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Official Palestinian Radio News: The Voice of Palestine (V.O.P.) February 22nd. French Hill – targeted as a Jewish settlement by the P.A.

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary and Analysis – Jerusalem Escalation

V.O.P. broke new ground today in its description of the shooting attack on a driver at the French Hill junction. It twice described the man as a “settler” using the locution “shots fired on a settler in the French Hill area.” The strong suggestion that French Hill (which is a misnomer in English, Arabic and Hebrew, by way-see jocular note below**) was a settlement was deliberate, though not as pronounced as recent characterizations of Giloh, which V.O.P. regularly calls “the colony of Giloh built on land taken from Beith Jallah.” V.O.P. cited the “occupation police” as a source for the item on the French Hill shooting, although V.O.P.’s Jerusalem correspondent Muhammad Abd-Rabbo already had details of the shooting (which occurred at 5:30 a.m.) for morning news. Nevertheless, V.O.P. chose not to feature the shooting of the Israeli driver in its morning news bulletin and round-up headlines, preferring to highlight instead Israeli arrests and searches in the nearby Shueifat camp, rather than what prompted them.

V.O.P. also cited “occupation police” sources throughout the morning as saying that the incident “was the first of its kind since the sparking of the Al-Aqsa and Independence Intifada.” This phrasing, which was repeated at 11 a.m. and 12-noon was hardly a call for restraint but rather a coded message to encourage further actions of this kind.

(Note: In a V.O.P. interview this week, PA Minister of Information classified building Israeli settlements as a war crime, and Israeli “settlers” have long been considered tantamount to war criminals. Note also that when V.O.P. recently quantified numbers of Israeli fatalities, it broke the 50-odd deaths into two categories: soldiers and settlers.)

Further attacks on Israelis in northern Jerusalem (there were some shootings several weeks ago in the neighborhoods of Nevei Ya’kov and Pisgat Ze’ev as well as the nearby Giva’at Ze’ev) would in effect open a two-front war in Jerusalem, with shootings along the southern front in Giloh and along the northern front of French Hill and other northern neighborhoods.

The shooting comes amid other signs of escalating violence in Jerusalem, V.O.P.’s Abd-Rabbo said the Fatah agents arrested by the Israelis were members of an armed cell, headed by Muhammad al-Abassi of the Ras al-‘Umud neighborhood-but this material was not repeated in the headlines of any of the news bulletins. Abd-Rabbo said the police were accused of concealing hand grenades which they planned to throw at Israelis.

V.O.P. also neglected to report that the Lebanese-born British citizen arrested by Israel (identified by Israel as Jihad Shuman) had allegedly concealed his own materiel in a site on Mount Scopus in preparation for his own terror attack inside Jerusalem.

V.O.P. also reported in one of its local reports that the PA Housing Ministry had registered 144 Palestinian houses as being destroyed in recent fighting in Gaza.

At the end of the morning news, V.O.P. interviewed an Israeli Arab doctor who testified at the internal Israeli commission of inquiry into the deaths of 13 Israeli Arabs in October 2000 (Note: V.O.P. uses the term “13 Palestinians inside the Green Line” refusing to use the term Israel in the context of Arab citizens). “I spoke about the wickedness of the attack on our youth,” said Dr. Atif Aghbaria.

The news also included a feature on Israel’s alleged attacks on Palestinian and foreign journalists, without making mention of the repeated PA threats in recent weeks against the entry of Israeli journalists to PA territory as well as not mentioning the frequent threats against Western reporters who write, record and film in PA areas.

Thursday Morning Round-up Headlines

  • “Occupation forces invade Shueifat Camp in occupied Jerusalem, arresting seven citizens; [note: figure was changed almost immediately]
  • Pilgrims arrive in sacred shrine;
  • Deep losses to criminal Israel artillery barrage;
  • The (Israeli) Labor Party agrees to Sharon including extremist religious parties in his government;
  • Israeli attacks increase against journalists and the media.”

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

  • “Israeli forces bombard with artillery and heavy automatic fire the western and southwestern neighborhoods of Tulkarm last night, damaging tens of houses;
  • Occupation forces arrest 15 citizens from Shueifat township in Jerusalem, as well as detaining 3 youths on charges of belonging tot he Fatah movement in occupied Jerusalem;
  • The National Authority asks the Investigating Commission headed by the American George Mitchell to intervene strongly in the situation of the chain of assassinations carried out by Israel (and its effect on) the rights of Palestinian citizens;
  • Dr. Nabil Sha’ath, the Minister of International Economic Development and Planning, calls on the new American administration to sharpen its role in the Middle East quickly;
  • American State Department demands Israel lift the siege on Palestinian people and transfer customs levies as soon as possible;
  • The Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan says he is profoundly concerned by the economic situation in Palestinian lands;
  • The head of the Palestinian refugee commission UNRWA, Peter Hanson is encountering difficulties in providing assistance to Palestinian refugees because of the siege.;
  • Belgium is threatening recalling its ambassador from Tel Aviv and freezing agreements with Israel because of practices against our Palestinian people;
  • British government has submitted a sharp protest to Israel over the detainment for six months (administrative detention) of a British citizen of Lebanese origin;
  • Sudanese security forces arrest religious leader Hassan Tourabi.;
  • Iraq announces that American and British war planes dropped incendiary bombs on civilian targets on (sounds like) Samara in southern Iraq.”

Thursday Noon Headlines

  • “Occupation bulldozers continue their settlement action in Qaria Sawiya, and occupation forces seized Qaria Qusra in the Nablus prefecture and endangered 20 houses in southern Hebron;
  • Heavy searches in Jerusalem after the opening of fire on a settler;
  • Security organs (PA) in Hebron are investigating an explosion in the liberated portion of Hebron during the night;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat receives an emissary of the British prime minister.”

Quote of the Day “This is an operation to banish Palestinian citizens.” Palestinian Housing Minister describing Israeli artillery attacks in Gaza, 7:50 a.m.

Quotes from Interview with Dr. Hamad Abd al-Rahman, PA Housing Minister

Question: “Doctor, could you give us an idea of the sale of the economic losses due to Israeli bombardment of inhabited buildings?”

Answer: Really, Israel has not spared any military means against our people leading to more than 430 being martyred and thousands of wounded, but it is also using economic warfare, destroying partially or completely many buildings. This is an effort to empty out by bombardment inhabited areas which abut settlements to free-up the lands the settlements want to control. This is an operation to banish Palestinian citizens. Thousands of Palestinian citizens have left their houses and are living in tents.The direct cost is 14-million (fourteen million) dollars of the Israeli bombardment. In addition, the Israelis are shelling the infrastructure, such as schools, police headquarters and so forth. And our preliminary estimates on this matter are 17-million dollars.”

“French Hill” Terminology

This term is actually a misnomer in Hebrew and Arabic where it is translated literally as “The French Hill”, ha-giv’a ha-tzarfatit in Hebrew and Al-Tel al-Fransawi in Arabic. The origin of the term is the British conquest of Jerusalem in World War I when a Captain French led the British forces who conquered the area near Mount Scopus.

Official PA radio news P.B.C. V.O.P. (Voice of Palestine) Radio: February 18th

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary and Analysis, Sunday February 18

Moving into its Sunday coverage, The Voice of Palestine re-affirmed and extended reportage on three matters likely to affect regional picture in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf:

  • Improved Palestinian relations with Syria and Iraq;
  • Heightened tension, escalating rhetoric and operational activities against Israel, even before Ariel Sharon takes office;
  • Escalating rhetoric against Western–particularly American-policies and institutions.

V.O.P. has reported, based on the comments of Farouk Qaddoumi (PLO Political Department director) that Yasser Arafat will soon visit Damascus amid an improvement in Syrian-Palestinian relations.

In a morning interview, Ahmad Qreia said that the PA and the Barak Government had agreed on many border questions, transferring all of the Jordan Valley and eastern Jerusalem to Palestinian control.

