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Official PA radio news – P.B.C. V.O.P. (Voice of Palestine) Radio: Saunday Afternoon February 4th Until Tuesday Morning February 6th

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Israel Election Preview on V.O.P.

On Monday night and Tuesday morning, V.O.P. ushered in the Israeli elections-with a sharp escalation of anti-Sharon rhetoric and emphasis on a military escalation in the Gaza Strip alongside the Egyptian border.

V.O.P. led its Monday night Midnight news round-up and its Tuesday morning news shows with lead item about the closing of Palestinian air-space by Israel as well as intensification of the Israeli siege on Palestinian towns and cities.

“Not even one worker is being allowed into the Green Line,” V.O.P. intoned Tuesday morning.”

V.O.P. acknowledged that the Israeli actions followed the killing an an Israeli soldier along the Egyptian border in Rafah, but they made no mention of Israeli reports that a Palestinian fighter killed while infiltrating from Egypt who was carrying over 30 pounds of explosives on his body, nor that the Israelis are claiming that the Palestinian Arab refugee community of Rafah (half of which is in Egyptian territory and half on the pre-67 Palestinian/Israeli side) has become a nexus for smuggling anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority is making no bones of its distaste for and foreboding of Ariel Sharon, though stopping short of a formal call to vote for Ehud Barak.

The Palestinian Authority Minister of Information, Yasser Abd-Rabbo, was the featured 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning interview, and said that Sharon represented the “extremist right wing” in Israel and its “fascist” approach to the use of power.

In its news summaries, V.O.P. said “Israeli voters are choosing between the head of the Labor party, Ehud Barak, and the extremist right-winger, the leader of the Likud party, Ariel Sharon.”

V.O.P. portrayed Barak as indecisive and a sure loser, while the V.O.P. depicted Sharon as a fascistic mass murderer.

There was no mention in the headlines of the option of boycotting the elections or casting a blank ballot.

The tone of programming is reflected by anchorman Samir Interr’s Monday morning political profile summation of Sharon:

“Ariel Sharon has a history spattered with blood and massacres…”

Sunday Afternoon Round-up Headlines, February 4

  • “The funeral of Ahmad Abu-Kirsh in Gaza;
  • Another martyr whose identity is still unknown awaits burial
    [Note: In the bulletin detail section, V.O.P. explained that the unidentified “youth” was trying to infiltrate from Egypt, and later, Israeli Radio reported that the “youth” was carrying over thirty pounds of explosives on his body, and in the evening, the Islamic Jihad said the “youth” was one of its members who would be avenged];
  • Occupation authorities continue their animalistic earth-moving operations in east Gaza, damaging houses and residences;
  • The Fatah Central Committee continues its meetings headed by President Yasser Arafat today;
  • We will hear from Parliamentary Minister Nabil ‘Amr and Meretz Knesset Husni Jbara on the expected results of the Israeli elections;
  • Legal authorities warn about kidnappings of children and their imprisonment with Jewish kindergartens (meaning: nursery school or kindergarten teachers who are Jewish);
  • A meeting of the Palestinian-Israeli water committee took place last Thursday in the presence of American representatives aimed at putting an end to Israeli attacks.”

Additional Bulletin Headlines

  • “Five Arab countries and Iraq have concluded new free-trade agreements similar to the agreements signed by Baghdad with Egypt and Syria. Inside the Iraqi Parliament it was announced that Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, Lebanon and Jordan had signed free-trade agreements with Iraq;
  • Russia again announced its refusal to the American missile plan.”

Quotes from Interview with Sahir Habash
, member Fatah Central Committee Sunday Afternoon February 4, 2:15 p.m.
Interview on Panorama News Magazine Show

Asked off-mike why the Fatah Central Committee was meeting:
“In the name of God, the compassionate and the merciful, it’s been about five months since we had a session (of the Central Committee) and there have been a series of events that had to be discussed and that made it unavoidable-most importantly the negotiations, the speech of Brother Abu Amar (i.e. Arafat) recently in Davos, and the difficult situation of our people, the Intifada and the internal situation, other matters in the Palestinian house and the expectations which we will have to confront-that is Sharon in Israel and other matters in the American side and the Israeli side. That is the basis for the timetable, to get ready for the future.”

Question: “How does the Fatah movement see the Intifada in the shadow of the Israeli election?”

Answer: “There is no doubt that the Israeli elections…that there is a direct and an indirect connection to the future….In general, the Fatah movement has a great responsibility to confront the eventualities with the importance of unity between all the National and Islamic forces to express the Intifada which continued in the shadow of the negotiations. And this situation with the Intifada has to continue. The Intifada was choice for struggle and for resistance for as long as occupation continues on the ground…This Intifada has to continue its pressure on Israeli public opinion until we push the Israelis into a decision based on international legitimacy for the sake of the Palestinian people.”

Summary and Analysis, Monday February 5

V.O.P. presented did a serious profile/hatchet job on Likud candidate Ariel Sharon (describing him as a mass murderer) at the start of its Monday morning news round-up, even as it continued to stress in its analysis that he was the hands-down winner according to the opinion polls.

Between the lines, V.O.P. is also signaling that the Fatah movement is getting prepared both politically AND MILITARILY for the eventuality of a Sharon electoral victory (see Fatah member Habash quotations below).

Beginning Sunday afternoon, V.O.P. went into unusually intense Israeli election coverage (compared to 1999 and 1996). It reported that both Western and Eastern rabbis (Ashkenazi and Sephardi) had given their complete support to Sharon, and it noted that Israeli soldiers had begun voting early Sunday and would continue voting through the Tuesday night civilian election deadline of 10 PM.

Morning Round-up Headlines, Tuesday February 6th

  • “Masses of our people in Gaza will accompany the exalted martyr Abdel-Rahim Kahlud who fell in the Israeli escalation of aggression against the rights of our people (NOTE: this is a reference to the Islamic Jihad man shot while carrying explosives across the Egyptian border, although V.O.P. did not identify his political affiliation);
  • Tens of our citizens wounded in attacks on their houses in the Shuhada crossing in Gaza;
  • Israeli voters head to the ballot boxes tomorrow to choose a new prime minister for them, and the polls show a big advantage to Ariel Sharon, the extremist right-winger;
  • Palestinian voters inside the Green Line are (caught) between two options-one worse than the other:
  • Ariel Sharon has a history spattered with blood and massacres…;
  • And Barak indecisive on the threshold of peace at a time of war against the Palestinian people who until this final minute is giving orders to occupation troops to kill and destroy houses;
  • Ladies and Gentlemen we will review the history of Ariel Sharon by examining testimonies of some of the massacres he carried out and at the same time look at the impressions in government left by Barak and arbitrary actions he took against the rights of the Palestinian people;
  • We will look at the elections and what follows them;
  • We will look at the meeting of the Fatah movement which decided to remain in permanent session.”

Quote of the Day

“The Intifada represented a choice for the struggle and for resistance for as long as occupation continues on the ground.”

Fatah Central Committee Member, Sahir Habash, describing the strategic choices facing the Fatah movement after the expected assumed Sharon election victory

Is It of Any Concern to the Donor Nations to the Palestinian Authority?

By
David Bedein
-

Peace Education Now?

While the world media descended on Israel to cover the hard fought Israel prime ministerial election campaign between dovish Labor incumbent Ehud Barak and hawkish Likud challenger Ariel Sharon, the international press has downplayed the issue that united both Barak and Sharon, both of whom have stressed throughout the campaign that neither one of them will sign any peace agreement unless and until the PLO’s Palestinian Authority engages in peace education, as required by all agreements signed between Israel and the PA.

Those agreements between Israel and the PA mandate both parties to prepare their respective populations of children for a new era of reconciliation and mutual recognition.

While the Israeli school curriculum has been drastically adjusted over the past seven years to pioneer a peace education curriculum, the Palestinian Authority has rejected any parallel peace curriculum for the school system under its control.

Ironically, neither Barak nor Sharon do not exclusively blame the PLO for its curriculum of incitement against the Jews.

That is because Israel’s leaders point a finger at the nations who fund the curriculum that explicitly encourages a new generation of Palestinian children to make war on the state and people of Israel.

