Official PA op-ed threatens Israeli minister, PMW asked to pass on warning
Official PA op-ed threatens Israeli minister,
PMW asked to pass on warning
Official PA daily op-ed:
"We hope that the unit that monitors the Palestinian media,
Palestinian Media Watch, will pass on this message
as it has passed on other messages in the past"
Message PMW was asked to deliver to Israeli Minister for Public Security Gilad Erdan addresses all Israelis and ends with a warning from the Quran:
"We say to you: 'If you return [to sin],
We will return [to punishment]'"
[Sura 17:8, Sahih International translation]
Continuation of the Sura warns:
"And We have made Hell, for the disbelievers, a prison-bed"
- Warning to Minister Erdan and Israelis comes after Erdan urged the International Olympic Committee to suspend Jibril Rajoub, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, due to his incitement
- PMW has notified the Minister for Public Security of the threat and warning in the official PA daily
By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
An op-ed in the official Palestinian Authority daily identifies Palestinian Media Watch as the organization exposing the PA's messaging, and asks PMW to deliver a message to Israeli Minister for Public Security Gilad Erdan. The op-ed by football coach and journalist Abd Al-Fattah Arar, goes on to condemn and threaten Erdan for urging the International Olympic Committee to ban the Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee Jibril Rajoub. The writer opens by asking PMW to deliver his message to Erdan:"We hope that the unit that monitors the Palestinian media, Palestinian Media Watch, will pass on this message as it has passed on other messages in the past..."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 5, 2018]
The message to the minister and possibly all of Israel contains a threat and a warning. "If this threat (i.e., Erdan's letter to the Olympic Committee) is meant to frighten us so that we will not again defend our cause, we say to you (in plural -Ed.): 'If you return [to sin], We will return [to punishment]' [Quran, Sura 17:8, Sahih International translation]."
[Op-ed by Abd Al-Fattah Arar in sports section
of official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 5, 2018]
This verse from the Quran that the writer chose to quote is part of Sura 17 which talks about the "Children of Israel", and their various punishments for their "sins." The verse following the warning quoted in the op-ed promises "Hell for the disbelievers" (bold below): "[Then Allah said], 'It is expected, [if you repent], that your Lord will have mercy upon you. But if you return [to sin], We will return [to punishment]. And We have made Hell, for the disbelievers, a prison-bed.'"
[Quran, Sura 17:8, Sahih International translation]
It is ambiguous as to whether the writer is intending that Palestinians or Allah "will return to punishment" of Minister Erdan and Israelis. The following is the text of the PA daily's warning:"Extremist Israeli Minister [of Internal Security] Gilad Erdan sent the International Olympic Committee a letter that testifies to the extent of their hate, and in it he demanded to freeze Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee [and Fatah Central Committee Secretary] Jibril Rajoub's membership and Palestine's membership...
This is undoubtedly the height of insolence, which testifies to a state of confusion and a pitiful show of muscle. Be assured - and we hope that the unit that monitors the Palestinian media, Palestinian Media Watch, will pass on this message as it has passed on other messages in the past: Everything that you ("you" is in plural, -Ed.) have done, are doing, and will do, and all of the frauds you are concocting, will not cause us to sit by quietly, and will not clear the arena for you to sow ruin and destruction. This is because we have a leadership that well understands the dangers of your tricks and your ability to concoct plots well, but it stands firm and you will not succeed in damaging its determination. Rajoub's only weapon is national support, international law, and signed conventions to which he has adhered and has ensured that the entire system will adhere, and it is a pity that you are acting in vain with the thought that he will surrender or even bend.
Do what you wish, and we are confident of our abilities. Even if we do not have your weapons or your evil intentions, we have something that you do not have, as you do not have a right, and the right is protected by the honor surrounding its existence and the belief in the justice of the cause. We are all certain that your dark agenda will not find its way to the International Olympic Committee, and that you will not succeed in cracking the Olympic Charter. And if this threat is meant to frighten us so that we will not again defend our cause, we say to you: 'If you return [to sin], We will return [to punishment]' [Quran, Sura 17:8, Sahih International translation]."
[Op-ed by football coach and sports journalist and commentator Abd Al-Fattah Arar
sports section of official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 5, 2018]
Click to view other examples of the PA's ongoing verbal attacks on PMW.Jibril Rajoub also holds the following roles: Head of the PLO Supreme Council for Sport and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, and Chairman of the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA).
Israeli Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee on Oct. 2, 2018, asking them to follow the lead of FIFA in suspending Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee and Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub. FIFA imposed sanctions on Jibril Rajoub on Aug. 24, 2018, suspending him from attending games for 12 months and fining him 20,000 Swiss francs. This was in response to a detailed complaint submitted by PMW and Rajoub's actions to thwart a football friendly match between Argentina and Israel in Jerusalem in June 2018, which eventually made Argentina cancel the match. FIFA explained that Rajoub was being punished "for breaching article 53 (Inciting hatred and violence) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, following media statements he gave calling on football fans to target the Argentinian Football Association and burn jerseys and pictures of Lionel Messi."