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Fatah boasts about lynch murder

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook  |
As PMW reported earlier this week, PA (Fatah) TV marked the second anniversary of the Hamas takeover of Gaza by broadcasting a public Fatah event that focuses on vilifying Hamas. One part of this performance features a graphic video of Hamas members brutally beating a Fatah member in Gaza.

Another part criticizes and mocks Hamas for the decrease in its terror operations against Israel, glorifies Fatah terror, and ends with Fatah boasting that they "arrested two soldiers in Ramallah," a reference to the October 2000 lynching of two Israeli reservists.

In this scene actors portray a Hamas teacher and student supporters of Fatah and Hamas, debating which movement is greater. Significantly, the competition between Fatah and Hamas supporters is based not on who has built more Palestinian infrastructures, nor on who has promoted peace, but rather on who can take credit for more terror.

The debate ends when a Fatah student trumps Hamas's boast of having kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by mentioning the "arrest of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah" by the PA-Fatah. This alludes to the lynching and gruesome murder of two Israeli reservist soldiers who accidentally entered the Palestinian Authority-controlled city in October 2000. While the picture of a Palestinian celebrating the killing by waving his bloody hands to the mob horrified the world, the murder remains a source of pride for Fatah.

[Note: Seated in the front row at the event are Fatah leaders, including Muhammad Dahlan, former head of PA security; Qadura Fares, head of the PA Prisoners' Association; Nasser Al-Qidwa, Chairman, Board of Directors, Institute for the Commemoration of Arafat and former PA Foreign Minister; Samir Al-Mashharawi, senior Fatah official; and others.]

The following is a transcript of the act:

Fatah student taunts Hamas:"Since Hamas seized power, we haven't heard of any Martyrdom operation [suicide-bombing]."
Hamas teacher: "It's called 'fighter's rest.'"
Fatah student: "A Hamas fighter needs rest, but a Fatah fighter doesn't need rest?!"
Hamas teacher: "Every fighter has the right to rest."
Fatah student: "Why is it that when Fatah stops fighting, you [Hamas] say they're cowards, but when Hamas stops fighting, you say it's 'fighter's rest?'"
Hamas teacher: "I don't know much about resistance [terror] and fighters..."
Fatah student: "The first shot was fired by the PLO; the first Jihad was carried out by the PLO [audience applauds], with all the other factions - but Hamas always opposed."
Hamas student: "What do you say about Hamas having kidnapped the [Israeli] soldier Shalit [still held hostage - Ed.]?"
Hamas teacher: "Ahaaa!"
Student: "By Allah, it's good."
Hamas student: "Did Fatah ever capture a soldier?!"
Fatah student: "It was the [other] brigades who captured him [Shalit] and sold him to you [Hamas]. It's a deal that you [Hamas] made for your own benefit, not for the [Palestinian] people's benefit." [Applause]
Fatah student: Remember, in Ramallah the [PA-Fatah] police arrested two soldiers - have you forgotten, teacher?!" [A reference to the lynching in Ramallah in October 2000- Ed.]
[PATV June 17, 2009]
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