Sunday Morning Round-up Headlines

  • “We will review today the violent Israeli escalation on towns and the Israeli artillery shelling on neighborhoods and cities in Hebron and Jenin that led to the martyring of a number of citizens;
  • And masses of citizens from our people escorted (in funerals) six exalted martyrs who fell before Occupation bullets and the evil shelling on inhabited neighborhoods;
  • Politically, the new government headed by Ariel Sharon is expected to reach agreement soon between Labor and Likud based on the feigning of ignorance towards the progress made by the previous government in the talks at Camp David and afterwards in the marathon Taba negotiations;
  • The political agreement between Labor and Likud casts concern on the Palestinian side.;
  • A close look at the situation of Palestinian (women) prisoners, whose status has gotten worse, including the frequency of visits in the last five months;
  • Palestinian-Syrian relations have developed to the extent that a visit to Damascus by His Excellency President Yasser Arafat is close, and we will hear details from Farouk al-Qaddoumi-Abu Lutf-head of the policy department in the (Palestine) Liberation Organization.”

Sunday Morning Headlines, 7 a.m., February 18

  • “Seventeen citizens were wounded in Israeli shelling and shooting on inhabited neighborhoods in Hebron and Jenin;
  • The national and Islamic forces call on our citizens to participate in marches of rage on Tuesday, as a ‘Day of Rage’ against the occupation policy, against the (use of) poison gas and nerve gas, and against American-British aggression against Iraq;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat last night received a letter from German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder (sp?) delivered by his emissary Mr. Steiner;
  • French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine warns of the loss of hope of Palestinians about reaching a just and lasting peace with Israel;
  • Norway calls for the continuation of Palestinian-Israeli talks on the basis of the Oslo Agreement of 1993;
  • Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announces the formation of 21 divisions in the Jerusalem Army whose (planned???) formation had been announced on the 27th of last month;
  • Representative of Israeli prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon met last night to discuss recent developments.and extreme right-wing parliament member Avigdor Lieberman calls for attacking Beirut.”

Quote of the Day

“This brought about a great deal of growing closer between us and our brothers in Syria. It is clear that after the election of Sharon and after the indiscriminate violence employed by Israel used to threaten the Palestinian people there was no choice but to deepen mutual understandings between us and our brothers (in Syria).” (Farouk al-Qaddoumi, describing the warming of relations between Syria and the PLO during recent Arab summit talks. Sunday, February 18 7:40 a.m.)

Quotes from Interview with Ahmad Qreia (Abu Ala), PA Speaker Legislature, Sunday February 18, 7:20 a.m.

[Note from Monitor: There were a number of breaks and sound-quality changes in this interview that indicate it may have been edited or spliced at some points, though the content and style are quite probably in keeping with the intent of Speaker Qreia. Still, readers should be aware of the facts.]

Question: “It appears that a new government is being formed in Israel.and it says it is not bound by the understandings of Camp David or Taba. What do you say about that?”

Answer: “It does not bind this government (i.e. the Sharon government), but no one will find a partner (for talks) with this government which rests on this principle (of non-binding nature of Camp David etc). It will have to get by without a partner, without peace, and without security..The talks have to begin where they left off at the last session of the talks. This is the (true) foundations and the principle.

It is unfortunate that the Labor party government led by Barak is the one that negotiated for 18 months and it is now the one that has recanted everything.This approach, this style cannot be accepted, absolutely. It is a regression, a regression from the principle of peace. And it raises the question whether this new alliance (Note: presumably Labor and Likud) is an alliance for war or an alliance for peace.If it is based on the program of Sharon, then it cannot be anything but an alliance that conspires against the Palestinian people, an alliance that leads to a confrontation and an increase in escalating the intifada and the Palestinian resistance in its various forms.”

Question: “What about the question of Jerusalem?”

Answer: “The subject of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, eastern Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state. The subject of Jerusalem, its being turned over.this subject was sealed. Many subjects were sealed.”

Question: “The Israeli withdrawal and the Ghor (Jordan) Valley. Was this subject sealed?”

Answer: Yes. The subject of borders was sealed completely with Jordan. The borders of ’67 from Beit Shean to the Dead Sea was sealed. That is the border of the Palestinian state.

The borders of the Ghor were sealed completely and finally. The region of Hebron was sealed finally. The area of Jenin was sealed completely.”

Question: “It is said that Dr. Yossi Beilin put something new on the table relating to the refugees?”

Answer: “No, no, no, that’s not true. He didn’t table anything new. The question of the refugees is the Right of Return. The Right of Return was not accepted. We have not pulled back from the Right of Return. The Right of Return is holy to Palestinian refugee and a general right to the Palestinian people. They did not accept this right.”

Official PA radio news: P.B.C. V.O.P. (Voice of Palestine) Radio, February 20th. Poison Gas Allegation

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary and Analysis

V.O.P. and its correspondents detailed what they said were vicious and internationally illegal Israeli attacks on civilians Sunday night and Monday-attacks involving, they said, the use of poison gas and nerve gas.

The Gaza correspondent of V.O.P., ‘Adil Za’anoun, said more than 50 Palestinians were wounded in heavy Israeli shelling and “gassing” Sunday night.

Monday Morning Round-up Headlines, February 19

  • “Israeli Occupation authorities escalate their dastardly artillery bombardments, especially on Khan Yunis camp, and tens are wounded by the evil shelling;
  • Serious Israeli shelling in the Bethlehem area, especially Beit Jallah, damaging a number of houses;
  • Israeli occupation authorities escalate their arbitrary measures and blockade of necessities to Palestinian lands;
  • Israeli judges confront violence and terrorism in the discussion of the release of the terrorist Yoram Shkolnik who was convicted of killing a Palestinian citizen, whose hands were tied, seven years ago (NOTE: there is no mention here that the “Palestinian citizen” was himself a terrorist);
  • Pilgrims begin leaving West Bank today on blessed Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca, mandated by Islamic tradition and law);
  • Palestinian delegation heads to the American capital of Washington today and is expected to meet with American Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday.”

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

  • “Tens of citizens wounded in artillery bombardments in the West Bank and Gaza, and among those injured, there are those suffering from suffocation and poisoning from gas, a nerve gas that is prohibited internationally;
  • Israeli Occupation authorities tighten their siege on the Sabatiyya and Burqa areas after an explosion in the area last night;
  • Mr. Yasser Abd-Rabbo, the Minister of Culture and Information, asserts that the National Authority is approaching the United Nations to investigate Israeli efforts aimed at undermining the institutions of the (Palestinian National) Authority and the siege and destruction of the Palestinian economy;
  • Dr. Ali Sha’ath director general of the ministry of cooperation and planning (Note: Nabil Sha’ath is the minister) estimates the various economic damages due to the assorted sieges and blockades as three billion dollars since the start of the Intifada;
  • The Israeli army announced yesterday that there would be a joint American-Israeli exercise today in the Negev of new weapons, specifically of missiles against strategic missiles (NOTE: THIS is apparent reference to Patriot missiles, whose testing was not announced by the Israeli army but discovered by Israeli reporters);
  • Deputy Iraqi Prime Minister Tariq Aziz excoriates [Translator’s note: nadada in Arabic is a cross between very strongly criticized and reviled, and so “excoriated” was chosen over “condemned”] the American-British bombardment, calling the American explanations laughable;
  • 8,000 prisoners in Brazil began a rebellion yesterday in Kamadeero Prison in Sao Paulo, and 250 people were taken as hostages.”

Quote of the Day

“First reports from intelligence sources are that the gas was poisonous and forbidden internationally.”
Adil Za’anoun, Gaza correspondent of V.O.P. in opening report Monday, February 19, 7:06 a.m.

Quotes from Interview with Hassan Abd-al-Rahman, PLO representative in Washington, 7:30

“There are a number of meetings set up between us (and the Americans), chiefly with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday and other officials. And there will be others meetings with officials in the National Security Council and the State Department.