Palestinian education has been funded since 1994, by a consortium of nations led by Italy, Holland, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Canada, all of whom also participate in the funding provided for humanitarian concerns of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency which provides health, education and welfare services for the refugee population who make up half of the population now under the civil control of the PA.

Our news agency interviewed an official of the UNRWA curriculum department, under the condition that we not use his name. I asked him if UNRWA would accept any changes suggested by Israel. Until 1993, Israel had overseen the publication of UNRWA textbooks and removed passages that encouraged Arab children to hatred and war against Zionism and the state of Israel. Yet in the words of that same UNRWA official, “Since 1994, Israel has not been allowed to ‘interfere’ in the publication of any school book or any aspect of the Palestinian school curriculum since the inception of the Palestinian Authority in 1994”.

Meanwhile, UNWRA schools use precisely the same school books as the P.A., the nascent Palestinian Authority.

These texts graphically encourage martyrdom. For example, “Martyred Jihad fighters are the most honored people after the prophets”… (for 10th Grade); “I shall take my soul into my hand and hurl it into the abyss of death,… I see my death and am marching speedily towards it” (for 5th Grade); and the poem “My Homeland” to be “learned by heart” by 5 and 6 year olds, which includes the following “… We draw our water from death,… Our symbol is the ‘sword’ and the ‘pen’, but not ‘words'”. For 8th Grade, “Oh, Palestine, the youth will redeem your land, Oh, Palestine, with our bare breasts we will defend you. Therefore either life or death!” In these contexts repetitive questions to the students in the texts ask “What is the way to liberate Jerusalem?”

The content of these school books, has been known to the donor nations of the PA for the past few years, thanks to exhaustive reports published by The Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace ( whose website is located at: www.edume.org), yet there has not yet been any reaction from the donor nations

In March, 2000, I asked the representative for Canada to the Palestinian Authority about changes in PA education. He indicated that he “hoped” that the new set of textbooks that would be published in the Fall of 2000 for the UNRWA camps and the PA schools would be different.

These much heralded new textbooks created by the Palestinian Authority which were supposed to disclaim any such incitement were launched for the 1st and 6th Grades in September, 2000.

The consuls from Italy, Belgium, Holland, Ireland and Canada, all confirmed to our news agency, on the record, that these new textbooks from the PA were supposed to be vetted by these donor nations.

However, in August, 2000, the PA department of education informed us that they would not share the new books with the donor nations.

And the donor nations to the PA filed no protest whatsoever.

At the Dutch Representative Office located in El Bireh in the Palestinian Authority, now the scene of many recent gun-battles, we met with a recently appointed Palestinian education official. He presented himself as a resident of the UNRWA Dehaisha refugee camp, who had been working for the past ten years with the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education and now was employed by the Netherlands government to handle matters of education for the Dutch government. He made it clear that it was Dutch policy not allow any “interference” in the educational curriculum development of a nation that receives aid from the Dutch government. He therefore explained that the Dutch would not welcome any Israeli involvement in the new PA curriculum.

In light of the PA curriculum issue, our news agency sent a query to the Commissioner for External Relations of the European Union, Mr. Christopher Patten, to inquire about the position of the EU regarding the new textbooks of the PA,

We specificially asked if Patten would favor a change in the PA curriculum, since the EU itself was also providing grants to the PA educational system.

Patten’s office responded swiftly, in the negative.

The reason given from Patten’s office: The EU is “not in itself competent” to monitor the Palestinian curricula, “nor is it responsible for development programs of E.U. Member States”.

Yet according to contracts between the donor nations and the PA, a monitoring committee of the PA schools was supposed to meet at least twice a year. These meetings did take place, yet they dealt only with logistical matters and not with what was being taught in the PA classroom.

The new PA curriculum, introduced in September, 2000, was supposed to introduce a new era.

With the written permission of the PA minister of education, we purchased these new school books at the beginning of the school year.

We handed these books over to the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace for evaluation.

The CMIP provided a review of these books, in early January, 2001 at a conference sponsored by the Truman Center for the Advancement of Peace and on its website, www.edume.org.

The CMIP showed that the new books of the PA gave no evidence whatsoever that any education for peace and reconciliation existed anywhere in any of the new texts of the Palestinian Authority.

Instead, the message of the new PA textbooks negates the existence of Israel, teaching Palestinian Arab children that a ” State of Palestine” is to replace Israel, while Azzadin-al-Khassam, the martyr and hero of the violent “Hamas” movement appears together with his photograph as a great and honored figure of Palestinian history in the new PA civics book for the sixth grade.

In January, 2001, representatives from the donor nations to the PA approved further aid to the PA school system, rejecting any condition that incitement be dropped from the official curriculum of the Palestinian Authority school system.

While it would seem logical that aid to the Palestinian Authority in the context of a peace process should be contingent on dropping all incitement, it would seem that logic and foreign aid policies do not always coincide.

Official PA radio news – The P.B.C. VOP (Voice of Palestine) Radio: February 3-4

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Special Item – PA Announcement – Saturday Night, February 3, 2001 9:10 p.m.

“An official spokesman for the Ministry of Information announced that what has been published in the newspapers and in the media regarding what has been called “The Independence Group” (hayat al-istiqlal): The national Authority and its legal executive organs are not cognizant of what is called “The National Independence Group” and has not published any statements about such a group, and the aforementioned “group” is nothing more than a pretentious delusion.”

The announcement was a reference to a group being set up by Salim Za’anoun, the former speaker of the Palestinian National Congress (PNC), the PLO’s highest body. There was a short reference on VOP Thursday regarding the 100-member group’s establishment, along with publication of a petition calling for Yasser Arafat to share more decision-making power.

The PA announcement, which seemed to have been rushed to the anchorman’s desk in unfinished or partially illegible form, was read in a very halting way. But the PA statement-which was repeated Sunday morning– also said that many of the supposed members of the “group” had no knowledge of its existence and had not lent it any support. The announcement called on the “group” to cease operations and to abide by the PA “legal decisions.”

Saturday Evening Headlines – February 3, 2001 7 p.m.

  • The youth Abdullah Abu-Kirsh, 21 years old, was martyred, from wounds suffered five days ago;
  • Occupation troops continued their attacks against our citizens today, wounding seven of them in Hebron and Gaza;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat received in his Gaza headquarters the Turkish Consul General to Jerusalem, Hussein Adni;
  • His excellency the president also received the credentials of the new ambassadors of Australia and Qatar to the Palestinian Authority;
  • Minister of Home Rule Dr. Saeb Erikat says that the political program enunciated by Ariel Sharon is based on continued occupation of Jerusalem and the Ghor (Jordan) Valley.indicated a path to war and not to peace. Dr. Erikat made his comments in a meeting with ambassadors from Japan, Turkey, Romania, Norway and South Africa and the EU representative Miguel Moratinos, stressing that the only way to peace was basing it on international legitimacy. Erikat asserted that Israeli society must realize that there would never be regional stability without the return of the refugees to the homes from which they were evicted, as well an Israeli withdrawal to the June 1967 lines, first and foremost in Jerusalem;
  • Minister of Finance Muhammad Zuhdi Nashashibi called on the financial sponsoring Arab countries to transfer funds to the (Palestinian) National Authority, and he expressed his worry that funds promised at the Arab summit and the Islamic summit for support of the Intifada had NOT arrived;
  • Resigning Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak said there were secret unspecified contacts under way with Syria. His comments came in an interview with the weekly “Kul al-‘Arab” (Israeli Arab newspaper).;
  • The Secretary General of the Arab League Dr. Esmat Abdel-Mejid arrived in New York today. for talks with the United Nations about lifting the sanctions against Libya in the wake of the Lockerbie verdict last week.”

Quote of the Day

“Only hours remain until the Israeli elections, but there is no disagreement among the analysts and the politicians-whether Palestinian, Israeli or Arab-about who will win, because there is a big gap and Ariel Sharon, the rightist, the extremist, will win the contest for Israeli prime minister over resigning prime minister Ehud Barak.” (Lead-in to morning analysis, Khalid Sukar, 7:55 a.m.)

