Summary and Analysis

During the morning news, VOP chose to feature the funerals yesterday of two martyrs. The shootings of three Israelis near Qiryat Arba was at first almost ignored (at 8 am), then mentioned at 9 am as a news item from Israeli journalistic sources. VOP did not condemn the shooting and referred to the settlers as “from Qiryat Arba, a settlement built on land taken from local residents.” Mentioning a location in such a way on VOP is another way of saying “the settlers are fair game.”

Precise description of the attack: “A woman settler was killed and two settlers were wounded in an armed attack this morning near Qiryat Arba, a settlement near Hebron built on land taken from citizens.” (From 1pm news program)

The background music to the news reports and feature shows remains Islamic programming and heavy martial music, extolling the virtues of martyrdom.

Increasingly, VOP’s correspondents refer to the Barak Government as “the Tel Aviv government” or the “war government” and to Israel as “the Zionist entity.”

8:00 am Morning Headlines

  • “Two citizens from Gaza were martyred last night, one dying in Jordanian hospital from injuries suffered in a recent confrontation with Occupation forces…(names and ages of martyrs given);
  • Occupation forces strongly attacked an inhabited neighborhood in Khan Yunis in Gaza, according to our correspondent, using heavy machine guns and artillery;
  • Israelis attacked two citizens from the town of Jedaida in Haifa inside the Green Line last night, seriously damaging their spines and other parts of their bodies…;
  • Occupation authorities strengthened their siege on the town of Burqa, between Jenin and Nablus, and three settlers were injured, two seriously, when their car was shot by unknown assailants; (note: VOP has come to use this location for attacks on settlers – i.e, describing the “unknown attackers” – while all injuries to Palestinians are reported as deliberate attacks by known sources: i.e.occupation soldiers or extremist and criminal settlers. The fact that two of the settlers in this attack died-a fact that was not reported on VOP )
  • In Jericho, citizen Hussein Khalil Abayat, 30 years old, was wounded when occupation soldiers fired on him in a confrontation near the town of ‘Uja in the prefecture Jericho;
  • In confrontations in Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya, five other citizens were wounded in battles with occupation soldiers;
  • In occupied Jerusalem, soldiers arrested three youths in the neighborhood of Silwan south of the Old City;
  • The Palestinian Authority called on the international investigating committee to pursue its duties in earnest….;
  • His excellency Minister of Information Yasser Abd-Rabbo said in a press interview that Israel is continuing its violations of agreements, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, and Abd-Rabbo said that the UN resolution 1322 made it clear that Israel was responsible for the massacres and violations perpetrated against our people, and he warned against Israeli attempts to interfere with the committee and its investigations…”

9:00 am News

  • “A woman settler was killed and two injured-all three from Qiryat Arba (note: item in detail explained that this was a settlement built on land taken from Arabs);
  • At dawn today, Israeli occupation forces attacked the village of Khader near Bethlehem;
  • Assorted Israeli attacks at various locations across the homeland;
  • At dawn today, the massive movement of Israeli forces around all the entry points to Jerusalem.”

Song of the Day
(Refrain: “Ardinna M’in’ul Ardinna” from “Jerusalem Operetta”)

“It’s our land, we say it’s our land
It’s our land, it’s our blood, it’s from us;
It’s our land, we say it’s our land
We have millions with us; Jerusalem is ours

1:00 pm Afternoon News [new items]

Leading news items continue with::

  • Two martyrs in Gaza;
  • One woman settler killed and two wounded from Qiryat Arba
  • Massive Israeli troop movements around Jerusalem))

Summary

On Friday night, VOP stressed the great death toll during the aftermath of the Friday prayers. There were lengthy reports on the nature of the deaths and injuries (which are not offered here) and the expansion of the Israeli closure.

VOP reported at the end of the news that PA President Yasser Arafat had chaired a late-night cabinet session to discuss Israeli escalations.

Dec 8-11pm– Evening Headlines

  • “Eight citizens were martyred at the hands of Israeli forces and extremist Jews in their aggression against our people today;
  • In Jenin, five citizens were martyred, four of them from the (Palestinian) homeland security forces in a loathsome massacre carried out by occupation forces…. (lists of martyrs, ages, home addresses);
  • Many of the casualties came when occupation forces fired on peaceful marches after Friday prayers;
  • Israeli forces shelled the secondary school in Taysir;
  • In Ramallah, it was announced that Hassan Shaheen of Butunia was martyred when he was hit by to a blow to his head by extremist Jews. He was working inside the Green Line, and an extremist Jewish organization has taken credit for his death…
  • National and Islamic forces called on the masses of our people to participate again in marches and demonstrations tomorrow, Saturday, in observance of the thirteenth anniversary of the Great Intifada of 1987;
  • Mr. Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah Secretary in the West Bank, said after a meeting of four organizational units that there would be a closure of businesses tomorrow from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM in observance of the Intifada and the funerals of the exalted martyrs who fell today.”

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