Swedish MP questions aid to PA after PMW presentation
Following PMW presentation,
Swedish MP questions Swedish aid to the PA,
Swedish Foreign Minister to answer questions
in Parliament about Palestinian incitement
Swedish MP Mikael Oscarsson:
"We must check where the funding
that we send to the PA is going.
We cannot support incitement to terror.
We will call Foreign Minister Wallström to the plenum
and force her to answer to the evidence of [Palestinian] incitement
that we just saw"
[The Jerusalem Post, Jan. 22, 2016]
"The [Swedish] government has decided
to double its aid to Palestine
after the recognition [as a state],
but we cannot just continue to give money
without taking this hate propaganda into account"
[Världen Idag (Swedish daily),Jan. 20, 2016]
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Following Palestinian Media Watch director Itamar Marcus' presentation of PMW findings on Palestinian Authority and Fatah hate incitement and terror promotion to opposition MPs, Swedish MP Mikael Oscarsson (Christian Democrats) called to reconsider Sweden's aid to the PA:
"The [Swedish] government has decided to double its aid to Palestine after the recognition [as a state], but we cannot just continue to give money without taking this hate propaganda into account."
[Världen Idag (Swedish daily),Jan. 20, 2016]
MP Oscarsson had invited Itamar Marcus to Swedish Parliament to inform Swedish MPs about the content of Palestinian messaging and its impact on terror and peace. MP Oscarsson suggested that because of Sweden's role as a major donor to the PA, it is also Sweden's obligation to question PA policies and conduct in light of PMW's "important information":
"The purpose of the meeting [with PMW's Itamar Marcus] was for the MPs to receive important information. Sweden is a large contributor to Palestine and therefore we must also present counterclaims [to the PA]."
[Dagen (Swedish daily), Jan. 22, 2016]
In light of PMW findings that demonstrate the clear impediments to peace posed by the PA, MP Oscarsson stated that the opposition intends to force Foreign Minister Wallström to answer questions about Palestinian incitement:
"We must check where the funding that we send to the PA is going. We cannot support incitement to terror. We will call Foreign Minister Wallström to the plenum and force her to answer to the evidence of [Palestinian] incitement that we just saw."
[The Jerusalem Post, Jan. 22, 2016]
MP Oscarsson repeated PMW director Marcus' assessment that the Palestinian leadership sees Swedish Foreign Minister Wallström's recent remarks calling for an investigation of Israel's "extrajudicial killings of Palestinians" as Swedish support for continued Palestinian violence against Israelis, disguised as self-defense:
"Now the [Palestinian] acts of violence have intensified and [they] also use [Swedish Foreign Minister] Wallström's statements as a kind of support. It is very important that the [Swedish] government breaks with this image and shows that it is possible to consider this kind of information (i.e., the findings by Palestinian Media Watch), which is not an expression of opinion but only translation from the official Palestinian [TV] programs."
[Världen Idag, Jan. 20, 2016]
The following is an interview with Itamar Marcus and MP Mikael Oscarsson in the Swedish daily Världen Idag:
Headline: "Break with hatred and incitement against Israel"
By Eva Janzon
"'Instead of criticizing Israel for how to deal with the recent stabbing spree, Sweden should pay attention to the constant encouragement of terror from the Palestinian side,' says Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch, which examines the Palestinian Authority through its media and school books.
It is [Swedish] Foreign Minister Margot Wallström (S) who has made Itamar Marcus travel from Israel to Stockholm at short notice to meet with politicians and appear before churches and the Zionist Federation.
He and other Israelis see with indignation that [Swedish Foreign Minister] Margot Wallström called for an examination of whether extrajudicial killings has been used by Israel during the last few months of many acts of violence and knife attacks against Israelis.
'It does not really matter if she did not intend supporting those [Palestinians] who carry out these attacks, but what matters is how the Palestinians perceive what she said,' says Itamar Marcus.
'And they understand that her statement fits in with what is already being said by the PA top, namely that the world is ready to accept this kind of violence.'
Itamar Marcus has brought a long series of examples of statements on official PA television, which in different ways glorify and motivate the attacks of the recent months.
In particular, he highlights a statement dated Oct. 17, 2015 on the Palestinian Authority's official television channel by Jibril Rajoub, president of both the Palestinian Football Federation and the Olympic Committee, as well as Deputy Party Secretary of Fatah, which controls the West Bank.
Jibril Rajoub 'congratulates' those who have carried out knife attacks against Israelis, praising them as Martyrs, 'assets to the entire Palestinian people,' and even provides an explanation for the attacks:
'The international community does not agree to a bus exploding in Tel Aviv. But the international community does not ask for what happens to a settler or soldier in the occupied territories [who is there] at the wrong time and in the wrong place. No one asks about him! Therefore, we want to fight in such a way that the world and the international community will remain by our side.' [PA TV Oct. 17, 2015]
'It is quite unbelievable that no politicians have distanced themselves from Jibril Rajoub after this. He should be banned from Europe, as a sign of opposition to all the incitement to violence that constantly is coming from Palestinian sources,' says Itamar Marcus.
'But I am always told the same thing when I speak with parliamentarians from the European Parliament or from different countries in Europe: "It is horrible with this hate propaganda and incitement, but we have no choice but to cooperate with and support the Palestinian Authority so that it does not collapse."'
Itamar Marcus points out that many of the attacks against Israelis have been committed by teenagers, and sees a clear link to the enemy image of Israel and the Jews which for a long time has been allowed to spread through Palestinian children's television.
'The conclusion we must draw from recent months, when so many Palestinian teenagers have committed murder or attempted to commit murder, that [donor] money should not go to media that teach children to say that Jews are pigs and that Israel should be destroyed,' he says.
'And those who should deal with this is Europe, precisely because the Palestinian Authority needs Europe.'
Itamar Marcus was invited to [Swedish] Parliament by MP Mikael Oscarsson (KD). He has repeatedly urged the government to condition aid from Sweden to Palestine, in order to fight off the statements, including on TV, inciting to violence and hatred against Jews and Israel.
'The [Swedish] government has decided to double its aid to Palestine after the recognition [of Palestine as a state], but I think we cannot just continue to give money without taking this hate propaganda into account, he [MP Oscarsson] says to the Världen Idag.
'Now the acts of violence have intensified and [they] also use Wallström's statements as a kind of support. So it is very important that the [Swedish] government breaks with this image and shows that it is possible to consider this kind of information (i.e., the findings by Palestinian Media Watch), which is not an expression of opinion but only translation from the official Palestinian [TV] programs. If you look at Northern Ireland, it was only when they dealt with the hate propaganda in the textbooks that a real change towards peace took place.'"
[Världen Idag, Jan. 20, 2016]