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PA daily op-ed expresses hope
for Israel´s
destruction
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?
fi=157&doc_id=6896
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 15, 2012]
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