Question: “What is the background to the meetings?”

Answer: “As you know, the the American Secretary of State Mr. Powell is about to visit the region, and he will met President Arafat in Ramallah or Bethlehem. And this will be the first high-level meeting between us and the new American Administration. That is the basis for the meetings over the next two days in Washington… to discuss the situation in the occupied Palestinian lands and the future of the peace process as well bilateral Palestinian-American relations.”

Question: “There have already been relations haven’t there? Such as the ties between Jibril Rajoub and (CIA director) George Tenet?”

Answer: “Yes, of course, there have been ties and relations for more than five and six years…”

Question: “Do the Americans understand the need for dynamism (in the peace process)?”

Answer: “First we have to say that this is the first foreign visit of the American secretary of state. Of all the regions of the world, it’s the region of the Middle East….That is a sign that the United States cannot (unclear word due to very bad transmission, probably said “ignore” from context) the region….The importance of the Middle East to the United States has not changed.

There are dangers in the Palestinian lands. There is a need for some kind of American role But this Administration says that because of changes in the process, it (the Administration) cannot complete it (this is an apparent reference to Clinton proposals and partial understandings of Camp David II and Taba) but there will be efforts to continue the peace process. However, this administration will take less day-to-day interest…but that does not mean the United States is quitting the region. Or that the United States is less a friend. The style is changing.”

Official PA radio news – P.B.C. V.O.P. (Voice of Palestine) Radio, February 2Oth. PA Commentary on the Bush Administration

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

In his morning commentary, senior V.O.P. commentator Youssef al-Kazaz exhorted the new Republican administration to take an active role in the peace process and for President George W. Bush “to be his father’s son.”

The increased criticism and condemnation of the Bush Administration for attacking Saddam and supporting Israel are still evident, but they have been muted a bit because of the meetings in Washington, apparently, and the upcoming visit of Secretary of State Colin Powell.

In a Tuesday morning interview, the PLO representative in Washington tries to downplay Palestinian expectations from the Bush Administration, but noting favorably that Powell’s first international trip is to the Middle East.

Elsewhere, V.O.P. is still opening its news programs with war reports from the field replete with detailed coverage (sometimes even hysterical coverage, from Salim Abu-Salih in Hebron, for example) of dead Palestinian martyrs and evil Israeli soldiers cold-bloodedly murdering children with poison gas.

In the background (but featured more prominently than during the first four months of the “Independence Intifada” is Yasser Arafat, busily conferring with world leaders in an attempt to end Israeli aggression while implementing the Palestinian people’s just goals.

Tuesday Morning Round-up Headlines

  • “Occupation authorities continue their evil policies of aggression with a new loathsome assassination of Mahmoud Suleiman al-Madani in Nablus, and the National Authority condemns the continuation of the Occupation Authorities’ policy of assassinations and arbitrary measures;
  • Violent shellings target several areas-El Bireh, Bethlehem and Beit jallah as well as various parts of Hebron;
  • In the Leadership’s meeting yesterday his excellency President Yasser Arafat reviewed the latest events and developments.”

Official PA radio news – P.B.C. V.O.P. (Voice of Palestine) Radio, February 16-17. Featuring Special Report Following Iraqi Attacks

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary and Analysis

After the air-strikes in Iraq, both Israeli and American-Anglo “aggression” were feature items on V.O.P. Saturday. In the 7 p.m. news bulletin, reaction to the Iraqi air-strike-highlighting criticism of American-British aggression-was longer than all the other news items combined, and it left no doubt as to with which side of the conflict street the PA sided.

At 11 p.m., V.O.P. announced that the ‘national and Islamic forces” were dedicating two “days of rage” for massive demonstrations and parades not only against Israel (Tuesday and Friday) but also to condemn American attacks on Iraq. This is a “choosing-sides” moment, and the PA is signaling its choice of Saddam while it believe the United States has chosen Israel.

(The PA is also choosing Hizballah’s side in the current border war along the Lebanese-Israeli “ceasefire line.”)

The serious financial crisis inside the Palestinian Authority again reached the headlines today (see below), but for several days it has been showing up in other ways: frequent radio messages to the public to pay their income taxes. PA officials are calling for an immediate cash inflow-from Arab countries and Europe-to help the situation.

Salim Za’anoun, the head of the PNC (Palestine National Council of the PLO) returned to the headlines to defend refugee rights, only two weeks after he was rebuked publicly for leading a group attempting to force Yasser Arafat into a power-sharing scheme (at which time he also said that the PNC had not repealed the Palestinian Covenant). The sudden return of Za’anoun to Arafat’s airwaves means that either he bribed a few senior V.O.P. employees or else that he and Arafat have kissed and made up (probably because they need each other).

On the Israeli front, V.O.P. says that a national unity government is to be announced at the beginning of this week, with Ehud Barak as “Army Minister.” V.O.P. quoted at length from the most critical Israeli newspaper articles that condemned the cynical way Barak had broken his own promise to leave political life.

Friday Afternoon Round-up Headlines, February 16, 4 p.m.

  • “The martyring of a man in Tulkarm who was denied medical attention at a road block;
  • The martyring of Anwar Mustafa Mar’ii, 33, from Qarawat Bani Hassan who was assassinated in a crime committed by a gang of traitors; [Note: in the bulletin details, Mar’ii was described as a senior organizer of the PA intelligence services engaged in counter-espioniage]
  • A group of citizens wounded in confrontations in Ramallah and El-Bireh and Rafah;
  • The killing of one Occupation soldier and wounding two others in Hizballah attack on occupied Shab’a farm;
  • The National Authority says its task is to force the Israeli government to keep its obligations according the peace process and the agreements;
  • The Minister of Information and Culture (Yasser Abd Rabbo) dismisses the possibility of reaching agreements with the succeeding (i.e. successor to Barak) based on its announced programs;
  • Salim Za’anoun, the speaker of the Palestinian National Council, asserted the Palestinian Leadership’s strong devotion to the reight of the refugees to return to their homes. And Zaanoun in a speech in front of thousands of refugees in Ein Hilweh camp in Lebanon said the Palestinian delegation to Camp David had rejected territory worth 30-billion dollars in return for conceding the right of return. And the speaker of the Palestinian Council asserted that the right of return for the refugees was the first of the goals of the Intifada.”

Saturday Morning Bulletin Headlines 7 a.m.

  • [first headline is repeat of lead-in headline on Palestinian martyrs];
  • “The martyring of an Iraqi civilian and the wounding of eight others as the result of air raids by Britain and the United States on civilian and military targets in the Iraqi capital yesterday. And the American president George Bush said there would a be a continuation of such attacks if iraq continues manufacture of weapons of mass destruction. An American spokesman said more than 50 planes paticipated in the attacks. And in the homeland (Palestine) there were many protest demonstrations against the bombing of Iraq;
  • Minister of Information Yasser Abd Rabbo sees no opportunity for continuing negotiations with successor Israeli government, based on its programs”;
  • [Other headlines similar to those of lead-ins at 7 a.m.]

Saturday February 17 Morning Round-up Headlines

  • “Five martyrs in Hebron and Tulkarm and Qarawa Bani Hassan;
  • Israeli military aggression leads to more than 100 wounded by bullets, five of them critically;
  • Occupation bullets wound three foreign correspondents and Israeli tanks shell Ramallah, El-Bireh, Hebron, Zababdeh and Khan Yunis;
  • George Bush Junior orders an attack on the Iraqi capital, and Moscow condemns the aggression;
  • The President’s advisor, Mr. Nabil Abu-Irdeineh says that what concerns is holding the Israeli government to its obligations under the peace process, and Palestine demands an international force to protect our people;
  • National Unity government in Israel with Ehud Barak as Minister of the Army who had said that he was leaving political life.”