“Barak faces great likelihood of failure in the elections. To put it simply, the people do not like Barak.” (from analysis by Amjad al-Maliki, referring partly to Ma’ariv analysis by Hemi Shalev)

Analysis

VOP gave great prominence Saturday night (not in headlines, but in news details) to a large Jordanian trade delegation arriving in Baghdad, Iraq. This follows many news items about Iraqi-Syrian trade ties in the last week, too. VOP is also giving great attention to Arab League efforts to have sanctions lifted against Libya.

VOP’s election coverage is going into high gear, with increasing attention being focused on the Islamic-led boycott of the election by Israeli Arabs (who are called “Arabs inside the Green Line” or ” “’48 Arabs” or “Palestinians from within”).

The appearance of Islamic movement leader Rai’d Salah on VOP Saturday along with the detailed reporting of the dismal predictions about Ehud Barak’s election performance illustrate one or two things:

  • That the PA does not believe its support to Barak would make any difference and that it does not want to waste its efforts on a loser;
  • And that it believes a tremendous number of Israeli Arabs will boycott the elections no matter what the PA says: therefore it does not want to be seen as having little influence over them.

Saeb Erikat and other PA officials continue to report that Sharon has little or nothing to offer the Palestinians, even as Barak makes motions about willingness to compromise on aspects of the refugee-return issue (see headlines below), but PA officials have lowered the volume and frequency of their anti-Sharon rhetoric.

Sunday February 4 — Morning Round-up Headlines

  • “A martyr yesterday joins the tribe of martyrs after being struck by bullet fire in the recent past;
  • The occupation authorities continue their aggression against citizens, shelling citizens’ houses in Rafah.intensifying the siege on Silwad and al-Bireh;
  • Thank God the rains continue in various parts of the homeland;
  • Official spokesman denies that the National Authority and its legal organs have cognizance of what is being called “the National Group”.(see opening item).”

Morning Headlines, 7 a.m. / 8 a.m. / 9 a.m.

  • “Thousands of our citizens will escort the youth Abdullah Abu-Kirsh, 21 years old, who was martyred yesterday, from wounds suffered earlier from bullet fire by occupation soldiers concentrated at the Mintar crossing in Gaza;
  • A youth whose identity is unknown was killed last night in southern Gaza when occupation troops opened fire on him;
  • Occupation forces tighten siege on Palestinian cities preventing Palestinian workers from reaching their jobs;
  • Occupation soldiers and settlers continue their aggression against our citizens and their possessions in Hebron, Gaza and Ramallah;
  • The town of Husan witnesses violent confrontations between occupation soldiers and citizens, who were fired upon with automatic fire;
  • Spokesman for the Ministry of Information asserts that what was published in some of the newspapers and media purporting to be “the Independence Group” is NOT known to the National Authority nor to any of its legal or executive organs. And the so-called “Independence Group” nothing more than a pretentious delusion;
  • Home Minister Dr. Saeb Erikat says that the political program expressed by Ariel Sharon concerning continued occupation of Jerusalem and the Ghor Valley and parts of the (West) Bank is not a plan for peace, but for war;
  • Resigning Prime Minister Ehud Barak says he wants to try to achieve a compromise solution to the return of the Palestinian refugees if he is returned as prime minister. But in an interview with the television of Abu Dhabi Barak reiterated his refusal for the refugees to a return to the homes from which they were expelled in 1948 but that he would try to reach a compromise solution to this matter;
  • About four thousand people demonstrate in occupied Jerusalem yesterday against the rightist Israeli candidate Ariel Sharon;
  • The Lebanese newspaper al-Mustaqbal reveals the negotiations on a prisoner exchange between Hizballah and Israel are at a critical stage;
  • Jordanian King Abdullah received a message last night from the Saudi king Khalid about strengthening bilateral relations and other developments in the region. and the Arab summit scheduled for Amman at the end of next month;
  • The Jordanian trade minister arrives in Baghdad today at the head of large trade delegation that will sign a trade agreement between the two countries.”

Quotations from Sunday Morning Interview with Zakariah al-Agha, member of the PLO Executive and Central Committee of Fatah, 7:40 a.m.

Question: “What were the main points discussed in last night’s Fatah Central Committee meeting?”

Answer: “It was a meeting held after a long period without meetings on current subjects, and the political discussion dealt in detail on the previous stage and the role of the Israeli elections which will take place in a few days in Israel and what is required of us to meet the new stage. It’s a new stage in its nature.and it requires a new Palestinian posture to confront the new (Israeli) stance.”

Official PA radio news – P.B.C. VOP (Voice of Palestine) Radio: February 3rd

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary and Analysis

It was a sign of a relatively quiet day that VOP featured Dr. Nabil Sha’ath, talking about his trip to Sweden and Norway (and Belgium), as its featured Saturday morning interview guest.

Nevertheless, Sha’ath opened his interview with non-European news: The Palestinian Authority is signaling that it views Ariel Sharon’s election victory as a foregone conclusion, and this signal may have more impact on the vote of Arab Israelis than anything that either Barak or Sharon says or does.

In addition, Sha’ath hinted strongly that the PA is very worried about pro-Israeli positions being adopted by the Bush administration. (Note: In recent days, the PA, through its newspapers and broadcast organs, have been pushing positions which have a simultaneous “anti-Israel” and “anti-American” hue, such as the promotion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the strident almost hysterical protest of the use of “uranium weapons.” VOP featured a morning interview with the PLO’s deputy UN representative-Marwan Jilani– on the PLO’s complaint to the Security Council concerning Israel’s use of uranium against civilians. “We are waiting to see what will be America’s position on this matter, among the permanent members,” asserted Jillani at 7:40 a.m.)

It is not surprising that the diplomatic activity of Yasser Arafat and Nabil Sha’ath in Europe (e.g. Davos and Scandinavia) leads to Sha’ath’s VOP interview pronouncement:

“We are entering a new stage beginning Tuesday,” declared Sha’ath, the PA International Economic Development Minister.

In its coverage of the Israeli elections, VOP’s Saturday morning report began (note the terminology): “On the question of the Israeli elections, a campaign is being waged by Palestinians inside the Green Line to boycott the elections to Israeli prime minister on February 6. And a convoy of cars is traveling around calling on Palestinians inside the Green Line not to vote for any of the candidates for the prime ministry-the rightist extremist Ariel Sharon or the resigning prime minister Ehud Barak at a time when Sharon had a big edge on Barak.“

In this regard, the PA basically signaled its support of the Islamic Movement’s call for a boycott, as it invited Sheikh Rai’d Salah-the mayor of Um al-Fahem and the head of the movement’s super-radical northern section-on its morning news show as an interviewee. (See further quote below.)

Saturday Morning Headlines 7 a.m / 8 a.m. / 9 a.m. News Bulletin Headlines

  • “Three citizens were wounded in various degrees when fire was opened on them by Occupation soldiers concentrated in Beit ‘Awa in the Hebron prefecture.(description and identity of wounded);
  • About 50 citizens were wounded and suffered suffocation in a confrontation yesterday between citizens and Occupation forces, with the confrontations concentrated at the southern approaches to Al-Bireh and the town of Silwad east of Ramallah, as well as in the two cities of Hebron and Qalqilya and the settlement of Netzarim in Gaza;
  • Occupation troops and bulldozers destroy lands of Beit Laqiya near colony of Doogit which was built on the land of citizens;
  • Occupation authorities impose curtailment of movement on main roads of homeland, imposing siege on main towns and villages.”

Quote of the Day

“Europe today has a new role. The United States has regressed to its special relationship with Israel in certain past stances, and it (Europe) has no choice but to play a role.” (Nabil Sha’ath, 7:15 Saturday morning interview)

Quotes from Interview with Nabil Sha’ath, PA minister and negotiator

“We are entering a new stage beginning Tuesday. And in this new stage, there will be new Israeli ministers unlike those governing Israel today. The history is known, but the future is not known. There is also a new American Administration which has not yet gotten its feet steady on the ground. The peace process has not yet achieved its results. And the Israeli siege continues in all its manifestations. So we have a political crisis and an economic crisis.

