"The Jews" killed Arafat - Palestinian kids’ hate speech in PA TV annual broadcast
"The Jews" killed Arafat:
Palestinian kids' hate speech
in PA TV annual broadcast
Palestinian kids' hate speech
in PA TV annual broadcast
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
"The Jews poisoned him [Arafat] and I hate them very much. Allah will repay them what they deserve."
Every year, this statement is repeated by a young Palestinian girl during PA TV's annual rebroadcast of a program commemorating the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death.
Other young children also repeat the libel that Israel/the Jews killed Arafat. One boy admits that he does not really know how Arafat died, but he knows who did it:
"He [Arafat] died from poisoning by the Jews. Well, I don't know what he died from, but I know it was by the Jews."
Click to viewPalestinian Media Watch has documented PA TV's rebroadcast of these statements since it first aired on the fifth anniversary of Arafat's death in 2009. At the time, the children's statements appeared as part of a televised memorial ceremony.
The fact that children repeat that "the Jews" poisoned and killed Arafat shows the success of the continuous demonization of Jews and Israelis by the PA. The fact that the government-controlled PA TV chooses to rebroadcast these statements every year suggests that this is a message that the PA wishes to emphasize and continue to transmit to children.
The following is the transcript of the children's messages on the annual PA TV program:
Ceremony host: "Blessings to Yasser Arafat, and here are messages from the children of Palestine." [From 2009 PA ceremony, not part of PA TV 2010, 2011, 2012 broadcast, - Ed.]
Boy: "I was very, very sad when Arafat died as a Shahid (Martyr), because he was a good man and he was a fighter. He did things through struggle, he participated in the struggle and did not make peace and so on. He wanted to fight."
Boy 2: "Yasser Arafat was a very, very important president. He stood up to all the enemies and was not afraid of anyone. And anyone who approached - he managed to stop him. All the Jews and the Israelis and the people who are against us, were afraid of him. When he died, he died of poisoning."
Girl: "I say that he died from poisoning by the Jews. That's what I say."
Boy 3: "Arafat used to say: "They want me dead, they want me prisoner, but I say to them: Martyr! Martyr! Martyr!"
Girl 2: "He [Arafat] was our former president. He was under siege in Ramallah, and when he was under siege we were very upset. The Jews poisoned him and I hate them very much. Allah will repay them what they deserve."
Boy 4: "He [Arafat] died from poisoning by the Jews. Well, I don't know what he died from, but I know it was by the Jews."
Boy 5: "They destroyed his whole house and he was left in one room and in the end the Jews poisoned him and blamed someone else."
[PA TV (Fatah), Nov. 10, 2009 and 2010, Nov. 11, 2011 and 2012]