchell to convince Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas to cancel it. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on the
32nd anniversary of the attack, the worst terrorist incident in
Israel´s history, in which terrorists commandeered a bus and murdered
37 people, including 10 children. Mughrabi was killed during the
attack. According to media reports quoting Palestinian sources
Wednesday night, the PA has ordered the cancellation of the
ceremony.
Itamar Marcus, the director of Palestinian Media
Watch, which has been monitoring incitement in the PA for years, said
that under the new initiative, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser,
currently the director-general of the Strategic Affairs Ministry and
formerly the head of Military Intelligence research and assessment
division, will every three months issue an incitement report card.
´One of the biggest problems is the incitement, and how it
creates heroes and role models for kids. The naming of the square is
a clear message that whoever kills most Israelis is the greatest
hero,´ Marcus said.
Marcus said his organization has been in
contact with Kuperwasser, the director-general of the Strategic
Affairs Ministry, and discussed creating an index that would quantify
the incitement.
´The message that is important to get across is
that without peace education there cannot be peace, and if you teach
and promote hatred there cannot be peace,´ he
said."
