Europe was sick of the Jews and planned to get rid of them: PA explains the Balfour Declaration and European support for Zionism
PA explains Balfour Declaration:
"[Europe] was sick of the behavior of the Jews at the time,
and therefore it planned to get rid of them"
- PA TV video posted by PA Minister of Education
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- Song on PA TV anticipates Israel's "erasure":"O Balfour, years have goneGenerations have gone until nowYou have gone and others have gone,yet this is the land of Palestine...Regardless of the time that passes,we will erase the memory of this [Balfour] Promise"
- PA TV antisemitic cartoon shows Russian kicking Jew during the Kishinev pogrom in 1903, and asks rhetorically: "Did the Balfour Promise come as a surprise 100 years ago?” - indicating that Russia and everyone else along with Europe wanted to get rid of the Jews.
By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
It's that time of the year again... when Palestinian Authority officials lash out at former British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour and curse him and Britain on the anniversary of Balfour's declaration from 1917 that Britain favored "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."Wanting to educate Palestinians on how and why "the ominous Balfour Promise" came into being, PA Minister of Education Sabri Saidam posted a video produced by official PA TV, with a "simple" - and antisemitic - explanation:
"The old continent was sick of the behavior of the Jews at the time, and therefore it planned to get rid of them."
[Facebook page of PA Minister of Education Sabri Saidam, Nov. 2, 2018]
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Saidam's posted text: "101 years since the ominous promise... Here is a simple explanation of the Balfour Promise for its anniversary..."
Narrator: "The nightmare was created by Britain and was realized on the land of Palestine. Britain gave a right which it did not have to one not entitled to it: [A right] to our land in the form of a state, which is now known as 'Israel' ...
It was said that the old continent [Europe] was sick of the behavior of the Jews at the time, and therefore it planned to get rid of them... British Foreign Secretary at the time Arthur James Balfour stabbed a dagger into the soft belly of Palestine. He took upon himself a promise from one without ownership to one not entitled, as if he was the owner of the land and not a colonialist."
[Facebook page of PA Minister of Education Sabri Saidam, Nov. 2, 2018]
It is fundamental PA and Fatah ideology that Europe supported Zionism "because of the evil nature of Jews" and wanted to get rid of them. This antisemitic view has been repeated numerous times by PA and Fatah leaders to explain why Israel was created. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that official PA TV broadcast a Fatah documentary that explained it was the "Jews' character traits" that led Europe to want to "get rid of them" and push for the establishment of Israel.Also protesting the Balfour Declaration, official PA TV this year broadcast a song which promises that Palestinians "will erase the memory of this [Balfour] Promise." This implies the expectation that in the future, Israel will cease to exist. The song addresses the fact that Balfour and others are no more but that "Palestine" is still here:
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"O Balfour, years have gone
Generations have gone until now
You have gone and others have gone, yet this is the land of Palestine...
Regardless of the time that passes, we will erase the memory of this [Balfour] Promise
Listen Balfour, listen
The right of my land will yet return
We kneel only before Allah
We are the Palestinians...
We are your owners, Palestine
And we are rooted in this land from the days of the Canaanites
We have identity
Palestine's history is great, Jerusalem is ours and no one else's
Regardless of your efforts to falsify, this land is Palestinian...
O British man, listen up
You must apologize to us
This homeland is ours, and not the Zionists'...
You deprived me of my precious homeland
You stole the right to my land and gave it to the Zionist
This is an international crime
Balfour [of] the ominous promise committed a crime against my oppressed people
We will not be silent from this day forward, we will not forget the cause..."
[Official PA TV, Nov. 1, 2018]
The same expectation is expressed in the video below which official PA TV has been broadcasting regularly for the last six years. It shows "the history of Palestine" and its different foreign invaders who have come and gone - an ancient Roman soldier, a Crusader, a British soldier, and finally a Jew. In the end, "Palestine" - symbolized by a woman in white - is saved by a Muslim conqueror - a new "Saladin." He represents the coming savior who will "liberate Palestine" from Jewish-Israeli rule.  |
Expressing the same antisemitic view as conveyed in the video posted by PA's minister of education, a cartoon on PA TV included the following image of a Russian kicking a Jew. The narrator leads up to this by rhetorically asking if the Balfour Declaration "came as a surprise 100 years ago" - indicating that not only Europe wanted to get rid of the Jews, so did Russia and everyone else:
Official PA TV narrator: "Did the Balfour Promise come as a surprise 100 years ago? During his campaign to the east, Napoleon [Bonaparte] called to the Jews of the world to settle in Palestine. [German Emperor] Wilhelm II afterwards discussed settling the Jews in Palestine with his friend Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II."