Saturday Evening Headlines, 7 p.m., February 17

  • “Residents of Hebron were subjected to artillery shelling this evening, injuring 25 citizens, most of them children…;
  • Organizations for defense of the homeland and confronting settlement announced the formation of a committee for oversight… of the Occupation practices and violations;
  • Norway called today for the continuation of Palestinian-Israeli talks based on the Oslo agreements of 1993…;
  • Dr. Muhammad Shteih, director-general of the Palstinian Fiscal Council said…there was a serious cash flow problem in the National Authority creating a fiscal crisis felt by citizens…and requiring a sum of 55-million dollars which could not be supplied by the Palestinian economy which was operating at less than 25-percent of its usual volume;
  • French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine warned of loss of hope among Palestinians to reach a just and lasting peace with Israel.
  • United Nations Council on Ecology called for Palestinian sovereignty on national resources in occupied Palestinian territory, including eastern Jerusalem. And it registered its concern… regarding Israeli violations of the Palestinian environment;
  • Iraqi President Saddam Hussein headed a meeting today to… oppose raids on Baghdad yesterday. And Iraq called on the nations of the world to oppose routine American killing of peoples who refuse American dictates, condemning the aggression yesterday and declaring the right to defend itself. And a spokesman of the Foreign Department of the ruling Ba’ath Party said the first goal of the American-Anglo aggression on Iraq was safeguarding American interests in the area….From its point of view, the Arab League condemned the American and British aggression on Baghdad, calling for respect of Iraqi sovereignty.”

Quote of the Day

“And the speaker of the Palestinian Council asserted that the right of return for the refugees was the first of the goals of the Intifada.”

V.O.P. report on speech by Salimn Za’anoun, speaker of PNC, who has apparently returned to good graces of Arafat, Friday February 16 4:07 p.m.

“Radwan and Me: A Personal Perspective of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation”

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Summary

Three weeks ago, this writer requested an interview with Radwan Abu Ayyash, the Chairman of Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (P.B.C.), in Ramallah. P.B.C. is the parent of Voice of Palestine radio and Palestine television in the West Bank and Gaza. Because of possible current physical dangers in travelling to Ramallah from Jerusalem, and after several delays, Ayyash and this writer decided that a typed interview, including photos, would be more safely delivered by courier to a hotel in East Jerusalem.

Background Information

It sounds crazy. I am a right-wing Jew, he’s a right-wing Palestinian, seeming opposites. But I call him my friend.

Little known to the masses, Radwan Abu Ayyash of Ramallah and Yasser Arafat are old friends. And to the Shin Bet and Israel he has already paid his dues….

Forty years ago, at age 18, I had a dream: to become a professional journalist, reporting, even “fathering” news. Instead, I joined the family business, married, fathered two sons — and then dropped out…. Now, at 58, I have resurfaced: here, in a frenetic field of dreams and nightmares, the Holy Land. It is here where a polar softening or hardening of hearts, even in the extreme, is still constantly possible….

“Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We shall not rest until the day when we return to our home, and until we destroy Israel. The destruction of Israel is the goal of our struggle.”

(Yasser Arafat, quoted in El Mundo, Caracas, Venezuela, 11 February 980)…. Critics call Radwan Hitler’s Goebbels. But I repeat: I like the man. Adwan is a rebel and idealist, like me. In the 60’s, I joined the Peace Corps. And then it was Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), anti-establishment and anti-Zionist, a notch below the violent Weathermen and Patty Hearst. Yet I stayed out of jail; Radwan didn’t. A firey journalist, in print brainchild of the first intifada in ’87, his words caught on; but he got caught. He was accused of causing incitement when there was no Area A to call home. Pre-Oslo Ramallah was Greater Israel hen.

Through it all, Radwan and Arafat remained friends, fellow ideologues, propagandists, embers in the anti-Zionist struggle. When Radwan got out of jail, the timing was right; the two Palestinians, one with the charisma o words, the other a political genius, decided to fan the coals to life.

Now it was no dream; Oslo’d been kindled and in 1994, with money, equipment, technical advisors, and cooperation, Palestinian Broadcasting corporation was born. It started in Ramallah, Radwan’s hometown, then branched out to Gaza when Arafat came back from boyhood Cairo via Beirut and Tripoli.

It happens; there is an old guard, not dead yet. Ariel, Radwan, Shimon, Yasser. The “Over The Hill Club”: survivors, thinkers, dreamers, doers.

The Interview

This is the transcript, typed on official P.B.C. stationary from Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, Office of Chairman, Ramallah Central Studios, delivered 5 February, 2001 to the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem.

I picked up the envelope containing the following responses in addition to requested color glossy photographs: one of the P.B.C. studios/office building in Ramallah, a second of the Ramallah transmitter, and the third, a small photo of Mr. Radwan Abu Ayyash.

Questions and answers:

Question 1: How did the P.B.C. start — why and by whom?

Answer:The Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation is a national independent Radio and TV Station built with Palestinian hands and minds. It was established in 1993 within the agreement of principles between Israel and the PLO after which President Arafat issued an order to Mr. Radwan Abu Ayyash to found the P.B.C.

The idea stemmed from the need for an electronic media for Palestine and was a dream for me when I was the head of (AJA) Arab Journalist Association.

The Voice of Palestine experimental transmission started on the 2nd July 1994 with a statement from president Arafat. For the first time from Gaza, the regular broadcasting started in 1995. Now V.O.P. transmits from 6:30 AM until midnight and covers all areas of Palestine.

Palestine TV started the experimental transmission in 1994 in Jericho when it aired live the return of Mr. Arafat to Palestine. In September 1996 the transmission began two hours daily after which the time extended to four hours.

There is a link between Gaza studios and Ramallah studios, for a fast follow up of the latest news. The next plan is to extend the range of transmission to cover the widest possible areas.

A Palestinian satellite channel started its experimental transmission in 1998 with its two departments in Ramallah and Gaza.

Expectation and plans for the future:

  • Establishing a Media Center.
  • Establishing a training center.
  • Promoting the efficiency of the working staff, updating the transmission technology and improving the quality of programs.
  • Establishing a P.B.C. building in Ramallah with all its required departments.

P.B.C. Chairman’s main responsibilities:

  1. Creates system of internal/external coordination
  2. Maintaining the implementation of the developmental strategies.
  3. Carries out the implementation of proposals, projects and agreement between the P.B.C. and other partners.
  4. Following up the process of fund raising and assistance to P.B.C.
  5. Promoting and monitoring activities of all departments.

Question 2: How does the P.B.C. choose its typical program content?

Answer: The P.B.C. policy emphasizes:

  • Promoting democracy and pluralism.
  • Promoting cultural characteristics of the Palestinians who now have the possibility to join the free world presenting to it there national issue and their fair demands.
  • Encouraging free thoughts with emphasis on the genuine heritage of Palestine.
  • Adopting credibility and non-biased policy with diversity of political, social, economic, cultural programs items.
  • Providing program exchange policy with other stations.
  • The news are independent, objective and separated from the documentaries.
  • There is a special committee to check if the materials meet the general policy of the P.B.C. before broadcasting.

Question 3: It is no mystery that Israelis feel certain of the pbc programs can cause incitement. What is your detailed view?

Answer: My view in this connection is not different from all other views of the Palestinian people. There is no incitement in its negative aspect, the war was waged against the Palestinians including the daily killing and shelling against them that started more than 3 months ago. the Israel wants us to kneel by force and the steadfastness displayed by the unarmed Palestinian is the real picture that has to be dealt with in the P.B.C.’s programs. Our policy is to support the legitimate right of the Palestinians given to them by the UN resolutions 242/338, the Israeli behavior is not accepted by us whether at the political level or at the level of the street and the P.B.C. is a reflection of these both levels. So what Israel call incitement, we call a way to express to the whole world Palestine has the right to live exactly like the Israel without any discrimination.

Question 4: On balance, things seem so pessimistic in the relations between ‘cousins’, can you tell me a positive story about your relations with Jews that built your trust, or a “bad blood” story, you want to tell?

