PA values: Purify yourself with your blood, make sure your bullets hit the target…
“O self-sacrificing fighter, ignite it, ignite it everywhere, make sure the cannon is a fire burning by night”
The Palestinian Authority is using its current TV quiz series about Palestinian cultural songs to stress that violence and confrontation remain lofty PA ideals. Palestinian Media Watch has exposed that most of the songs that “fascinate… with values and meanings” chosen by the PA for the quiz until now present PA’s “cultural and… national identity” as being about rifles, violence, murderers, and Martyrdom:
Two recent songs featured in the quiz also focused on this. One song called on Allah and spoke of “ritually purifying” oneself with one’s blood. Whereas a Muslim ritually purifies himself before prayer with water, in the PA song the water has been changed to one’s own blood. In other words - sacrifice yourself and aspire death as a “Martyr” - while attacking Israel with “the bullets of the revolution”:
Lyrics:“O the bullets of the revolution, call out! …
And to the Seventh Heaven, call out:
Allahu Akbar (i.e., “Allah is greatest”), Allahu Akbar
Hurry to the revolution, hurry” … Official PA TV narrator: “Who is the composer of the song O the bullets of the revolution, call out!”
Lyrics:“I will ritually purify myself with my blood,
and pray on the wooden beam of my rifle…
And my beads is the bullets – the bullets are my prayer beads”
[Official PA TV, The Tune of the Homeland,
Jan. 29 (twice), 30, Feb. 1 (twice), 2, 3 (twice), 2021]
Another song of “value” presented in the PA TV quiz calls directly to the “self-sacrificing fighter” and instructs him to “make sure your bullets hit the target” and that “the [Israelis’] day does not emerge”:
Singer: “O self-sacrificing fighter – make sure your bullets hit the target”
Choir: “Hit it, hit it …”
Singer: “Your blood is Arab”
Choir: “Palestinian…”
Singer: “O self-sacrificing fighter – cause the outbreak [of the revolution] like a volcano
O self-sacrificing fighter, ignite it, ignite it everywhere
Make sure the cannon is a fire burning by night
Make sure [the Israelis’] day does not emerge”[Official PA TV, The Tune of the Homeland,
Jan. 22 (twice), 23 (three times), 24, 26, and 27, 2021]
PMW has documented that the rifle is a central theme in Palestinian culture, be it in art on posters, in songs, or in speeches. The rifle has also been prominent in several songs in the Tune of the Homeland quiz.
The following is the standard introduction to the quiz series about Palestinian national songs:
Official PA TV narrator: “Because songs are a basic part of our culture and they express our national identity… and because these songs are present in our consciousness and still fascinate us with values and meanings… It’s here: ‘The Tune of the Homeland.’”