Summary

Despite the fall-off in military activity yesterday, the Voice of Palestine has markedly stepped up the strident anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish tone of its news and feature programming in the last 36 hours.

VOP, which switched its radio frequency again last night, is now focusing attention on the way Israeli occupation forces intentionally kill and maim “youthful demonstrators.” VOP accused Israel of deliberately bombing a school bus in Gaza. At the same time VOP first ignored (9AM and 10 AM) and later denied (11 AM and subsequently) that a Palestinian youth carrying a suicide bomb (apparently a teenager) had pedaled his bicycle up to an Israeli military base and blown himself up. But at the same time, for one hour immediately after the suicide bombing in Gaza (10am -11am, Oct. 26), VOP broadcast an hour-long show featuring powerful praise to suicide bombers and other martyrs.This program also included a long elegy from a father to his young son, a suicide bomber. At 4PM, VOP charged, citing Gen. Abdel-Razek al-Mujaida, that Israel had attacked Palestinian children in Gaza and tried to fabricate the evidence in order to sully the reputation of the Palestinian Authority with ridiculous charges that it was sending children as suicide bombers.

Children’s Programming

VOP broadcast a special feature (“Al-Irshad Wa-al-Isthishara”-tr.: “Guidance and Advice” ) with a child psychologist dealing with how Palestinians should deal with their children’s stress. The bottom line, as seen from the quotations below of the psychologist, was that families must listen to their children, while the bottom line of the Palestinian Authority-appointed VOP radio host…

Psychologist (Nili Abu-Zeina ): “We say to the families and to the teachers and guides: It’s imperative that we spend time with our children and talk with them about every situation and do it with candor. They have to realize why things happen and where we’re going. We have to be candid with them about the situation.” (from psychologist’s instructions to parents, 1:45pm, Oct. 26)

Show Host: “Well, dear listeners, despite all that, and despite all the negative points facing our children, our women and our men, we will not forget the blood of our martyrs. We will continue with our intifada until we free Palestine. And we will tell our children that that is the solution for our people ever since the occupation of our land in 1948”.

Headlines (4pm)

  • The PA denies it is sending children as suicide bombers
  • The martyr’s death of the child Illah Mahfouz in a Saudi hospital after being shot two weeks ago;
  • Artillery attacks by the Israelis on houses in Rafah with other attacks together with settlers in Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Al-Bireh, Gaza and Hebron;
  • President Arafat send letter to president of Austria demanding international protection as well as international inquiry to reveal Israeli crimes;
  • The parliament condemns Washington’s decision to offer military aid to Israel;
  • A Palestinian plane will go to Saddam International Airport (in Iraq) this Sunday

Quote of the Day

“The Intifada will continue, the tide of our martyrs united in our land, believing that the bridge to our return will not be built except over the pulse of our blood, a picture of life without death, registered in our children who are servants of their fathers, their houses exposed to the tanks of the Zionist enemy (tr: al’udu al-sihyooni, i.e. Israel).”

Tone

The frequent use of terms such as “occupation of 1948”, “Zionist enemy” and frequent use of the term “the Jews” (instead of the Israelis) is a quantum leap in severity of the anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish rhetoric of the Voice of Palestine — unequaled during a time frame since the Palestinian Authority began operating the VOP in 1995.

It goes without saying that there is no message of possible reconciliation with Israel. Nor is there any PA-authorized repudiation of violence against Israelis, be they civilian or military, be they in Israel, Zone A, Zone B or Zone C of the Territories.

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