Answer: We used to have and still have strong positive relations with Jews since we started the P.B.C. in the West Bank, such as dealings in buying and maintaining technical devices from Israeli companies who have a very good experience in this field. I don’t have any personal negative story in this connection, I am humble, and religious man who believes in peace.

Question 5: What programs on the P.B.C. on the Israeli TV would you like to see to bridge differences and creates understanding? What join programs are possible if any?

Answer: “Palestine the Land of Peace” and “The Islamic Art in Jerusalem”. All the P.B.C.’s programs respect different views and religions and are directed against violence in all its phases. Joint programs can cover all kinds of programs that enhance the mutual understanding between the two peoples; adults and children, men and women in order to help easing up the atmosphere. Planning of program exchange through satellite is vital for transmitting important different events.

Question 6: What in your personal vision of peace in the holy land? How has your vision evolved? Is it even possible and how? obstacles to peace? Do you think our peace could be an example for the world?

Answer: Since the beginnings, this land was the land of inspiration and peace, the three religions and the holly books that coexisted together in this land stressed the importance of liberty, democracy, justice and freedom. It is not a new issue to argue about now, it was heavenly settled long time ago. If there are two brothers who have a dispute on a peace of land, this dispute will not be resolved until both take their rights equally. Our dispute, as well, will not end until the Palestinians take their legitimate rights approved by the International legacy.

Question 7: Should the land from the Jordan to the sea be shared or divided?

Answer: The International legacy has stated this point clearly in its resolutions, and the PNA accepted them. A Palestinian state should be found next to Israel within all the areas occupied by Israel in 1967, this is the core of any negotiations held between both sides of the conflicts. Moreover, we live on this land, are ordered by God to live peacefully with our neighbors without making any social or religious discrimination.

[End of transcript]

The Middle East, for better or worse, is a messianic microcosm in waiting, to be a light unto the nations, a shared light. Without trust, the benefit of the doubt, and involvement, this is impossible. Your responses are critical.

Here then are people from both sides of the fence to write to. It is hoped the dialogue here, airing all points of view, will continue into an era of lasting peace.

Michael Cohen is an independent filmaker. He can be contacted at: nu@netvision.net.il

Official Palestinian Radio News: The Voice of Palestine (V.O.P.) February 15-16th

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Quote of the Day-February 15

The terrorism (by Israel) yesterday involved the use of gas bombs which we do not know how to treat this poison. We are against escalation and terror. We are in favor of a just and comprehensive peace not just for our sake but also for the sake of the Israelis and the region of the Middle East. There is a role for Turkey, an international, a role for Europe, a role for Russia and for the United States and a role for the Arab states. We call for an international effort, quickly, to put a stop to this military escalation against our people”.
Yasser Arafat from Ankara press conference Wednesday, broadcast Thursday morning 7:03 a.m.

Summary and Analysis, February 15/16

From Thursday afternoon and through Friday mid-day, the Voice of Palestine headlined what it said were reports from the “Hebrew press” (al-suhuf al’ibriyya: Hebrew newspapers) that Israel was on the verge of launching full military operations against the Palestinians.

Friday’s broadcast stressed on-going artillery attacks on Khan Yunis, Bethlehem and El-Bireh, according to V.O.P., that, according to V.O.P. had caused widespread power blackouts. Palestinian Radio also stressed the stern nature of the Israeli blockade placed on Palestinian towns and cities.

At the same time there was an important change in coverage in the last two days: Yasser Arafat has come full center stage in the news reports-something that had not been seen since the “independence intifada” began in late September. This could mean that Arafat feels he needs to buttress his image and/or it could mean that there is more internal criticism of and frustration with Arafat’s leadership than what has been previously believed.

During its broadcasts on Thursday, V.O.P. continued and enlarged the process (begun Wednesday February 14) of building a heroic profile of the bus driver who rammed his bus into a bus stop south of Tel Aviv yesterday.

The Voice of Palestine did not call Ala Khalil Abu Alba a hero, but its strongly sympathetic treatment of him [ordinary working man, father of five, no known political attachments] left an unmistakable tone with listeners that the driver was being victimized and that he might even be worthy of respect.

Yasser Arafat was quoted throughout the day as calling the incident “an ordinary accident which could have taken place anywhere.” There was no condemnation whatsoever.

The central theme of the day was not terror against Israel but by Israel which was, according to the PLO’s UN representative in Geneva-nabil Ramlawi, escalating its war crimes on all fronts and evading any international investigations.

Palestinian radio emphasized the theme that Israel was preparing for war against the Palestinian Authority, using any and all military means and political stratagems. During its 9PM evening news round-up, it cited widely disparate Israeli officers such as Binyamin Ben Eliezer, (General Oren Shahor (Labor Party, former coordinator of West Bank for Israel) and former General Rafael Eytan are advocating liquidating leading PA officials, according to the V.O.P. report.

Even as it stressed that Israel was heading to war, V.O.P. highlighted claims by Arafat and other PA leaders that Israel was using illegal and immoral weapons systems using poison gas or uranium. At the same time, Israel was stopping Muslims from completing their religious duty to visit Mecca as pilgrims.

Part of the Israel-is-going-to-war picture was furnished by the government coalition developments in Israel. In the evening, V.O.P. reported at 9 p.m. that “defeated prime minister Ehud Barak” was accepting the “army portfolio” from Ariel Sharon-a reference to Barak’s designation as defense minister in the presumed Sharon-led national unity government.

Thursday Morning Headlines. February 15, 7 a.m. / 8 a.m. / 9 a.m.

  • “His Excellency President Yasser Arafat called for an international presence on Palestinian territory as a base to stop the dangerous Israeli aggression against our people;
  • During a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Jinn, his excellency also stressed the dangers of poison gas used by Israel as well as other strange measures used in Khan Yunis.;
  • “His Excellency said the Palestinian people clung to a just and lasting peace, refusing escalation and terrorism.;
  • His Excellency said Palestinian-Turkish relations were strong.;
  • Occupation forces shelled neighborhoods in Al-Aroub camp and the town of Yatta near Hebron;
  • Masses of our people escorted the two exalted martyrs in two funerals in Tulkarm and Gaza, the martyred officer Mas’oud Ayyad and the martyr First mate Ayyid Abu-Harb. The national Authority said Israel would bear the blame for the escalation that would result from the assassinations and its aggression against our people;
  • Occupation forces imposed a land, sea and air blockade on all Palestinian territory in the (West) Bank and Gaza, imposing a siege on all towns and cities;
  • The military authorities extended the custody for 15 days of Ala Khalil Abu Alba from Sheikh Radwan in Gaza for investigation while he is being treated in one of the hospitals, after his being critically wounded. And Abu Alba was wounded yesterday when the bus he was driving struck several Israeli soldiers, killing eight and injuring 21;
  • Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa say that the assassination policy of Israel against the Palestinians is a source of escalating violence. And Mousa said such assassinations only open the door to more violence and that every action leads to a reaction;
  • Jordanian foreign minister Tailib al-Rifai says that the dangerous escalation of Israel in Palestinian territory is the source of great worry to Jordan and the region;
  • Russian foreign minister Ivan Ivanov says Russia desires that new prime minister Ariel Sharon will take steps to put an end to the conflict.;
  • The Arab states strongly condemned the steps Israel was taking against our people, especially the assassination of Masoud Ayyad of Force 17. and blamed Israel for the escalation in the violence.demanding international protection for our people and condemning the war crimes being committed against our people;
  • The defeated Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak expressed his confidence that an agreement would soon be reached to form a national unity government headed by the leader of the Israeli Right, prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon.but he was not sure he (Barak) would participate in it.”

Thursday Morning Round-up Headlines, February 15

  • “His Excellency President Yasser Arafat in Ankara renews his call for an international presence in Palestinian territory to stem the savage Israeli aggression against our people (Note: this item was repeated in roughly identical form through 18 consecutive newscasts throughout the day);
  • “His Excellency extolled the state of Palestinian-Turkish relations and Palestinian-Syrian relations;

Note: V.O.P. broke from usual format and used Arafat footage from yesterday’s trip to Turkey at the top of its show, even before the bulletin headlines. The reason for this change is not clear, but perhaps it was a way of showing Arafat in good form and in control. Arafat spoke well and without interruption or noticeable stutter.

Thursday Afternoon February 15 Mid-day Round-up and Panorama Magazine, 2 p.m.

  • “The slaughter and murder of our innocent citizens continues despite international condemnations;
  • Today the Israeli authorities cold-bloodedly murdered the youth Nasser Muhammad Hasanat, 20 years old, contending that he was trying to enter the settlement of Kfar Darom, south of Gaza, and opened fire on him;
  • The reinforced Israeli blockade continues in all prefects, turning the homeland into a prison, preventing the entry or exit from any city;
  • On the political front, his excellency the president returns from a diplomatic tour of several countries.demanding an investigation into the use of poison gas;
  • The UN’s investigation commission speaks to the Minister of Labor.”

Friday February 16 Morning News 8 a.m.

  • “Occupation forces shell residential neighborhoods in El-Bireh, Hebron and southern Gaza;
  • His Excellency the president holds discussion with the European representative to the peace process (Miguel Angel Moratinos) regional topics in the shadow of the Israeli military escalation;
  • Agreement on establishment a national unity government in Israel between Labor and Likud, and Binyamin Netanyahu courts Sharon from Washington;
  • The Home Rule Minister (Saeb Erikat) warns Israel about abandoning (literally: scratching off) the source authority of the peace process;
  • The Hebrew newspapers say the Occupation forces are about to launch painful military operations against Palestinian personalities, especially against leaders of the Fatah Movement.”

Official PA radio news – . P.B.C. V.O.P. (Voice of Palestine) Radio: February 14th – Official P.A. Reaction to Bus Killings

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Quote of the Day

“And I believe that in a civilized world Sharon would be brought before an international tribunal for crimes against humanity. If he were Milosovic or Pinochet or even Heidar who was elected and chosen as a deputy minister, as a partner in a government and not as the prime minister in Austria, but only as a partner. Sharon’s history is a death sentence for respect for human rights especially for Palestinians and Arabs.”
PA Minister Hanan Ashrawi in morning interview, 8:30 a.m. on V.O.P., approximately at time of bus massacre.

Evening Summary and Analysis

V.O.P. opened its evening news with Yasser Arafat’s call for an international presence to protect Palestinians against Israeli aggression and its “dangerous escalation.” Through the 8PM evening news, the Voice of Palestine was still treating the bus massacre as an accident.

“Referring to the event in Holon, south of Tel Aviv, President Arafat said it was ‘an ordinary event and not terrorism, and the driver was arrested and his crime will be investigated,'” V.O.P. quoted Arafat as saying (during a press conference in Turkey) in its 8PM round-up.

V.O.P. also quoted Arafat as saying the Palestinians clung to a full and comprehensive peace and the rejection of violence, based on the peace process linked to UN resolutions 242 and 338 and the principle of territory for peace.

There was no condemnation of the bus attack, but there was continuous condemnation of Israeli “state terror.” (Despite an Israel Television report of a PA official issuing a disapproval of the bus attack, nothing of this kind was broadcast on Voice of Palestine or PA state television.)

PA presidential secretary Taib Abdel-Rahim was quoted throughout the day during bulletins, warning Israel that its actions were going to lead “to an explosion.”

At Seven PM Wednesday evening, V.O.P. reported that in a split-session of the Palestinian Legislature (Ramallah/Gaza), legislators condemned Israel for its policy of “state terrorism.”

Bus Massacre and Escalation

First news on V.O.P. of the bus massacre at the Holon Junction came at 8:57 a.m. from senior V.O.P. commentator Youssef al-Kazaz, who was at the tail-end of his Mishwar al-Sabah (“Morning Dialogue”) show.

Al-Kazaz said seven Israeli soldiers were killed and ten others (not necessarily soldiers from the way it was phrased) when hit by a bus.

During the 9:00 a.m. news bulletin, the same basic details were repeated along with the fact that the man driving the bus was a Palestinian from Gaza who regularly drove buses for the Israeli Egged Bus Company. There was no intimation that the man had deliberately carried out an attack, and there was scant information about him as well, only that he was wounded, too. The bus incident was sandwiched between news of a new martyr (see below) and funeral arrangements for Mas’oud Ayyad, the Force 17/Hezbollah commander who was killed by Israeli missiles yesterday.

During the 10:00 news show, V.O.P. said the bus driver had been driving for the Egged Company for five years (a detail taken apparently from the Voice of Israel). The bus massacre was not treated as an “attack” or “operation” by the news writers at V.O.P., but with language suggestive of a bus accident.

(At both nine and ten, V.O.P. opened its news with the “assassination” of ‘Ayid Khalid Abu-Harb which was condemned at length by Yasser Abd-Rabbo and other PA officials. No one at V.O.P. drew any connections between the bus attack and Israeli “assassinations/liquidations” over the last week.)

At the time of the attack, PA minister Hanan Ashrawi was describing Israeli “war crimes” in an interview from Washington. During the interview (8:20-8:32 a.m.), Ashrawi mapped out the PA’s press strategy in the United States: to depict Israeli leaders in general as war criminals who need to be brought to justice, particularly Ariel Sharon whom Ashrawi likened to August Pinochet, Slobodan Milosevic and Jorg Heidar.

In its 12-noon news round-up V.O.P. led with the headline that the Palestinian Authority rejects any responsibility for the bus incident.

It reported that PA officials-particularly parliamentary affairs minister Nabil Amr — said Israel officials had only themselves to blame for the escalation of violence. Later in the day, this comment was echoed in an on-air interview by Yasser Arafat himself.

V.O.P. identified the bus driver as Ala Khalil Abu Alba, the father of five children. V.O.P. said this identification was based on Israeli police sources. V.O.P. said the driver was seriously wounded in an Israeli operation involving helicopters. V.O.P. said its Gaza correspondent said the driver “had no connection to any political organization,” and that he lives in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza.

Wednesday Morning February 14, Summary and Analysis

V.O.P. opened its morning news with the martyring of several citizens, and at 9:00 a.m. it led its news with the assassination of another citizen.

Throughout broadcasts today and yesterday, Israel is being depicted as a cold-blooded murderer-not only of Fatah commanders but also of innocent children. (Israel has denied involvement with several of the deaths, including the death of a 14-year-old boy)

Quotes from Interview with Hanan Ashrawi, February 14, 8:20-8:32 a.m.

“There is strong worry (about Sharon) and we have to study all the possibilities about what kinds of irresponsible plots Sharon could put forward, or maybe (Note: these next few words were said with a kind of snort as if to deprecate the possibility of their being at all true) whether he might have changed.

We, as Palestinians, we have made it clear that we cannot accept a person like Sharon as a partner for peace because we realize who Sharon is. We know his past history and his hands which are covered with blood and with a chain of massacres and crimes he committed…We as Palestinians cannot except that Sharon has undergone a change, that he has broken with the past, that he is a new person…And I believe that in a civilized world Sharon would be brought before an international tribunal for crimes against humanity. If he were Milosovic or Pinochet or (note: interviewer Khalid al-Qasem tried to cut Ashrawi off but she just kept going) or even Heidar who was elected and chosen as a deputy minister as a partner in a government and not as the prime minister in Austria, but only as a partner. Sharon’s history is a death sentence for respect for human rights especially for Palestinians and Arabs.”

