Doc's Talk: PA spokesman falsely tells media: PA schoolbooks include Holocaust education

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

PA spokesman falsely tells media: PA schoolbooks include Holocaust education

PA-funded magazine Zayzafuna charges:
- PMW report is "misleading attack" on the youth magazine
- UNESCO's cessation of funding is "giving in to blackmail"
- Child's essay did not glorify Hitler, but "accused" him
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=6067

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

The Palestinian Authority has responded in two different ways to PMW's exposure of Zayzafuna, the PA-funded youth magazine, and its glorification of Hitler.

In an essay in the magazine, Hitler tells a young girl in her dream that he killed the Jews "so you would all know that they are a nation which spreads destruction all over the world. And what I ask of you is to be resilient and patient, concerning the suffering that Palestine is experiencing at their hands." In her dream, the girl then thanks Hitler for his advice. The first approach was taken by PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib who told Associated Press that the article glorifying Hitler was "not acceptable."

But he also added the following false statement:
"We educate young people in our textbooks about the Holocaust and the massacres of Hitler against Jews and against others, and we refer to these massacres as crimes against humanity."

This is not true. There is no mention of the Holocaust in PA schoolbooks. PMW's study of PA schoolbooks documents that when teaching about the Second World War, although the books mention Nazi racism and even the Nuremberg trials, they fail to refer to the crimes for which the Nazis were tried at Nuremberg and do not explain that the victims of these crimes and racism were Jews. A recent study by IMPACT-SE (www.impact-se.org) also confirms that the current PA schoolbooks used in 2011 still do not teach about the Holocaust.

The second PA response came from the magazine Zayzafuna itself and was reported in the official PA daily. The magazine charged that PMW's interpretation, that Hitler was being glorified because he killed Jews, was wrong. The management claimed that the story was intended to be critical of Hitler. Regarding the Palestinian girl's conversation with Hitler, management stated that "her words were simply an accusation of him."

It should be noted that the fact that the Palestinian girl in the essay thanks Hitler for his advice in dealing with the Jews who pose a danger to the world was ignored by the magazine in its response. It also should be noted that PMW's interpretation of the text was accepted as precise by the American Ambassador to UNESCO, the Wiesenthal Center and UNESCO, which immediately cancelled its funding of the magazine.

For years, it has been PA policy not to recognize or educate its youth about the Holocaust. The PA has either denied that the Holocaust ever happened, distorted it by saying that Jews planned it themselves, or downplayed it, asserting that the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust was much lower than the "claimed" 6 million. PMW reported last year that PA leaders and UNRWA employees expressed strong opposition to a proposed plan to teach Palestinian children about the Holocaust in the curricula of UNRWA schools. (See statements below.)

The following are responses by the Zayzafuna magazine and the PA Journalists' Union:

"The management of the children's magazine Zayzafuna condemned the misleading attack led by Israeli media sources (i.e., the exposure by Palestinian Media Watch) concerning the ideas which were published in vol. 32 of Zayzafuna, in February 2011, following which the magazine was accused of incitement to violence. The magazine stated that what was written in the above-mentioned volume, by a 10-year-old girl who told Hitler, 'You are the one who killed the Jews', was only a dream. Her words were simply an accusation of him, and not a question, as the media sources had interpreted it. Out of concern for our children's sensibilities, Zayzafuna magazine emphasized that it opposes the culture of violence, murder and incitement by any party whatsoever, and that it is the right of peoples to live in security and in peace. The important question, if we're raising this issue, which was understood out of context, is, why in the first place a 10-year old girl is having nightmares [containing messages] opposed by our people, which longs for freedom, for life in its state... On a different subject, the magazine expressed surprise at the position of UNESCO in Ramallah concerning continued support for the magazine in the future, as stated in a letter which the international organization published in the press. The magazine called upon UNESCO, as a rational organization, not to give in to blackmail and to a one-sided view, and to retract its decision."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 27, 2011]

"The [Palestinian] Journalists' Union condemned the misleading attack led by Israeli media sources (i.e., the exposure by Palestinian Media Watch) concerning the ideas published by the Zayzafuna children's magazine... The Union stated that the magazine's aim is to encourage children to write and to express their views, dreams, and aspirations, and to guide them towards the realm of creativity and literature, without interference and without close supervision."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 28, 2011]

The following is an excerpt from the story by Associated Press, including the quote from the PA spokesman, claiming the PA teaches about the Holocaust in its schools:

Headline: "UNESCO cuts funding for Palestinian youth magazine over Hitler praise."
"UNESCO, the UN's cultural agency, is to pull funding for a Palestinian youth magazine that published an article suggesting admiration for Adolf Hitler.
The magazine, Zayzafouna, published an article in February written by a teenage girl who presented four role models: a medieval Persian mathematician, a modern Egyptian novelist, the Muslim warrior Saladin, and the Nazi leader.
UNESCO said in a statement it 'strongly deplores and condemns' the 'unacceptable' material and would cease funding the magazine. UNESCO also said it funded three different issues later in 2011, and not the one in question.
The magazine also receives funding from the Palestinian Authority, the Western-backed Palestinian government in the West Bank.
In the article, the author has Hitler telling her in a dream that he killed Jews "so you would all know that they are a nation which spreads destruction all over the world." He advises her to be 'resilient and patient concerning the suffering that Palestine is experiencing at their hands.'
'Thanks for the advice,' the narrator replies.
A translation was made public by Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli organization that tracks incitement in Palestinian media.
The magazine's director, Shareef Samhan, did not dispute the translation, though he said the girl was 'accusing' Hitler and not praising him. He said he had not been aware of the text and noted that Unesco was not a central backer of the magazine. He defended the publication. 'We depend in the content of our magazine on the participation of school students, and it's not our job to prohibit the freedom of speech,' he said. A UNESCO statement said: 'UNESCO strongly deplores and condemns the reproduction of such inflammatory statements in a magazine associated with UNESCO's name and mission and will not provide any further support to the publication in question.' The statement also said UNESCO 'is deeply committed to the development and promotion of education about the Holocaust.'
A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, Ghassan Khatib, said the article was 'not acceptable.' 'We educate young people in our textbooks about the Holocaust and the massacres of Hitler against Jews and against others, and we refer to these massacres as crimes against humanity,' Mr Khatib said. 'This instance is exceptional, and the editor will try to be more careful in the future.'"
[Associated Press, Dec. 23, 2011]

The following are articles and statements by Palestinians opposing the proposed teaching of the Holocaust in Palestinian UNRWA-run schools:

Official PA daily published statements on the proposed teaching of the Holocaust in Palestinian UNRWA-run schools, citing sources calling it "disgraceful":
"In an interview with Al-Quds, [Deputy Head of the PLO Department for Refugees, Muhammad] Abu Bakr responded to reports that UNRWA has introduced studies on the Holocaust, or what is known by that name, in its schools. He noted that there is no exact information as to the truth of these reports, but if this happens, it would be a deviation by UNRWA from its commitments and the understandings between itself and the host countries, and this would be a precedent which cannot be ignored...He added: 'We support any measure which will lead to enrichment of the study curriculum with information and innovations in the spheres of science, culture, human rights and history, on the basis of conformity with the prevailing reality in the learning environment of the circles within which the Palestinian refugees study - which is obviously their natural environment. It is unthinkable that we would lead our refugee children in opposing directions, whether by means of study curricula or by other means...'. Nabila Al-Saleh, a member of the Committee for Defense of the Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees in Jordan, said that teaching the Holocaust in UNRWA schools is disgraceful, and opposed to UNRWA's educational goals. She noted that teaching the Holocaust serves the Zionist narrative at the expense of the refugee issue and the issue of the Palestinian people."
[Al-Quds, March 1, 2011]

Columnist in official PA daily: The Holocaust "for more than 60 years has aroused... controversy and fabrication":
"In recent days, several reports have been leaked indicating that UNRWA is planning to introduce material on the Jewish Holocaust into the mandatory curriculum for its schools in Palestine and in all the countries hosting Palestinian refugees under UNRWA supervision...I sincerely hope that this plan will not succeed, for several reasons:
First, UNRWA at present, by virtue of its function and its authority, always says that it is absolutely prohibited from dealing with political issues, and that it zealously protects its neutrality and professionalism...Second, everyone knows that the story of the Jewish Holocaust is a story about which there is great controversy, and in the heart of Europe - even in the heart of the Jewish communities themselves- there are people who do not accept the Israeli narrative concerning the Holocaust. Why should UNRWA push itself into a subject which, for more than 60 years, has aroused a great deal of controversy and fabrication, especially since hundreds of millions of people in the world suffered the tragedies of the Second World War...The Palestinian people does not want UNRWA to succumb to any kind of pressure, nor for it to be the tool for carrying out a mistaken policy, such as this plan."
[Columnist Yahya Rabah, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 4, 2011]

PLO official opposed Holocaust education in Palestinian UNRWA-run schools:
"Head of the [PLO] Department for Refugee Issues, Zakaria al-Agha... emphasized his objection to teaching the subject of the Holocaust in UNRWA's schools."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 21, 2011]

UNRWA workers expressed "adamant opposition to teaching the Holocaust":
"The [UNRWA] Workers' Union emphasized its adamant opposition to teaching the Holocaust of the Jews within the educational curriculum of UNRWA schools, as part of the topic of human rights. The union said, 'We emphasize our adamant opposition to confusing the thinking of our students through Holocaust studies in the human rights study curriculum... [Union Chairman, Suheil] Al-Hindi, explained to [Agence] France-Presse, that UNRWA 'approved teaching the Holocaust...' but [the teaching] has not yet started."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 14, 2011]

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk