Israel Resource Review |
24th October, 2000 |
Contents:
Official PA radio news - the PBC Voice of Palestine Oct 23
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The Jews came here to sweep away the presence our people to transfer our
people." (Ahmad Abdul-Rahman, cabinet secretary of the Palestinian
Authority, in Oct 23 first morning news interview)
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DETAIL AND HEADLINES
Top item in details from 7am news:
"President Yaser Arafat returned to his headquarters in Gaza yesterday from
Cairo, and his excellency said the Israeli escalation against the sons of
our people are a sinful plot. His excellency considered results of the Arab
summit to be positive and important, especially the stances of the Arab
states and their steadfastness-politically and financially-- with our
people's struggle.
His Excellency (Arafat) said our people are turning their destiny to
Jerusalem, our independent and eternal capital."
SUMMARY
In its broadcasts of Oct 23, VOP escalated the tone of its rhetoric,
highlighting the need to fight for Jerusalem while reminding listeners of
"the original sin" Zionism as an expansionist movement aimed at throwing the
Arabs off their land. The toughest remarks came from Ahmad Abdul-Rahman, one
of Arafat's two closest advisors who seemed to be echoing Arafat's remarks
of Oct 22 that Barak could "go to hell." Abdul-Rahman, the PA cabinet
secretary used the term "Jews" and insisted that their intention hadalways
been to evict the Arabs. The "subtext" of this message is not repealing the
"aggression of '67" or even the "calamity of '48" nor even the Balfour
Declaration of 1917. Rather it is a reference to "arrival of the Zionists"
that originally appears in the earliest 1964 version of the Palestinian
Covenant. That document says that Jews who arrived "before the Zionist
invasion" may stay in Palestine. Abdul-Rahman's rhetoric is basically a
recurrence of such dialectic. It is no accident. It follows and even
upgrades Arafat's speech at the Arab Summit that spoke of UN resolutions 191
and 184 calling for the resettlement of refugees and implementation of the
1947 partition lines.
In its early morning news, VOP highlighted the fighting in Beit Jallah as
a dangerous escalation involving Israeli helicopters, featuring a report
from its local reporter, Sayid Ayad, who head Israel had employed missiles,
artillery, tanks and helicopters in its attack on the homes of Beit Jallah.
Ayad said Israel had hit several homes, destroyed a fire engine and and
almost hit a school.
VOP said the Palestinian Authority "welcomed" the decisions of the Arab
summit in Cairo, stressing Tunisia's decision to cut off official ties with
Israel.
In its afternoon and evening broadcasts (Oct 22) the Voice of Palestine
stressed that Israel was using internationally banned "dumdum"bullets. VOP
placed great emphasis on Israel's use of "live ammunition all the time,"
going into great detail into the kinds of ammunition and casualties in a
variety of localities: Jenin, Ramallah, Hebron and several smaller towns.
This came well before the late evening fighting in Gilo/Beit Jallah.
SONG OF THE DAY
Ya al-Qudsi Arabi, Arabi. Ya al-Quds Sumudi Sumudi:
O Jerusalem is Arab, Arab
O Jerusalem my steadfastness, my steadfastness.
VOP has switched to a total package of martial music to introduce its
news and feature programming-always using patriotic/Islamic songs that
highlight the terms "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great: a phrase frequently
employed as a battle cry for Islamic fighters.
The spirit of the songs is best summed up by a verse that repeats itself constantly during the daily programming:
"Namutu, Namutu Jamian
Wa-Yehi al-Watan"
It means: "We will die, we will die--all of us, and the homeland will live."
INTERVIEW
Cabinet Secretary Ahmad Abdul-Rahman (in top-featured prime drive-time
morning interview 7:10 AM): This government (Barak) sees it as its right to
open fire on Palestinians, to kill Palestinians, to wound Palestinians. If
one Palestinian throws a rock or a gasoline bomb-woe unto all the
Palestinians and their houses, their lives and farms. We say the Israelis
are to blame. The Israelis built the settlements. The Jews came here to
sweep away the presence of our people, to build the movement to transfer our
people, to expel our people. Well any people has the right to defend itself
and to defend its land".
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