The European Union, which is our strategic friend, has not taken a stance appropriate to the historic place of our relations, perhaps because it wanted to give a chance to the proposals of Ehud Barak and Clinton-before getting involved. Europe today has a new role. The United States has regressed to its special relationship with Israel in certain past stances, and it (Europe) has no choice but to play a role.”

Question: “But is Europe ready for this role?”

Answer: “We will have to flesh this out, having mutual understanding (with the Europeans) to this role, and we will have to wait to until after this Tuesday. I am cautiously optimistic that Europe will assume its important strategic role.”

Quotes from interview with Sheikh Rai’d Salah, Saturday 7:50 a.m.

Question: “In which of the boxes should the voters cast their votes?”

Answer: “In neither. Not this and not that, because the victory of our Palestinian masses inside the Green Line requires the boycott of the elections completely. The ballot boxes must be returned as empty as when they came. My conception is that this stance should be re-doubled (strengthened) until it reaches near consensus status in the internal-’48 Palestinian street (Note: this is a reference to the “1948 Arabs,” i.e., those conquered by the Zionists in 1948).”

Official PBC Radio: Voice of Palestine News February 1-2

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary and Analysis

The deaths of two Palestinians and two Israelis dominated the news programs on VOP on Thursday evening February 1 and Friday morning February 2-with the Palestinians classified as “martyrs” and the Israelis as “settlers” (even though one “settler” was from Afula in pre-’67 Israel).

Thursday Evening Headlines, 9p.m.

  • “The martyring of the youth Ahmad Mheisin from Gaza, who became one of the two martyrs felled by Occupation bullets, both of them in Gaza;
  • Several citizens struck in Israeli attacks in various parts of the homeland;
  • The killing (maqtal) of two settlers, one near Jenin and one near Al-‘Arub (refugee) Camp in the Hebron prefecture;
  • Minister of Culture and Information Yasser Abd-Rabbo characterizes what the Israeli media report on Israel’s response to the (Mitchell) Investigating commission as very limited.;
  • The responsible authorities for the Islamic properties (Waqf) in occupied Jerusalem set forth their complete refusal to new Israeli proposals regarding the digging carried out by the Waqf Authorities in the Jerusalem Holy Shrine;
  • Libyan leader Muamar Qadhafi considers the verdict handed down on the Lockerbie matter to be “political” and NOT “LEGAL”, saying he would reveal new facts in this regard on this coming Monday.”

Once again the killing of the two Palestinians was reported as “unprovoked,” while the killing of the Israelis was treated as an almost natural outgrowth of their being, allegedly, settlers.

VOP gave extensive, but belated coverage (Thursday 9PM) to a growing group of Israeli men of letters-now including former mayor Teddy Kollek and former supreme court chief justices Meir Shamgar and Moshe Landau-who are urging the Israeli authorities to put an immediate stop to extensive and unsupervised digging on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.

On the election front, VOP has become a little less deferential towards Ehud Barak, once again, as he rejected the idea of meeting Yasser Arafat, and Barak is being portrayed not merely as a lame duck (“resigning prime minister”) but as a dead duck (whose imminent defeat is a foregone conclusion).

Friday Morning Headlines 7 a.m. / 8 a.m. / 9 a.m.

  • “The martyring of Ahmad Mhsein, 22 years old, yesterday when Occupation soldiers opened fire on him without provocation in the Mintar crossing near eastern Gaza City ;
  • Masses of our people escorted the two exalted martyrs Sadr Abu-Tahir and Ismail al-Tubani, and several citizens were wounded in confrontations with Israeli occupation forces in various parts of the homeland;
  • A settler met his fate last night near Al-‘Arab Camp north of Hebron when unknown persons opened fire on his car;
  • Occupation forces put a siege on the area and executed wide searches;
  • And another Israeli met his fate when he was wounded as fire was opened on him near Jenin early yesterday (Note: this was the man from Afula who was taken out of a garage repair shop and executed);
  • Responsible officials from the Islamic Properties asserted their complete refusal to new Israeli proposals regarding the digging operations at the Jerusalem holy shrine, and they refuse the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court to form a government commission to oversee what goes on in the shrine (Haram);
  • The Israeli ambassador in France asserts that what is occurring in occupied Jerusalem would be impossible if the Likud candidate Ariel Sharon (note: NOT CALLED EXTREMIST) WINS THE COMING Israeli elections;
  • The candidacies for Israeli prime minister became final at midnight last night;
  • Libyan leader Muamar Qadhafi consider the verdict in the Lockerbie incident to be political and not legal, adding that he has pertinent facts he will reveal this coming Monday;
  • the Iraqi cabinet registers in its protocol the creation of a free-trade zone and agency between Iraq and Syria.”

Rhetorical Elements — Deaths of Jews

In the last week, VOP took two steps forward and five steps backwards in its treatment of Israelis murdered in drive-by shootings or executed inside Palestinian business establishments in Tulkarm and Jenin.

For a few brief hours (late January 23 and early January 24) VOP carried a Palestinian Authority condemnation of the killing of two unarmed civilians (restaurateurs from Shenkin Street in Tel Aviv) who were abducted from a restaurant in Tulkarm and executed by members of the Fatah Tanzim organization (though VOP never identified them).

But less than 36 hours later, VOP not only reverted to the general non-condemnation policy of the Palestinian Authority but actually began lumping all Israeli fatalities together-including men, women and children from places such as Tel Aviv and Afula–as either “soldiers or settlers” (e.g. January 26/27 reports on killing of Jerusalem man and January 30 summary of Jewish deaths in Intifada).

“Another Israeli met his fate today when he was struck by bullets and wounded seriously near Jenin,” remarked VOP in its 9PM Thursday night news round-up, regarding what was the execution-style murder of who had taken his car to be fixed in a garage in Jenin. “He was taken to a hospital in Israel where he gave up the ghost (Arabic: faraka al-haya, literally: separated from life or spirit).

Song of the Day:

“Our martyrs are convoys.
O Jerusalem, the first direction of prayer.
O Jerusalem, the second of the holy shrines”
(part of the song featured as a lead-in to morning news, Friday)

Official PA radio news P.B.C. VOP (Voice of Palestine) Radio: January 31

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
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Summary and Analysis

VOP and the Palestinian Authority dramatically changed their hands-off approach to Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon within the last 24 hours, jumping into the Israeli election campaign.

The marked shift was evident in several major course maneuvers:

  • moving away from focusing attention on a growing rift between Yasser Arafat and Barak, following Arafat’s Davos speech condemning Israel, to downplaying or even ignoring the Arafat-Barak differences;
  • highlighting the “extreme” nature of Ariel Sharon and some of his backers such as the “extreme” Avigdor Lieberman [NOTE: some of the Israeli Labor Party’s Arabic language television campaign advertisements on January 29/30 were almost identical to texts previously heard on VOP];
  • announcing the likelihood of a Barak-Arafat summit, after talking about no contacts until after the elections;
  • And suddenly eliminating, as of Tuesday afternoon, all talk about Barak’s media “campaign” against the PA.

VOP also pulled back from calling Barak the “resigning prime minister” which has the connotation of “the lame duck prime minister”.

Perhaps the biggest about-face came from none other than the smooth-talking Minister of Information Yasser Abd-Rabbo, who only yesterday caustically criticized Barak but who today -2PM Panorama talk show interview-spoke of the “sick mind” of Ariel Sharon.

[Note: It is considered very, very abusive and disrespectful in the Arab world to make insulting personal remarks — especially if they have a connection to the person’s body, especially the head or face — about a political leader

Remember: Until now, PA President Yasser Arafat has been scrupulously careful NOT to attack Sharon, even though VOP announcers have often referred to him as “the extremist Ariel Sharon.” VOP reporters and analysts have taken a respectful distance in reporting that Israeli Arabs-or Palestinian Israelis or Arabs inside the Green Line-have largely decided to abstain from voting. Today that attitude also changed: VOP interviewers badgered Israeli MK Azmi Beshara, repeatedly asking him whether Israeli Palestinians might not switch away from their boycott and come out to vote for Barak.

(Beshara indicated the stay-away protest or blank ballot would still go ahead, but one can expect a lot of pressure in the coming days.)

