PA news agency calls northern Israel "1948 territories" in Arabic but not in English
In English – for foreign consumption - WAFA tries to present a moderate image and refers to Israel by name - simply "Israel." But in Arabic, to its own people and the Arabic speaking world, the official PA news agency refuses to recognize Israel and instead of using the name "Israel," calls it "the 1948 territories."
The expression "the 1948 territories" is part of a longer PA expression, which is "the territories occupied by Israel in 1948." According to PA ideology, all of Israel is said to be an illegitimate “occupation” with no right to exist - some areas occupied since 1948 and the rest since 1967.
The following is an example from a WAFA report that was nearly identical in Arabic and English, except for the terminology used to name Israel:
"The Palestinian Arab town of al-Jish, in the Galilee, northern Israel, according to local sources." [WAFA, official PA news agency, | "The Palestinians and Arabs in the village of Al-Jish in the Galilee, within the 1948 territories." [WAFA, official PA news agency, |
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