Palestinians repeat tactic of hiding their true positions
UNRWA denies hiding map of “Palestine”
during visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Archives:
PA hid map that erased Israel from Obama in 2013
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
UNRWA has denied hiding a map of “Palestine” on the occasion of a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to an UNRWA school in the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, the independent Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported that a map of “Palestine” was covered up at the UNRWA school Al-Zeitoun while Ban Ki-moon held a press conference there. Later, Ma’an reported that UNRWA Media Advisor Adnan Abu Hasna “denied that the map of Palestine was covered up” during Ban Ki-moon’s visit. [June 28, 2016]
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Picture of the map of Palestine at the UNRWA school in plain sight (left) and hidden for Ban Ki-moon (right) [Maan (independent Palestinian news agency), June 28, 2016] |
The choice by Palestinians to hide their official, educational maps from world leaders illustrates that Palestinians understand that their denial of the existence of Israel through these maps exposes their true ideology and is disapproved of by the international community.
This same type of deception took place when US President Obama visited the PA in 2013. At the time, Palestinian Media Watch documented that the PA removed a map-shaped monument on Obama's travel route so that he wouldn’t see it and instead replaced it with a monument of a peace dove.
"Birth certificate of the State of Palestine - Nov. 29, 2012”
While PA leaders routinely tell their own people, through maps and in other ways, that a future state of “Palestine” will replace all of Israel, they hide these maps from international leaders, possibly because the “official” position which they share with world leaders is the publicly stated goal to “live in peace beside Israel.” PMW has exposed hundreds of official PA and Fatah maps that erase the existence of the entire State of Israel and present it as “Palestine.” Before his first election, US President Obama criticized such maps that anticipate a world without Israel, calling them a threat to Israel's security:
"I will never compromise when it comes to Israel's security... Not when there are terrorist groups and political leaders committed to Israel's destruction. Not when there are maps across the Middle East that don't even acknowledge Israel's existence." (emphasis added)
[AIPAC Conference, June 4, 2008]
The following are the reports on the UNRWA school’s hiding of the map of Palestine followed by UNRWA’s denial that it took place:Headline: “Gaza - the map of Palestine was covered at the school that [UN Secretary-General Ban] Ki-moon visited”
“The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) covered the map of Palestine (the PA map that presents all of Israel as part of ‘Palestine’ -Ed.) on the walls of the Al-Zeitoun School while [UN Secretary-General] Ban Ki-moon was at the school, in which he held a press conference. The matter aroused the anger of Gaza residents.
The picture shows a board with the map of Palestine having been covered with a white cloth while Ban Ki-moon held his press conference at the UNRWA school.
An activist on Facebook responded to this move: ‘The map of Palestine was covered at the UNRWA school in Gaza, which Ban Ki-moon visited a short time ago, because it presents historical Palestine, and that (i.e., it being covered) was so that he would not express his concern over it!’”
[Ma’an (independent Palestinian news agency), June 28, 2016]
Headline: “UNRWA denies that the map of Palestine was covered during the visit of [UN Secretary-General] Ban Ki-moon in Gaza”
“United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Media Advisor Adnan Abu Hasna denied that the map of Palestine (the PA map that presents all of Israel as part of ‘Palestine’ -Ed.) was covered up at one of the UNRWA schools during the visit of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the Gaza Strip.
Abu Hasna said in a statement to the press: ‘During the visit of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in one of the UNRWA schools, the map of ‘historical Mandatory Palestine’ was not covered. He visited the school when the map was not covered.’
Abu Hasna added: ‘There was no covered map, and no senior UNRWA official ordered to cover the map. Its ]the map’s] presence does not harm the neutrality of UNRWA.’”
[Maan (independent Palestinian news agency), June 28, 2016]