Wednesday Morning Round-up Headlines

(note: announcer Khaled al-Qasem has begun, today and yesterday, to dedicate the headlines to “confronting Israel” as he leads into the morning headlines)

  • “The Occupation kills an officer in Presidential Security (force) and murders a child in cold blood;
  • The national Authority condemns the crime, and Fatah threatens reaction as Barak congratulates the army;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat confers in Amman with the Jordanian monarch King Abdullah on the peace process and Israeli aggression against our people;
  • Palestinian and Arab diplomatic dynamism to confront the Israeli policy;
  • Reports and eye witnesses and doctors about the Israeli use of poison gas which is internationally prohibited;
  • The United Nations estimates that the Palestinian siege imposed by Israel at a cost of one billion dollars;
  • Occupation forces lock-down the airspace over Gaza in an escalation only one day before the departure of pilgrims on the Haj (pilgrimage to Mecca, that is one of five essential commandments or “pillars” of Islam);
  • The former Israeli government, its sun setting in the outward appearances of being caught between a policy of siege and assassination;
  • Palestinian refugees caught between bullets and poverty.”

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

  • “Eight citizens suffer various injuries in confrontations at the northern approach to El-Bireh yesterday, and Occupation authorities arrest the child Taher Harubi, after his being wounded, and take him to an unknown location;
  • Medical sources in Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis say Israeli occupation forces decided to use poison gas during their artillery shelling of Khan Yunis,… and Dr Riyad Za’anoun, the health minister has sent a letter (for assistance) to Egyptian and Jordanian authorities about the unknown poison gas used against citizens;
  • Occupation forces close Gaza International Airport… before the departure of pilgrims on the Haj…;
  • The National Authority condemns the crime of assasination of the officer Mas’oud Ayyad of the Presidential Force, Force 17, in Jabalya yesterday morning, President Yasser Arafat’s advisor Nabil Abu-Irdeineh blamed the Israeli government for the operation and for irresponsible conduct that poisons the atmosphere;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat conducted talks in Amman with Jordanian monarch King Abdullah…;
  • The American State Department considers that the situation in Palestinian territory has deteriorated seriously following the assassination of the martyr Ayyad yesterday;
  • The European Union condemns the assassination policy of Israel against our Palestinian people…;
  • Representatives of the Likud Party and the Labor Party cite great progress in talks yesterday for forming a government….”

2 p.m. Afternoon Headlines

  • “The martyring of the youth Ayyid Khalid Abu Harb, First Mate in the Palestinian Navy in east Tulkarm;
  • The National Authority refuses attempts to place blame on it for running-over operation in Tel Aviv today in which nine soldiers were killed and nineteen others wounded
  • The identity of the bus driver, who worked for the Egged Bus Company for five years, is Ala Abu Alba, father of five children, from Gaza;
  • Masses of our people in Gaza escort the exalted martyr Masoud Ayyad who was killed by an Israeli warplane (note: yes, they said warplane this time, not helicopter) yesterday;
  • Israeli forces place an air blockade on Gaza International Airport;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat, who held talks this morning with Jordanian monarch King Abdullah is now meeting Jordanian prime minister Ali Abu Ghaghib.”

Official Fatah Website Editorial: A Storm in a Broken Cup

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Even during the most dangerous wars in 1967, in 1973 and during the Zionist invasion of Lebanon in 1982, nobody held his breath as the whole area is doing now while waiting for Sharon to come. This state of horror and fear is based on the idea that something wrong may happen to the peace process.

The Oslo Accord was a historical risk and it failed in different aspects. However, our steadfastness has increased due to our adherence to international legality and to what the intifada has already achieved. What also strengthens our steadfastness is the national unity that combines all the forces that comprise the Palestinian civil society in addition to the PNA executive, legislative and judicial authorities.

The Palestinian people, therefore, will not waste their time on wishful thinking. To us, it does not matter whether Sharon or Barak will win the elections. They are two faces for the same dirty coin. And we have to prepare ourselves for the worst.

Sharon’s election campaign reminds us of that of Netanyahu who not only refused the Oslo Accord but he also accused the Labor party of being traitors who transferred “the land of Israel” to those Palestinians who according to him have no national rights. The storm that engulfed his campaign then took him to power, and Shimon Peres sank in the blood of his victims in Lebanon.

Nowadays, we witness another storm that is highly likely to take Sharon to power after the atrocities that Barak has done. His follies were much more serious than those of Peres who bombarded Qana killing hundreds of civilians. He and the high-ranking officials in his army in addition to the gangs of settlers attack the Palestinian people as part of a state-organized terror campaign. Also, he destroyed the few signs of coexistence that remained between the Palestinians living in Israel and the Israelis, when his policemen killed thirteen Arab demonstrators. He also exerted all kinds of economic pressures and closed down all crossing points in and out of the occupied territories.

The tragic living conditions that we are living as a result of Barak’s policies make us believe that the intifada should remain regardless of the results of the Israeli elections. The consensus that formed the basis of the intifada will also remain since it embodies our legal rights: the liberation of al-Aqsa and Jerusalem, the establishment of our independent state, and the return of refugees.

If Barak turns out to be the winner, then nothing will change. His victory will help resume the vicious circle that started because of Barak’s intransigence in dealing with our national rights. As to Sharon, it is not necessary to mention the atrocities he committed against our people. One thing should be stressed here: regardless of who is the winner, any future Israeli government will not last for long due to the composition of the current Israeli Knesset.

In short, the upcoming Israeli elections make it necessary to prepare our selves for the worst prospects. A short-term plan has to be devised taking into account the following levels:

First: The Palestinian Level

Our adherence to the basic principles that are embodied in international resolutions is the first requirement that we need for our action plan. A clear and solid political position will enhance our trust in ourselves, the Muslim world and the international community. Our commitment to a comprehensive peace remains an important guarantee in our battle against the arrogant Zionists who continue to violate the international resolutions.

The clarity of the political position requires the strengthening of the organizational and administrative structure of all forces participating in the struggle. These forces consists of:

The PNA executive, legislative and judicial authorities.

The PNA shoulders the responsibility of maintaining a high degree of readiness while it is engaged in the negotiations with Israel. This will enhance the negotiating position and guarantee the continuation of the intifada.

In this regard, the role that the Ministry of Health has played during the intifada offers a good example to other ministries, with each ministry contributing in accordance with its capabilities and the nature of services it offers.

The ministry of Education has also played a wonderful role in organizing the educational and teaching process without any serious interruptions. The ministry helped maintain the level of stability that is essential for a civil society to carry out its activities.

Other ministries such as the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Finance have also played a role. However, their future plans have to take into account the nature of tasks to be carried out as part of our continuous struggle.

Emphasis should be placed on the vital role of the security apparatus in maintaining a high level of security for the Palestinian society. The security apparatus has also played a role in the battle against collaborators who helped Israel in its military as well as psychological warfare against us.

As to the judicial authorities, they can help in the fight against corruption and any attempts that may be made to distort the Palestinian society.

National and Islamic Forces

These forces make up the hard core necessary for implementing the action plan to be devised. The unified statements expressing the political position that were issued by all forces participating in the intifada reflect the high degree of national unity we have. This will strengthen the position of the Palestinian negotiating team.

Enhancing national unity requires a higher level of co-ordination between the institutions of the PNA and the national and Islamic forces. Such coordination will help avoid any contradictions that may emerge as a result of political differences. Priority should be given to our national rights.

Public Organizations and Federations and NGOs

A third force in the confrontation against the Israeli occupation is the non -government organizations. These institutions comprise the Palestinian civil society whose participation in the intifada is essential. It is these institutions that give the intifada its public nature and guarantee its continuity.

These three basic forces that constitute our society need to have a high degree of coordination because of the complementary nature of the tasks they carry out as their contribution to the intifada. The unity they should experience in their work is the only guarantee for avoiding any risks that may destroy any achievements we have made since the Oslo Accord.