In Short, both VOP and the PA now seem to be joining the campaign against Ariel Sharon, even though an 8:18 am studio-read VOP (Pravda-like) analysis Wednesday morning laid out the near certainty of a Barak loss to Sharon, hinting that Barak may have to be replaced by Peres, if Sharon is to be defeated.

The PA analysis was sophisticated and unemotional, stressing the following points:

  • Sharon’s election is imminent, but he will not be able to form a broad government;
  • Sharon’s narrow parliamentary base — only 19 Likud seats out of 120-will make serious negotiations with the PA very unlikely;
  • and the high likelihood that Israel will again go to elections within six months, thus signaling a period of deep instability in Israel.

In a morning interview, PA Information Minister Yasser Abd-Rabbo denied categorically a report in the Israeli daily Ma’ariv that the PA and Israel had agreed to put of discussions on Jerusalem for five years. (Note: A similar report-asserting also a settlement of the refugee issue– was offered 24 hours later by Emanuel Rozen, Wednesday night on Israel’s Ch. 2, and it will be interesting to see if the PA bothers to deny this report as well.)

In a later Abd-Rabbo morning interview (there were three Abd-Rabbo interviews today), the PA minister said it was likely there would be a Barak-Arafat meeting in Egypt on the Sunday before the Tuesday elections.

Elsewhere, VOP continued to shepherd the Iraqi normalization process, featuring a long studio-read analysis by senior announcer Khaled Sukar detailing Iraq’s return to the fold, i.e. the Arab world’s renewed embrace of Saddam Hussein.

Wednesday, 7 a.m. — Morning Round-up Headlines

  • “Efforts by UN Secretary General Kofi Anan and European officials pushing hard for a continuing Palestinian-Israeli summit, but a site and a time for the summit are not yet decided;
  • It is likely to be in a European capital, but time pressure is a problem;
  • The extremist and rightist Likud candidate for the prime ministry Ariel Sharon is vainly contriving to (reconstruct) his past vis a vis the Palestinian Leadership and to convince by putting on new clothes (to distract from) the ugly truth;
  • Supporters of Sharon tell the e-mail edition of Yediot Aharonot that there is NO danger of acceptance of the plans of the extremist Avigdor Lieberman who threatened striking against the Aswan High Dam in Egypt and at Teheran;
  • The Israeli government refuses to meet the Palestinian side about transferring sums to the Palestinian side andregarding the financial difficulties of the (Palestinian) National Authority, and Muhammd Zuhdi Nashashibi (PA finance official) condemns this Israeli step…”

7 a.m. / 8 a.m. Morning Headlines

  • “The youth Sayyid Abdul-hamid, 15 years old, was struck in his chest by gunfire and critically wounded by Occupation soldiers concentrated in the Mintar crossing (Gaza);
  • Palestinian security sources say Israelis reporting a shelling of the settlement of Netzarim built on the land of citizens from Gaza, and an Israeli shelling on the houses of Sheikh Ijleen in south Gaza;
  • Citizens’ houses in Marda and Salfit were subjected to fire by occupation soldiers;
  • Occupation soldiers search and close village of Jab’a, preventing citizens from entering or leaving (Note: this is area of shooting death night before last);
  • A large force of the Israeli Occupation Army invaded Kafr Haris near Salfit last night, arresting several citizens, including the head of the village council;
  • The office of the Israeli prime minister confirms that there are contacts with a view to holding Palestinian-Israeli summit between Presient Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak;
  • Minister of Information Yasser Abd-Rabbo indicates there is NO Palestinian refusal to holding a summit before the elections in Israel;
  • Military sources in the Israeli army confirm its use of ammunition with depleted uranium against targets at sea over a year ago…
  • Minister of Economic Development Dr. Nabil Sha’ath pursing talks in Oslo
  • The (Palestinian) National Authority demands that the two funds (for Al Aqsa and Intifada support and relief) give advance payments for the next two months;
  • The Arab summit in Tunis calls on giving financial support to the Intifada and demanded that Israel respect the rights of the sons of our people;
  • Egyptian Foreign Ministry announces that Foreign Minister Amr Moussa has been selected to head the fourth session of the Arab Summit’s oversight commission regarding aid to the Intifada;
  • Moscow announces plans to build four new nuclear reactors by the year 2020.”

Quotes from Interview with Zakaria Agha, member PLO Executive, regarding Israeli military escalations in Gaza, 7:20 a.m.

Question: “Is there an escalation of Israeli aggression?”

Answer: “Yes, that’s the cause. The Israeli government is trying to continue, attempting to escalate. There is no difficulty in its doing so. Military attacks, shelling on houses, shooting at citizens, destruction and sabotage of property. This aggression is continuing. This criminal operation against the Palestinian people.”

Question: “In this matter it is apparent that the actions are parallel to the Israeli elections. Are you trying to confront these actions in different ways?”

Answer: “Of course. As everyone knows, it was expected, the escalation is geared to the elections. The competition among the candidates hurts the Palestinian people.”

(Note: This interview offered this morning is clearly out-of-sync with the new help-Barak party line, but it illustrates that there is a lag-factor even at VOP.)

Quotes from Interview with Minister of Information Yasser Abd Rabbo, Wednesday morning, 7:30 a.m.

Off-mike question: Are there contacts for a new Arafat-Barak summit, and is either side refusing to talk as before?

Answer: “There is absolutely no palestinian refusal to holding a such a meeting. On the contrary, there is readiness to hold such a meeting in an appropriate place, despite the fact that the Israeli elections are in a few days. But we are ready up until the last instant to make all efforts and journeys for the sake of revealing any opportunity for progress in the peace process.

There are thoughts of holding it in Europe or holding it in Egypt….If things work out, we will welcome it….It could be something positive and it would encourage all backers of peace inside Israel. And it would give them the confidence that there is an action to further the peace process.”

Quotes From Second abd-Rabbo Interview, 7:40 a.m.

Question: “There is an interview published by the newspaper Yediot Aharonot on the internet in which the extremist Likud candidate Ariel Sharon says that President Yasser Arafat wanted to topple the Hashemite regime in Jordan and set up a Palestinian state…whose borders would go from Iraq in the east to Petah Tiqva and Beersheb’a….What do you make of all this?”

Answer: “That is the talk of a deranged man (Arabic: mash’our). Any man who could say that, who could, once again, say sorts of things. He’s a man who is hostile to the peace process. All such proposals are sorts of things that come from a sick mind….We also knew these things, these sayings of his, when he was in the Netanyahu Government.” (This interview also opened the 2 p.m. Panorma afternoon magazine show)

Wednesday Afternoon Headlines, 4 p.m.

  • The martyring of a citizen without provocation in Gaza in a crime committed by Occupation troops;
  • Occupation troops extend their agresson against our citizens and their possessions at various points in the homeland;
  • President Yasser Arafat expresses his regret at the deaths of tens of thousands of citizens in the earthquake in western India;
  • The (Palestinian) National Authority tests whether the political statements of Sharon are aimed at (hurting) Palestinian-Jordanian relations;
  • Palestinian reaction to the terms of the Islamic Bank’s transferring funds to the National Authority;
  • Libya demands immediate removal of sanctions against her following the verdict in the Lockerbie trial.”

Official PA radio news: PA Virtual Endorsement of Ehud Barak

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
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Summary and Analysis

The Voice of Palestine stepped up the Palestinian Authority’s support of Ehud Barak, only five days before Israeli elections, featuring reports on efforts by Sweden (temporary head of EU) to set up summit between Barak and Yasser Arafat.

PA officials such as Development Minister Nabil Sha’ath, Arafat’s spokesman Nabil Abu-Irdeineh and Presidential Secretary Taib Abd-al-Rahim were interviewed and/or quoted as supporting the summit idea and/or condemning “extremist Likud candidate Ariel Sharon” for plotting against the friendly relations between Jordan and the PA. Their remarks were re-cycled throughout the bulletin headlines through the morning.

But in a rare funny live-radio backfire (especially rare on Palestinian radio), VOP attempts to get a strong anti-Sharon condemnation blew up in the PA’s face as the Jordanian Information Minister when asked about fears of Sharon, said: “We have no fear in this matter,” and the VOP announcer, Karim Khalid, quickly terminated the interview (see below for interview).

