Thursday, January 31, 2013

Ma'an removes Antisemitic article following PMW's exposure

 by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Following Palestinian Media Watch's exposure yesterday of a venomous Antisemitic article published by the independent Palestinian Ma'an News Agency, Ma'an removed the article from its website.

Ma'an's administration wrote that it removed the article "because it contains incorrect information and hateful content that are unjustified and which do not in any way represent the opinion of Ma'an or its editorial policies." (See full statement below.)

Among others, the Antisemitic article included the following statements:

"[The Jews] feel inferior to the nations and societies in which they live, because of the hostility and evil rising in their hearts towards others and for their plots and schemes against the nations who know with certainty that the Jews are the root of conflict in the world, wherever they reside."
"[Jews are] outcasts in every corner of the earth, and not one nation in the world respects them... but Allah's curse upon them and his fury at them cause them to continue with their transgression."
"Allah has stricken fear in their hearts and decreed humiliation and degradation upon them until Judgment Day." (see full article below.)
Ma'an removed the article and posted its retraction in Arabic three hours after PMW's exposure.

Ma'an News Agency is part of Ma'an Network which partners with the European Commission (the EU), UNDP, UNESCO, the Government of Denmark, the Government of the Netherlands, and UKaid.

The following is the complete retraction on Ma'an's Arabic website:

 "'Israel is Trembling!' - This item has been deleted"
by: The Administration

"This article has been removed.
It was written by one of the [news] agency's readers, Sawsan Najib Abd Al-Halim, and not by one of Ma'an's journalists, writers or editors.
[The article has been removed] because it contains incorrect information and hateful content that are unjustified and which do not in any way represent the opinion of Ma'an or its editorial policies. It was published during the war against Gaza (i.e., in response to Hamas rockets, Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense targeted the terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip), and [Ma'an's] staff was unable to examine it thoroughly because of the workload caused by the war. [The article] was published in the articles' section intended for [submissions by] readers.
However, Ma'an will re-examine the policy of publishing readers' articles to avoid the occurrence of similar mistakes."
[Ma'an News Agency's website,
posted Jan. 30, 2013, accessed Jan. 30, 2013]
The following is the Antisemitic article that Ma'an published and then removed:

"Israel is Trembling"
by Sawsan Najib Abd Al-Halim
 "We're used to seeing vampires in Dracula movies, where the murderer and the vampire act in the dead of night, and as soon as dawn breaks, the murderer disappears and hides during the day.
The brave warrior, who at the very least has moral values, fights in the daytime. In all wars, in all eras, honorable nations conducted their battles during the day and slept at night. But has Israel even a trace of morality?
A brave warrior is proud when he confronts another [warrior] as brave as he, and the more he is struck, the stronger he grows, proud in his struggle and respectful of his adversary. But since Jews are - as our grandparents said of them - sons of death (expression of contempt, meaning 'a coward,' -Ed.), they are too cowardly to confront an enemy face to face, especially if their enemy is as well armed as they...
Jews think that their fortresses will protect them from death, but any breach of these fortresses or protective walls instills panic and fear in their hearts, and they are seized by fear and trembling. If a missile falls beyond their protective walls or if even a bullet passes over them, you can see how their hearts fill with horror - and this is because Allah has stricken fear in their hearts and decreed humiliation and degradation upon them until Judgment Day...
Historically, it is known that the lives of Jews have always been war and fighting. The only reason for this is that they have been outcasts in every corner of the earth, and not one nation in the world respects them, for they cause strife, and scheme everywhere they settle. We know that they have been defeated in every war they have fought throughout history, and they have been dispersed in every direction, but Allah's curse upon them and his fury at them cause them to continue with their transgression and tyranny.
A coward acts brutally when he can, but runs for cover humiliated, when he faces anyone who is his equal. Our fathers told us of one Palestinian before 1948 who was holding a stick while walking the streets of Tel Aviv, and he drove away scores of cowardly Jews...
Psychologically, they have been defeated through the ages and feel inferior to the nations and societies in which they live, because of the hostility and evil rising in their hearts towards others and for their plots and schemes against the nations who know with certainty that the Jews are the root of conflict in the world, wherever they reside.
Jews think that every shout is against them, and what better proof is there than the slogan they voiced to the world - which is 'Antisemitism.'
Therefore, the only way we can deal with them, when we are weak militarily compared to Israel's power, is to stick to the threat to annihilate Israel, not to submit to its [Israel's] desire for a cease fire, and keep the flame of resistance burning. Rather than [violently] resist and then back off somewhat, whereby we give them the impression that we are afraid of them. There is nothing wrong with our sitting with them to talk, but the resistance must always continue. Late President Yasser Arafat, peace be upon him, understood the Jews' weakness, so he showed them the face of peace in negotiations, and at the same time raised the slogan 'Every day a settler.' This is the slogan that terrorized the Jews, and which many Palestinians have forgotten. They may have forgotten why the comrade-fighter Marwan Barghouti was arrested. Wasn't it because he was the one given the job to fulfill this slogan? (Marwan Barghouti is serving 5 life sentences for orchestrating terror attacks against Israeli civilians. -Ed.)
Let us again be united in the message against the Jews and turn the weapons against them. Every time the guns and stones are directed at the Jews, they become angry, seized by fear, their brutality increases and our sacrificing increases more and more. Jews know that the more their brutality increases, so our resolve and defiance are strengthened against them, until Allah will strike terror in their hearts and they will be driven away from our land humiliated. This is revolution until victory."
[Ma'an News Agency's website,
posted Nov. 18, 2012, accessed Jan. 29, 2013]
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