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