In addition, despite PA support for Barak, PA officials strenuously denied various Israeli reports (Ma’ariv Tuesday morning, Channel Two Wednesday night) about Palestinian-Israeli deals at Taba or imminent framework agreements in a pre-election Arafat-Barak meeting. From the strong Palestinian denials-which are consistent and from different officials over a period of several days-it appears that the source for the Israeli stories is likely a senior Israeli official with strong stakes in the upcoming Israeli election.

At 12-noon, VOP gave more prominent coverage to Barak’s decision not to withdraw from candidacy for re-election.

Morning Round-up Headlines

  • “We will cover the top developments in the Independence Intifada and the military aggression of the Israeli Occupation and its sieges against the sons of our people;
  • Two new martyrs and strong military pressure at the Rafah checkpoint and at the airport;
  • The (Palestinian) Leadership in its weekly meeting last night asserts that the future portends an end to the Occupation and colonization (Arabic: Christian: also settlement);
  • Minister of Economic Development and Cooperation Dr. Nabil Sha’ath TOTALLY DENIES possibility of finding final solution at summit;
  • Jordanian Minister of Information Talib al-Rifai characterizes Sharon’s comments in the newspaper regarding Palestinian-Jordanian border (Note: headline does not say how or what he characterized);
  • Today the first of Shubat (February) is the Day of the Arab Woman;
  • Arab voters inside the Green Line: (torn) between blank ballots and boycotting the elections.”

Morning Headlines, 7 a.m./ 8 a.m. / 9 a.m.

  • “The martyring of the citizen Ismail Ahmad Tubani, 50 years old, from the Mughazi Camp who was hit by bullet fire in the heart at the hand of Occupation soldiers who fired, without provocation, at his car as it stopped by the “Shuhada Checkpoint” (literally “martyrs’ checkpoint”, and translator does not know official name for location) in southern Gaza;
  • Two citizens wounded by Israeli tank fire last night at the Mintar crossing;
  • Occupation soldiers invade Kafr Haris near the town of Salfit, casting off bombs to terrorize the citizens last night;
  • Confrontations in Silwan between families and the Occupation soldiers, despite a curfew that was declared on the town, resulting in 10 wounded;
  • Telephone conversation between President Arafat and the Prime Minister of Sweden, currently serving as head of European Union, and the conversation centered on the most recent developments in continuing Israeli aggression and the recent Taba negotiations and the opportunity for holding a Palestinian-Israeli summit in Stockholm before the Israeli elections;
  • A spokesman for the Swedish prime minister said no decision has yet been reached on the holding of a new summit regarding the Middle East between President Yasser Arafat and the Israeli prime minister;
  • The (Palestinian) Leadership renews its rejection of any agreement that does not guarantee the solution of the problem of the refugees and their return to their homes from which they were evicted in 1948, and their habituation with their dependents;
  • And the Leadership asserts in a statement published at the end of its meeting last night in Gaza headed by President Yasser Arafat asserted the role played by the obligation of Israel to the source authority of the peace process and the decisions of international legitimacy (i.e. UN resolutions). as the basis for any readiness for any talks with Israel.and the guaranteeing of the interests of our people in reaching the goal of freedom and independence;
  • Presidential Secretary Taib Abd-al-Rahim stresses the statement of the Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abdul-Ghaib last night about the aggressive and provocative statements of Ariel Sharon which reflected his Occupation vision and racism and Sharon’s attempt to sow discord among Arab fraternity and harmony;
  • The two sides-Palestinian and Israeli-agree on a memorandum on the extension of the timetable of the assignment of the international force in Hebron.;
  • Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak says that he is capable of winning the competition for prime minister’s post;
  • Israeli helicopters strafe villages in southeastern Lebanon;
  • Ireland asserts time limit for role in force in southern Lebanon.;
  • Finally, President George Bush says America will press Libya to recognize its responsibility for the Lockerbie attack and for compensation payments.”

Quote of the Day

“There is no appointed time nor place.. The Israeli side did not present anything new at the Taba session, and he remained where he was before Taba. and we do not want a meeting just for the sake of a meeting.“

(Saeb Erikat, following last night’s PLO Executive meeting, on question whether a time and place have been set for Arafat-Barak summit, and on results of previous meetings at Taba–Thursday morning news interview, 7:25 a.m.)

Quotes from field interview with PLO Executive member, Zakariah al-Agha

“The Palestinian side is ready for negotiations aimed at reaching agreement, but the difficulty is on the Israeli side which is not ready for this matter. There are international efforts at holding a meeting between President Yasser Arafat and the Israeli prime minister during the coming days, but no final time has been set for this meeting.”

Question: “With the continuing Israeli aggression, do you think such a meeting can take place?”

Answer: “I do NOT think so because such a meeting will be merely a meeting for the protocol, but I do NOT expect any dramatic developments from such a meeting, especially, as you said, while Israeli aggression continues as part of the election campaign against the Palestinian people[taken as “actuality” from within report by Gaza correspondent ‘Adil Za’anoun in Gaza, covering meeting of PLO Executive, 7:15 a.m.)

Quotations from interview with Saeb Erikat, 7:30a.m.

Question: “Are there conditions for a meeting?”

Answer: “Obviously what is demanded is that the peace process continue on the basis of Madrid. Madrid, that is 242, 338, resolution 194 and an Israeli withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 borders including Jerusalem, and the question of refugees according to 194. The Israeli side did not present anything new at the Taba session, and he remained at where he was before Taba. and we do not want a meeting just for the sake of a meeting.”

Quotations from Talib al-Rifai, Jordanian Minister of Information:

Question: Ariel Sharon told Yediot Aharonot that Jordan wants Israel to hold on to the Ghur (Jordan) Valley and the Jordan River?”

Answer: “That does NOT deserve a reply. It’s a journalistic statement and it has absolutely no meaning. (Pressed a bit by interviewer to extend his answer.)… It’s just an attempt to sow discord between the two fraternal peoples.”

Question: “Is there a fear in Jordan about the advancement of Sharon to the government and to power in Israel?”

Answer: “We will work together with Sharon as we would work with someone else. Jordan knows how to deal with all eventualities in its regard. We have no fear in this matter.” ( 7:40 a.m.)

Quotes from Interview with Ahmad Tibi Israeli MK and former advisor to Arafat, who appears much more often on Israeli media than VOP

“If someone wants to cast a blank ballot (white paper) that’s okay, and if someone wants to boycott, that’s okay. But we strongly reject, strongly reject any attempt to vote for Ariel Sharon. It’ll be one percent maybe two percent in the Arab community.But any vote is legitimate.And in the final analysis we all have to realize that if Ariel Sharon wins-and that looks like the result-the world will not be destroyed as some have tried to portray it. No, there won’t be a war. But there is no doubt that will be extremist rightwing. It is incumbent on the Arab world, on the Palestinian Leadership, and on all of us to get ready for this eventuality, and to be ready to confront it.”

Official PA radio news – P.B.C. VOP (Voice of Palestine) Radio: January 30

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
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Summary and Analysis

In its Tuesday morning news broadcasts, VOP opened with news of a new Palestinian martyr, while reiterating news of the killing last night of an “Israeli settler,” and VOP summed up the number of Israelis fatalities in the “Independence Intifada”: “49 Israelis dead, whether soldiers or settlers.”

This summation was short, mean and brutish in style, while inaccurate in content. But it was very instructive in several ways.

It highlighted the dichotomy in Palestinian reporting of the four-month war of attrition:

  • When Palestinians die, whether armed or not, whether they have been in the middle of an attack or not, they are always classified as “shaheed” (singular: martyr) or “shuhadaa” (plural: martyrs);
  • When Israelis die, whether armed or not, whether civilian or military, whether male or female, whether child or adult, whether having lived in settlements or in Netanya or Tel Aviv, they are classified as “settlers.”

The PA has moved away from offering measured praise to Israeli negotiators and is saying that Ehud Barak is only interested in his election campaign and in a “campaign” against the Palestinian Authority. But in its 2 P.M. afternoon broadcast (and in subsequent bulletins), VOP featured an interview with Yasser Abd-Rabbo asserting that the PA would welcome contacts between Arafat and Barak-whether in Europe or Egypt. On the other hand, it also featured during the evening hours the Arab League’s statement from Tunis supporting a continued intifada in pursuit of Palestinian rights.

