The Palestinian Authority is telling its people that peace with Israel is not a goal. Instead, the PA says that all of Israel is "Palestine," and that no compromise is acceptable because this principle is "the only red line." This message was expressed by the regular cartoonist, Muhammad Sabaaneh, in the official PA daily.
Published this week, his cartoon displayed a map of all of Israel (excluding the Golan Heights) and the PA areas, with the following text written across the map:
"The only red line"
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 21, 2011]
The cartoon is a clear example of the PA's lack of recognition of Israel's right to exist, and sends a message that the PA's real goal is a complete dismantling of Israel and its replacement by a Palestinian state. This sentiment is implicit in PA ideology but only occasionally is it expressed so explicitly in its controlled media.
Palestinian Media Watch has reported that the PA continuously presents all of Israel as "Palestine." In recent months, this message appeared in cultural and educational settings.
The following are examples of recent PA events presenting all of Israel as "Palestine":
Fatah event broadcast on PA TV, held in the presence of Mahmoud Abbas and many other senior PA officials:
"We commit and promise to stand behind you, oh Mahmoud Abbas, until Judgment Day. I am returning to you, the purest land, oh land of the free. No matter how long the nights of exile, I am returning to you, oh land. From Rafah to Rosh Hanikra (northern Israel) our coast, and Beit Shean (Israeli city). Above your soil, oh my land, is a picture of Garden of Eden. From Rafah to Rosh Hanikra our coast, and Beit Shean. Above your soil, oh my land, is a picture of Garden of Eden. From Rafah to Rosh Hanikra, north and south, are the picture's borders. From Haifa (Israeli city) and Tantura to the [Jordan] valley (i.e., all of Israel). I am returning to you, the purest land, oh land of the free."
[PA TV (Fatah), Feb. 27, May 12, 27, and July 15, 2011] Click to view
Music video on PA TV, claiming numerous Israeli cities are Palestinian:
"Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours. [I] Muhammad sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth are ours.
[I] Kabha sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
From Bethlehem to Jenin is Palestinian,
Ramle, Lod and Sakhnin are Palestinian.
Nowhere is more beautiful than Jerusalem;
no matter how much we travel
From Safed to Al-Badhan (near Nablus) is Palestinian;
Tiberias and Ashkelon are Palestinian."[Palestinian TV (Fatah), June 24, July 14 and twice July 15, 2011] Click to view
Song and dance broadcast on PA TV, with lyrics depicting all of Israel as part of "my country Palestine":
"Oh flying bird, circling around,
by Allah, oh traveling [bird], I burn with envy.
My country Palestine is beautiful.
Turn to Safed, and then to Tiberias,
and send regards to the sea of Acre and Haifa.
Don't forget Nazareth - the Arab fortress,
and tell Beit Shean about its people's return.
Oh flying bird, circling around...
by Allah, oh traveling [bird], I burn with envy.
My country Palestine is beautiful.
...
Go to Jenin and bring me from its valley
greetings to Nablus, Tulkarem and their soil.
Drink the water of Jaffa's port,
don't forget Ramle and Ramallah.
Oh flying bird, circling around...
by Allah, oh traveling [bird], I burn with envy.
My country Palestine is beautiful."[PA TV (Fatah), July 13 and June 24, 2011] Click to view
In addition, the PA continues to deny Israel's right to exist, calling all of Israel "an occupation," "stolen" and more.
The following are examples of the PA calling Israel "an occupation":
Official PA daily calls: Israel "Palestine occupied in 1948":
Headline: "Under the auspices of the Prime Minister [Abbas] and with an unprecedented official and popular turnout - commencement of the third Summer Nights in Jerusalem Festival in Beit Anan"
"Husam Al-Sheikh, Chairman of the Cultural Forum Center in Beit Anan, which is organizing the festival, estimated that since its commencement two years ago, the festival has immortalized cultural and geographical [Palestinian] diversity in its events, and that this year this diversity will be highlighted through the hosting of artists and groups from all the Palestinian districts as well as from Palestine occupied in 1948 (i.e., Israel)."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 16, 2011]
Official PA daily calls Israel "the territories occupied in 1948":
"Under the slogan, 'Palestine is closer: Lod shall remain', the 'Khutwa' youth group, in cooperation with a group of Palestinian youth from the West Bank and from the territories occupied in 1948 (i.e., Israel), held a charity performance to support the resolve of our people in the occupied Palestinian city of Lod...
Manal Taha, one of the organizers of the event... [said that Israel's aim is] to threaten the resolve within the occupying entity, which continues through the actions of the authorities in Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, Jerusalem, and other occupied Palestinian cities. She added, 'Through this event we hope to turn the spotlight onto the suffering of our people in the Interior (i.e., in Israel). In addition, we aim for this event to be a first step on the road to restoring the spiritual connection between Palestinians wherever they may be, by carrying out other activities in the future for these purposes. Taha called upon everyone to participate in this activity, whose aim is to energize the connection between the Palestinians of the territories occupied in 1948 and [those in] the territories occupied in 1967."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 23, 2011]
Official PA daily states that Israel - "the territories occupied in 1948" - is "currently under the rule of the occupation":
"If you climb the Khirbat Safa Hills [in the West Bank] and look with your eyes towards what the Israeli occupation and its settlers have seized, your eyes will well up and cause you to weep twice: once over the territories occupied in 1948 (i.e., year of Israel's creation), which are currently under the rule of the occupation. The Safa Hills look out over wide expanses of these territories, and sometimes you can see the Mediterranean Sea, the city of Ashkelon (i.e., Israeli city), and even Tal Al-Rabi'a "Tel Aviv", upon which the occupation has consolidated its control."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 31, 2011]
The following are examples of the PA calling Israel "stolen":
In a 12th-Grade schoolbook published by the PA Ministry of Education, and in use today:
"Palestine's war ended with a catastrophe that is unprecedented in history, when the Zionist gangs stole Palestine and expelled its people from their cities, their villages, their lands and their houses, and established the State of Israel."
[Arabic Language, Analysis, Literature and Criticism, Grade 12, p. 104]
Narrator in PA TV broadcast addresses Israelis, asking them to leave, because Israel has no right to exist:
"Where are you [Israelis] from? Where are you from? Where are you from? Of course, you're from Ukraine; of course, you're from Germany, from Poland, from Russia, from Ethiopia, the Falasha (pejorative for Ethiopian Jews). Why have you stolen my homeland and taken my place? Please, I ask of you, return to your original homeland, so that I can return to my original homeland. This is my homeland; go back to your homeland!"
[PA TV (Fatah), May 4 and 7, 2010]
