New PA school named after mastermind of Munich Olympics massacre
New PA school
named for mastermind
named for mastermind
of Munich Olympics massacre
PA official on importance of school's name:
"To commemorate the memory of this great national fighter"
- School in West Bank named after Salah Khalaf, head of Black September terror group. Attacks he planned include murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics and murder of 2 American diplomats in Sudan
- PA Ministry of Education is responsible for naming schools
- This is the 4th PA school named after terrorist Salah Khalaf
- PMW has written to the European Union which funds the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education to condition its funding on the PA changing the names of all schools named after terrorists
The Palestinian Authority has again chosen to name a school after a terrorist. Soon children in the West Bank city of Tulkarem will be reminded daily that murdering Israelis is heroic when they attend "the Martyr Salah Khalaf School," which is named after the head of the Black September terror organization, Salah Khalaf, also known as Abu Iyad. Attacks he planned include the murder of the 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics (Sept. 5, 1972) and the murder of 2 American diplomats in Sudan (March 1, 1973).
The Palestinian Authority laid the cornerstone to the new school a few weeks ago, and at the ceremony PA official Issam Abu Bakr, District Governor of Tulkarem, "emphasized the importance of the project of building the school named after Martyr Salah Khalaf, in order to commemorate the memory of this great national fighter." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 24, 2016]
This is the fourth school the PA has chosen to name after this terrorist, following these three others:
The Salah Khalaf Elementary School - Gaza
The Salah Khalaf Junior High School - Gaza
The Martyr Abu Iyad School - Rafah
Other PA officials in attendance at the ceremony were Tulkarem Mayor Iyad Al-Jallad and Salam Al-Taher, Head of the Tulkarem Education Directorate, part of the PA Ministry of Education.
Palestinian Media Watch has also documented that the PA Ministry of Education is responsible for naming and changing existing names of PA schools.
PMW has written to the European Union, which funds salaries in the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education, and called on the EU to condition its funding on the PA's changing the names of this and all schools named after terrorists.
PMW's letter follows below.
The new Salah Khalaf School is just another element in the PA's indoctrination of Palestinian children to believe that murderers of Israelis are heroes. PMW's report From Terrorists to Role Models documents the PA's practice of naming streets, buildings, institutions, and activities after terrorists.
The PA's naming yet another school after a terrorist demonstrates its determination to cement the idea in the minds of the young generation that killing an Israeli makes you a hero.
The following is the report in the official PA daily on the new school:
Headline: "Tulkarem District Governor lays the cornerstone of the first stage of the school named after Martyr Salah Khalaf"
"Tulkarem District Governor Issam Abu Bakr laid the cornerstone of the first stage of construction of the school named after Martyr (Shahid) Salah Khalaf [Abu Iyad] (i.e., terrorist responsible for murder of more than 11 Israelis) in the eastern neighborhood of Tulkarem. This was with funding from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development in Kuwait, and with the participation of [Tulkarem] Mayor Iyad Al-Jallad and Head of the [Tulkarem] Education Directorate (i.e., under the PA Ministry of Education) Salam Al-Taher...
Abu Bakr emphasized the importance of the project of the construction of the school named after Martyr Salah Khalaf, in order to commemorate the memory of this great national fighter."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 24, 2016]
PMW's letter to the EU
Maja KOCIJAN?I?
Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy;
European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations
Dear Mrs. Maja Kocijancic,
I am writing with regard to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry of Education's decision to name a new school after the terrorist Salah Khalaf, head of the Black September terror organization. [See attached article, official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 24, 2016]
Attacks Khalaf masterminded include the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and the murder of 2 American diplomats in Sudan in 1973. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that this is the fourth school the Palestinian Authority has decided to name after this particular terrorist, among the 25 schools it has named after terrorists in total.
The EU must be made aware that the PA Ministry of Education is investing yet more money into terror glorification for children, since the EU funds Palestinian Authority education.
Were the EU to condition its funding for the PA Ministry of Education and salaries to PA teachers on renaming the Salah Khalaf School, it would be a major step in the direction of peace.
In your response regarding PMW's report The PA's Billion Dollar Fraud, [Apr. 28, 2016] (documenting the Palestinian Authority's payments of salaries to Palestinian terrorist prisoners), you wrote that the EU is not responsible for the PA salaries to terrorists in prison because it does not fund the PA's general budget; rather, you wrote that the EU funds the PA's education and health services.
Although the PA will argue that EU money was not specifically used for building this particular school, the EU's donor status does entitle great leverage with the PA regarding their educational practices. Today the EU has a valuable opportunity to promote peace by demanding that the PA change the name of the new Salah Khalaf School, and from here on end its practice of naming schools after terrorists.
It is undeniable that presenting terrorist murderers of Israeli civilians as role models for Palestinian children is a most damaging educational message. Please let me know what actions the EU will be taking to prevent this manner of terror glorification in Palestinian education.
The report from the Palestinian media on the building on the school follows below.
Kind regards,
Itamar Marcus, Director, Palestinian Media Watch