Throughout the day, VOP highlighted the analysis of Saeb Erikat, a PA negotiator, saying that the central sticking point in talks with Israel was the right of return. Erikat said the PA totally refused suggestions for substitutions or trade-offs for the right of return-such as compensation, which he said was offered by Dr. Yossi Beilin, the Israeli Justice Minister.

Elsewhere, the PA continues to highlight the Arab world’s opening-up to Iraq (Infitah: the use of the same word Sadat employed when he “opened” to the West in the late 70’s).

7 a.m. Morning Round-up Headlines

  • A martyr in Khan Yunis near the Tufah checkpoint, yesterday;
  • (Israeli) Occupation authorities continue policy of kidnapping Palestinian civilians, escalating their threats against the Palestinian National Authority;
  • The National authority denies charges that weapons are being transferred (into the PA) by way of the sea into Gaza;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat returns to the soil of the homeland after participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos and discussions yesterday in Sharm al-Sheikh with Egyptian President Husni Mubarak;
  • Continuation of Barak’s media campaign yesterday against the Palestinian side.and Dr. Saeb Erikat will be with us to discuss this campaign.;
  • Voices in Israel attack Dr. Yossi Beilin in that he was a detriment and counseled concessions, and we will discuss Beilin’s concessions with Dr. Saeb Erikat;
  • The American role in the Middle East region and the role in the peace process: what are the initiatives of the new Administration, what will be the American role, the future of Palestinian-American relations in the era of the Bush Administration, and with us will be the PLO representative in Washington Hassan ‘Abd-al-Rahman;
  • Hundreds of million dollars in damage to tourism industry resulting from Israeli aggression and closures;
  • Sums being paid to (unemployed) workers, we’ll hear about it from Works Minister Rafik al-Natsche
  • An important Syrian-Iraqi trade agreement;
  • Another important Iraqi-Egyptian agreement and soon between Jordan and Iraq as the Arab world opens up the door (“infitah”) to Iraq.”

Morning Headlines, 7 a.m. / 8 a.m. / 9 a.m.

  • “The youth Abdullah Abu-Shakr, 22 years old, was struck by bullets in the head and suffered critical wounds this morning in a confrontation in the Mintar crossing area in eastern Gaza;
  • And the martyring of the youth Muhammad Nafiz Abu-Moussa yesterday morning night in Khan Yunis after soldiers stopped in front of his house opened fire on him, striking him with 500-mm bullets in the stomach, two hundred meters from the occupation army checkpoint;
  • Israeli occupation authorities released four youths after kidnapping them in an act of piracy (Arabic: “qarsana”) near the city of Gaza, and a fifth youth remains arrested (Note: this apparently refers to an Israeli arrest of a man believed to be the head of the anti-Israeli shooting campaign inside Gaza for several months);
  • Seven citizens wounded in various ways as Israeli occupation soldiers open fire in Bir Nidam, west of Ramallah;
  • A group of settlers occupies a building in al-Wad Street in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem last night;
  • The killing (maqtal) of an Israeli settler last night when fire opened up on him northeast of occupied Jerusalem between the towns of Jab’a and Hizma, according to an Israeli military source;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat returns to the homeland today from Egypt, after conducting talks in Sharm al-Sheikh with Egyptian president Husni Mubarak yesterday. And his excellency renewed the absolute Palestinian refusal for resettlement of the refugees especially in Lebanon, asserting at the World Economic Forum in Davos that there would not remain a single refugee on the soil of Lebanon;
  • President Mubarak said that peace in the region could NOT be achieved without the return of Palestinian sovereignty to the sacred Jerusalem shrine (Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif) and Israel’s affirmation (Arabic–Iqrar-also: acknowledgement, or granting) the return of the Palestinian refugees;
  • Chief of Staff of the Israeli Occupation Army Shaul Mofaz admits the opening of fire on the citizen Jad-Allah Jabari in Hebron this month and investigating the serious injuries to his leg (Note: Mofaz actually condemned the shooting and is apparently ordering a courts martial for all those involved in an incident in which Israeli soldiers not only fired when they should not have, but also deliberately refused to treat the wounded man for a long time, and also prevented photographers from filming the incident);
  • Iraqi Vice President Taher Yassin Ramadan executes an agreement in Damascus for a free-trade zone;
  • Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel-Hilal al-Khatib in Washington today for talks with American Secretary of State Colin Powell;
  • The prince of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Subah accepts the resignation of the Kuwaiti government.”

Quote of the Day

“And as I said the main problem is firming up the right of return.”
Saeb Erikat, PA Home Rule Minister and frequent negotiator, on the main sticking point between the Palestinians and Israel, morning interview, Tuesday, 7:30 a.m., Morning News Round-up.

Quotes from Interview with Saeb Erikat, Home Rule Minister and PA negotiator, 7:20 a.m.

Erikat was asked off-mike about Barak’s decision to suspend talks and not to come to Davos to meet Arafat.

“We had an agreement with them (the Israelis)-that the talks would be halted for the elections. And we spoke that after a week or two weeks there would be (continuation of) talks. So I do NOT understand this talk (of Barak’s) about policy. This is what we agreed. We had no programs for meeting until after the elections.”

Question: “What about security meetings? Is there a difficulty?”

Answer: “We will meet, do what is necessary, the various committees. Our positions are clear on the matters of closures and lock-downs (unclear word) against the Palestinian people.”

Question: “Let’s return to the Israeli attack on the Palestinian side after the speech delivered by his excellency President Yasser Arafat. What is the nature of the crisis following the marathon talks?”

Answer: “Firstly, I believe that the speech of President Arafat was a comprehensive speech, a clear speech to the international community about the real problems faced by the Palestinian people on the ground, in the way of siege, lock-down and aggression. And at the same time President Arafat asserted-and more than once in his speech-the continuation of the peace process. Our obligation to the peace process, continuing to a complete and comprehensive peace agreement.

Yet at the same time, President Arafat clarified that there can be NO peace without the basis of the execution of resolutions 242, 338 and 194 and the complete Israeli withdrawal to the June 4 1967 borders, including holy Jerusalem, and a solution to the refugee problem linked to resolution 194. And as I said the main problem is firming up the right of return.”

Question: “The Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv said that Dr. Yossi Beilin succeeding in sketching-out a solution to the matter of the refugees without mentioning the right of return?”

Answer: “That’s completely false. That’s absolutely false. There was a discussion in the refugee committee between brother Nabil Sha’ath (PA negotiator and development minister) and Yossi Beilin, but at the end of the discussion it was completely clear and deep concerning our permanent and continuing demand for the firming up of the right of r-e-t-u-r-n without substitutions, without replacements. There have been attempts to talk for a long time about substitutions..We are talking about the right of r-e-t-u-r-n” (Note: Erikat said the words “right of return” very slowly spacing them out twice for emphasis).

Tuesday Evening Preview/Bulletin

VOP made no mention of Palestinian artillery shelling of Netzarim settlement, but said fighting was taking place.

In somewhat incongruous paring of headlines at 9 p.m., VOP said the PA was willing to go to a new Palestinian-Israeli summit, while highlighting Arab League statement in support of “continuing intifada and resistance of Israeli occupation.”

Special Edition – Voice of Palestine Radio prepares for Barak-Arafat summit

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary and Analysis

VOP and the Palestinian Authority dramatically changed their approach to Ehud Barak within the last 18 hours in the following ways:

  • Switching from attention to a growing rift between Yasser Arafat and Barak, following Arafat’s Davos speech condemning Israel, to downplaying the Arafat-Barak differences;
  • Highlighting the “extreme” nature of Ariel Sharon and some of his backers such as the “extreme” Avigdor Lieberman [Note: some of the Israeli Labor Party’s campaign advertisements on January 29/30 were almost identical to some of these and earlier texts on VOP)
  • Announcing the likelihood of a Barak-Arafat summit, after talking about no contacts until after the elections, and, also, after talking, until Tuesday afternoon, about Barak’s media “campaign” against the PA.