[Official PA TV, Nov. 3, 2018]
A drawing is shown of a Russian leader and the year 1903, the year of the Kishinev pogrom. Afterwards the following image is shown of a Jew, characterized by his large nose and long beard, being kicked by a Russian, indicated by a Russian flag.The PA TV narrator continues to present the Palestinian narrative:
Narrator: "A state to the Jews, in a place where there is not a Jewish majority. In other words, humiliation of the Arabs, expulsion of the Palestinians, and the oppression of those of them who remained."
An image is shown of a woman holding a Palestinian flag facing four extended arms, with the flags of Italy, the US, France, and Britain. The arm with the British flag points a gun at the woman. In the background, on the side of the extended arms, an Israeli flag is planted in the ground.
PMW reported extensively on the PA's statements against the Balfour Declaration last year, on the declaration's 100-year anniversary.
Click to see more examples of PA Antisemitism and the PA's denial of Jewish history in the area and in Jerusalem in particular.
The following are longer excerpts of the video posted by PA Minister of Education and the song broadcast on official PA TV about the Balfour Declaration:
Posted text: "101 years since the ominous promise (i.e., the Balfour Declaration), and soon a year since the new ominous promise (i.e., US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem and promise to transfer the US embassy to it). Here is a simple explanation of the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) for its anniversary, which is today [Nov. 2, 2018]"
Video:
Narrator: "The story began here. The nightmare was created by Britain and was realized on the land of Palestine. Britain gave a right which it did not have to one not entitled to it: [A right] to our land in the form of a state, which is now known as 'Israel' ...
It was said that the old continent [Europe] was sick of the behavior of the Jews at the time, and therefore it planned to get rid of them. It was also said that Israel's establishment would guarantee the division of the region for the West, and give it a foothold in the Arab homeland, which was afterwards called "The Middle East" ...
British Foreign Secretary at the time Arthur James Balfour stabbed a dagger into the soft belly of Palestine. He took upon himself a promise from one without ownership to one not entitled, as if he was the owner of the land and not a colonialist. The same Balfour ignored the owners of the land, its residents who lived in it and whose forefathers grew up in it over hundreds and thousands of years. They labored here, worked the land, sailed the sea, and fought for their national identity...
This is just a drop in the sea of Britain's crimes against our people, whose existence it has insisted on denying despite its Phoenician and Canaanite roots, despite historical testimony, and despite its culture, which exists until this day. Has not the time come for Britain to apologize for its ethical and practical responsibility for the tragedy that led to the uprooting of approximately 700,000 Palestinians - who today have become more than 5 million who are scattered throughout the world?
We are still adversely affected by this, as what is called 'the Jewish [national] home' in this promise continues to expand and to gnaw at our land."
[Facebook page of PA Minister of Education Sabri Saidam, Nov. 2, 2018]
The video was produced by official PA TV in 2018
The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that "His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate "responsible for putting into effect the declaration," which led to the UN vote in 1947 and the establishment of the State of Israel.PA Minister of Education and Higher Education Sabri Saidam also holds the following positions:
Fatah Central Committee Deputy Secretary,
Fatah Revolutionary Council Deputy Secretary,
Advisor to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on communications and information technology
Song on PA TV, "Listen Balfour, Listen" performed by Qassem Al-Najjar and Shadi Al-Burini:
"O Balfour, years have gone
Generations have gone until now
You have gone and others have gone, yet this is the land of Palestine
We have a generation that keeps the promise [not to relinquish Palestine] today, tomorrow, and after tomorrow
Regardless of the time that passes, we will erase the memory of this [Balfour] Promise
Listen Balfour, listen
The right of my land will yet return
We kneel only before Allah
We are the Palestinians...
We are your owners, Palestine
And we are rooted in this land from the days of the Canaanites
We have identity
Palestine's history is great, Jerusalem is ours and no one else's
Regardless of your efforts to falsify, this land is Palestinian...
Listen Balfour, listen
The right of my land will yet return
We kneel only before Allah
We are the Palestinians
O British man, listen up
You must apologize to us
This homeland is ours, and not the Zionists'
Whether you permit it or not, I will not move from my land
Everything must be clarified, and the British should apologize
Listen Balfour, listen...
You deprived me of my precious homeland
You stole the right to my land and gave it to the Zionist
This is an international crime
Balfour [of] the ominous promise committed a crime against my oppressed people
We will not be silent from this day forward, we will not forget the cause
Listen Balfour, listen..."
[Official PA TV, Nov. 1, 2018]