Secondly: The Arab and Islamic Level

The Arab and Islamic support for our national project is necessary for avoiding the dangers of the Oslo Accord. The intifada succeeded in unifying the Arab and Islamic front against the colonial Zionist danger. It made possible the holding of two important conferences: the Arab summit conference and the Islamic conference. However, Arab and Muslim countries have not yet played the role we expect of them. U.S. and Israeli threats in addition to the absence of a true Arab consensus as a result of the Gulf war, explain the failure of an active role by these countries.

The moral and material support that Iraq has offered for the Intifada represents a good example to other Arab countries.

Palestinian national and Islamic forces reaffirm their earlier position that Arab and Islamic countries should shoulder their responsibilities towards our cause. These countries should realize that the upcoming confrontation with the new Israeli government will be much more forceful.

Third: The International Level

The disappearance of Denis Ross and the Zionist administration of Clinton will hopefully put an end to the U.S. monopoly over the peace process. The latest statements by Mr. Kofi Anan and the interest he has shown in the Palestinian Israeli negotiations, indicate that the U.N. can play a much more effective role instead of the marginal one it has so far played.

The determination of such a role depends on us. We should continue to adhere to all international resolutions relevant to our issue: 181, 242, 338 and 194. As to international sponsorship, Russia, Europe, the Security Council countries and some Arab countries should be involved.

A more effective role by the U.N. and a wider international involvement in sponsoring the peace process will protect our rights and the peace process as well.

These expectations of what needs to be done requires a great deal of preparations without paying attention to Israeli propaganda that will eventually fade away.

Revolution Until Victory.
Special Thanks to “imra” at www.imra.org.il for calling our attention to this site.

Official PA Radio News, 13th Febuary, 2001

By
​Center for Near East Policy Research
-

Assassination Aftermath Bulletin, 2 p.m.

Following the assassination this morning of Mas’oud Ayyad, an officer in the Palestinian elite unit known as Force 17, V.O.P. reacted with extensive live local coverage detailed condemnations from the Palestinian Authority. This included comments from PA spokesman Nabil Abu-Irdeineh that the PA would not be scared off by such actions and policies by Ariel Sharon and his advisor Meir Dagan (although neither Sharon nor Dagan are in office yet) and would respond to them, raising violence to a new level. PA Justice Minister Freih Abu-Medein said Israel was guilty of “state terrorism.”

The Fatah secretary in Gaza said “the Israeli enemy” would not succeed in dampening the Intifada with its policy of escalations.

V.O.P. said the death of Ayyad was the tenth assassination of a Fatah commander by Israel during the Intifada.

The V.O.P. coverage featured an unusual 11:02 a.m. live broadcast from Gaza with its local corespondent ‘Adil Za’anoun describing the four missiles fired by the helicopter-borne Israeli assassination team.

The “martyr” Ayyad, 55 years old, was described as a key Force 17 commander, and V.O.P. relayed part of the Israeli contentions that Ayyad had been working with Hezbollah (Lebanon) operatives to smuggle heavy weapons into Gaza and to train Palestinians in their use (but V.O.P. did not report Israeli contentions that this included at least two mortar attacks on Netzarim settlement in Gaza).

Summary and Analysis
Escalation: Verbal and Otherwise

For the last three or four days, the Voice Of Palestine has been opening its news shows with general headlines about Israeli escalations and heightened confrontations, even when there are no fatalities on the Palestinian side which could be headlined as “martyrings.” (Note: today and late yesterday, the deaths of two Palestinians allowed V.O.P. to begin its news shows with a martyr headline rather than a general escalation headline.) At the same time, as has been customary for V.O.P., there is scant attention being paid to Israeli fatalities or attacks on Israeli civilians that often touch off confrontations, which are then covered luridly.

V.O.P. described the Israeli use of tear gas in its news stories today and yesterday in almost-hysterical terms, today describing the gas as “poison gas” as well as “a type of nerve gas prohibited by international law.”

V.O.P. has been highlighting PA officials-as well as Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Musa-contending that there can be no talks with Israel unless they begin from where they had left off in Taba, with the ideas of yesterday’s leaders: Clinton, Barak, Ben-Ami and Beilin. The tough talk is also laced with strong hints of threats (see interview below with Nabil Sha’ath, interviewed yesterday, translated today).

Days of Rage and Preparations For War?

It appears that the heightened V.O.P. rhetoric is meant to prepare (and perhaps even trigger) the Palestinian public for actual escalation as well as to make a case before human rights investigations and European governments for increased intervention on their part at a time when the Palestinian Authority has been more than disappointed by the statements by President George Bush, ex-President Bill Clinton and soon-to-be-ex-prime minister Ehud Barak.

In a very unusual morning commentary by senior V.O.P. commentator Youssef al-Kazaz, the Palestinian Authority virtually beseeched gunmen not to shoot from populated neighborhoods and inhabited buildings. This was not a call for non-violence or for restraint. Rather it was more like an operations manual to prevent an Israeli reprisal that would hurt civilians. The almost-plaintive commentary by Kazaz was nearly identitical-but much longer and repetitive-than a similiar call broadcast on V.O.P. from Marwan Barghouti on December 31. Then, too, the comment was not a call for non-violence but for more effective violence. The fact that this time the summons or plea came from the voice of V.O.P.’s top commentator can mean one or both of the following-and neither of them good.

Arafat is really preparing for war and preparing his public for war; and/or
Arafat still has a great deal of control but not enough to prevent wide-spread ‘freelance’ attacks by PA armed forces and tanzeem, unless he goes head-to-head with them, risking a serious loss of his intifada-won popularity rise.

7 a.m. Morning Round-up Headlines

  • “The latest Intifada news and (news of) the Israeli aggression against the sons of our people from our correspondents throughout the homeland;
  • Two martyrs in Ramallah and El-Bireh, and a farming ban in Khan Yunis camp;
  • Occupation forces burn tens of houses near the Tufah roadblock, as they use gas that induces hysteria;
  • His Excellency President Yasser Arafat begins an Arab round (of talks) to deal with developments after Sharon’s victory in the prime ministerial election in Israel;
  • Dr. Nabil Sha’ath visits Saudi Arabia to meet with Saudi Finance Minister;
  • The Fatah movement in Bethlehem calls for boycotting Israeli media because of their lack of reliability;
  • Likelihood of forming a national unity government in Israel between Labor and Likud.”

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

  • “Israeli aggression continues against the sons of our people leading to the martyring of two citizens and the wounding of ninety, six of them in dangerous condition;
  • Israeli shelling on several locations in the homeland… ;
  • Occupation forces continue to hold on to the body of the exalted martyr Atif Ahmad al-Nabulsi, 35 years old;
  • His excellency President Yasser Arafat meets Tunisian President Zein Abdeen Ben-Ali today in Tunis after meeting Egyptian president Husni Mubarak in Cairo yesterday;
  • The Palestinian Authority condemns Israeli aggression against our people, and the presidential secretary Ta’ib Abdel-Rahim says that the escalation carried out by the occupation army in Ramallah and Beit Jallah and Khan Yunis is unprecedented.” (fuller version of headlines to be sent later)

Quotes from Interview with Nabil Sha’ath on current inter-Arab dialogue (Monday February 12, 7:45 a.m.)

“The important problem for Palestinian public opinion is execution (of Arab commitments to donate to the Intifada support fund). They have heard us, but what we desire is execution. That’s not the matter. It’s not about an exchange of opinions but a difference of opinion about execution and framework and why this agreement has not led to a speedy execution. When the agreement is finished the Palestinian citizen has to feel it-not only in statements but on the ground.”

Question: “What message did the Arabs at the conference send Sharon in connection with the peace process?”

Answer: “The message was clear, and it was that we link any progress in the talks with the obligation of Israeli party to the source authority of Madrid, international resolutions 242, 194 and beside that the agreements and international memoranda and the exchange of territory for peace. If Sharon really wants success, then he has to abide by these rules.

And if not, then he will find an Arab nation and Arab governments in front of him ready to resist any attempt to attack us….And I think Minister Amr Musa made this point completely.”

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