    In Short, both VOP and the PA now seem to be joining the campaign against Ariel Sharon, even though an 8:18 a.m. studio-read VOP analysis Wednesday morning laid out the near certainty of a Barak loss to Sharon.

    The PA analysis was sophisticated and unemotional, stressing the following points:

    • Sharon’s election is imminent, but he will not be able to form a broad government;
    • Sharon’s narrow parliamentary base — only 19 Likud seats out of 120 — will make serious negotiations with the PA very unlikely;
    • The likelihood that israel Will again go to elections within six months, thus signaling a period of deep instability in Israel.

    In a morning interview, PA Information Minister Yasser Abd-Rabbo denied categorically a report in the Israeli daily Ma’ariv that the PA and Israel had agreed to put of discussions on Jerusalem for five years.

    Elsewhere, VOP continued to shepherd the Iraqi normalization process, featuring a long studio-read analysis by senior announcer Khaled Sukar detailing Iraq’s return to the fold, i.e. the Arab world’s renewed embrace of Saddam Hussein.

    Morning Round-up Headlines

    • “Efforts by UN Secretary General Kofi Anan and European officials pushing hard for a continuing Palestinian-Israeli summit, but a site and a time for the summit are not yet decided;
    • It is likely to be in a European capital, but time pressure is a problem;
    • The extremist and rightist Likud candidate for the prime ministry Ariel Sharon is vainly contriving to (reconstruct) his past vis a vis the Palestinian Leadership and to convince by putting on new clothes (to distract from) the ugly truth;
    • Supporters of Sharon tell the e-mail edition of Yediot Aharonot that there is NO danger of acceptance of the plans of the extremist Avigdor Lieberman who threatened striking against the Aswan High Dam in Egypt and at Teheran;
    • The Israeli government refuses to meet the Palestinian side about transferring sums to the Palestinian side and regarding the financial difficulties of the (Palestinian) National Authority, and Muhammd Zuhdi Nashashibi (PA finance official) condemns this Israeli step.”

Official PA radio news – the P.B.C. VOP (Voice of Palestine) Radio: January 29

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary and Analysis

In its Monday afternoon and evening broadcasts on January 29, VOP stressed remarks by Yasser Arafat at Davos (World Economic Forum) that “totally rejected” any “resettlement of refugees” and “leaving any refugees in Lebanon.” The prominent playing of the remarks (and the remarks themselves) are testimony to the pressure that Arafat feels from the refugee constituency that is worried about signs that the Palestinians and the Israelis may be drawing closer at the expense of the refugees’ ultimate demand: return to their homes.

Earlier in the day, VOP concentrated on Yasser Arafat’s speech in Davos, stressing his detailed attack on Israeli aggression and savagery. His speech was essentially read out by an in-studio anchorwoman, rather than broadcasting Arafat’s speech itself (perhaps because of the slow speed of his speech), and the speech itself was repeated after the morning new round-up at 8:30 a.m.

At 4:30 p.m., an Israeli was shot and killed near Ramallah.

In its 5 p.m. Monday afternoon bulletin, VOP had no coverage of the shooting of an Israeli on a road not far from Ramallah.

By 6 p.m., VOP was already reporting the death of the “settler” (whose identity was still unknown) and linking it to the nearby settlement of Adam “which was built on lands taken from (the Arab village) Jab’a.”

This formula-calling the victim a settler (whether true or not) and linking the site of the incident to Israeli land confiscation (whether true or not) is VOP’s way of signaling that the shooting is neither condemned, nor even for acts like it to be discouraged in the future. The news item was enlarged at 7pm, stressing Israel’s barbaric searches and closure of the area.

Monday Evening Opening Headlines – 6 p.m.

  • “The youth Muhammad Nafiz Abu-Moussa, 21 years old, was martyred this morning, from two shots in the stomach fired on him by Israeli occupation soldiers near the Tufah checkpoint near Khan Yunis. And sources in the hospital said that the two bullets that martyred Abu-Moussa were 500-millimeter bullets.;
  • An Israeli source says that there was an opening of fire on the road between the town of al-Ram and Jab’a northeast of the city of Jerusalem. And our correspondent in Jerusalem asserts that a settler was killed after shots struck his head, fired by unknown people near the settlement of Adam which was built on lands taken from the people of Jab’a;

Monday Morning Round-up Headlines, 7 a.m. / 8 a.m. / 9 a.m.

  • “In Sharm al-Sheikh today, President Yasser Arafat will meet Egyptian President Husni Mubarak, and the discussion will concentrate on the most recent development and on the marathon talks in Taba;
  • President Arafat in front of the World Economic Forum in Davos says that the Taba talks were a serious session, but in his speech he added that Israel is prosecuting a savage and evil war and brutal and criminal military aggression against our people, employing weapons with depleted uranium;
  • President Arafat estimates that Israeli policy is the most repulsive in the modern era, and he called on the world community to use its moral and human (Note: that’s what it said) authority to get a serious and just solution to the Palestinian question;
  • “Israeli Occupation forces shell the Mintar area in eastern Gaza with artillery and automatic fire, and various Israeli attacks throughout the homeland leads to 27 injured, including a child in critical condition;
  • His excellency President Yasser Arafat asserts that the Palestinian leadership is continuing its efforts for a just, permanent and comprehensive peace in the area;
  • His excellency (Arafat), in a speech before the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, sets forth the details of Israeli aggression prosecuted against our people including acts of destruction, economic closures. And he called on the international community for an international force to put an end to this aggression, to remove the economic closures and lock-downs;
  • His excellency President Yasser Arafat will meet Egyptian President Husni Mubarak in Sharm al-Sheikh today.;
  • The secretary-general of Hizb-Allah (Party of God), Sheikh Hussein Nasser-Allah reiterated his organization’s obligation to free all the Lebanese, Palestinian, Arab and Iranian prisoners in Israeli Occupation jails;
  • The martyring of four Iraqi children yesterday from bombs dropped as part of crimes being committed in southern Iraq in ’91 war (note: item is unclear, suggesting perhaps the aggression
  • The extremist Jewish terrorist group Ateret Cohanim is setting forth to take over a residence and a store in the Old City in Jerusalem tonight;
  • The leader of the extremist Likud Party, Ariel Sharon, is initiating an attempt to win over the support of our people inside the Green Line, calling for what he calls a working partnership between Arabs and Jews inside Israel;
  • The lead (in the polls) for the election of February 6 of the candidate of the Right has increased over the labor party candidate and resigning prime minister Ehud Barak following the Taba conference. In that regard, resigning Prime Minister Ehud Barak ruled out participating in a combined government led by his rival, Ariel Sharon, should he (Sharon) win the February 6 elections for the post of prime minister;
  • Egypt,Jordan, Syria and Lebanon agree on a deal to produce and transfer natural gas for revenues of one billion dollars; NOTE: Israel just signed its own natural gas deal with Egypt, and this item has yet to be reported in Israel)
  • India sends an appeal to sponsoring countries for a billion and half dollars for dealing with shortages.”

Quote of the Day from Interview with Nabil ‘Amr, PA Parliamentary Affairs Minister (7:15 a.m.)

Question: “Ehud Barak suspended contacts with the national authority because of what he considered an attack on Israel in President Arafat’s speech. Was it an attack?”

Answer: “No, Mr. Ehud Barak has gotten to a stage which he cannot go in one direction, where he cannot maintain one policy for the region. He supposes that what happened in Taba was a stoppage of negotiations as if it were a final agreement between the Palestinians and Israel. And he expects the Palestinians to greet Israelis with fulsome thanks for staying in their areas (i.e. neighborhoods, towns, villages, etc) for the presence of their tanks etc. But it (Arafat’s speech) was the framing of a position, and what President Arafat stated in his speech is no more than what the world sees on the ground.

International delegations that have visited us have seen it for themselves, and themselves been subjected to bullets from the Israeli army. Therefore I think that the decision by Mr. Ehud Barak is a kind of foiling (thwarting or frustration) that flows from lack of ability (or power) to hold a position to carry out an agreement, from not succeeding at getting an agreement. Now he is experimenting with a media campaign.”

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