Conference Held in Honor of David Bar-Ilan
A conference on “Media Accuracy and the Middle East” was held in the City of Ariel at the College of Judea and Samaria, in honor of David Bar-Ilan. Mr. Bar-Ilan, who is recovering from a massive heart attack, is the former Editor of The Jerusalem Post and has served as the Media Director for both Binyamin Netanyahu and MK Nathan Sharansky.
Mr. Haim Koren of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs chaired the session on the Palestinian media. Itamar Marcus, the executive director of Palestinian Media Watch, used film clips from Palestinian television to demonstrate how from its very first days of broadcasting five years ago, the major focus of Palestinian TV has been to spread hated of Jews, to delegitimize Israel, and to call for the genocide of all Jews.
During the Barak years of negotiations with Arafat, programs proclaiming that anyone giving up one inch of Palestine was a traitor were broadcast, and proclamations were made that Ashkelon is Palestine, Haifa is Palestine, Be'er Sheva is Palestine and, of course, Jerusalem is Palestine. The messages to adults and mainly to children were that all Jews are liars and all agreements with Jews are temporary, Jews murder Palestinian children and every Jew must be murdered before the redemption will come. Every day children would be taught to sing, “Put down your toys and pick up stones” and “How wonderful it is to die for our country.”
…Khaled Abu Toameh, an Israeli Arab, expressed amazement at our concern about Arab propaganda. Nothing has changed, he claimed. Palestinian propaganda has always been virulently anti-Jewish. The only difference is that since the Oslo Accords, which allowed Arafat to set up his own television station, the programs are being broadcast from Israel instead of from Tunis. After Oslo, Arafat took over the Arab media, arrested or exiled many Arab correspondents, and closed local papers that did not follow his lime. Many Arabs are also discouraged by what Arafat is doing, but they cannot do or say anything…
Mr. Haim Koren of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs chaired the session on the Palestinian media. Itamar Marcus, the executive director of Palestinian Media Watch, used film clips from Palestinian television to demonstrate how from its very first days of broadcasting five years ago, the major focus of Palestinian TV has been to spread hated of Jews, to delegitimize Israel, and to call for the genocide of all Jews.
During the Barak years of negotiations with Arafat, programs proclaiming that anyone giving up one inch of Palestine was a traitor were broadcast, and proclamations were made that Ashkelon is Palestine, Haifa is Palestine, Be'er Sheva is Palestine and, of course, Jerusalem is Palestine. The messages to adults and mainly to children were that all Jews are liars and all agreements with Jews are temporary, Jews murder Palestinian children and every Jew must be murdered before the redemption will come. Every day children would be taught to sing, “Put down your toys and pick up stones” and “How wonderful it is to die for our country.”
…Khaled Abu Toameh, an Israeli Arab, expressed amazement at our concern about Arab propaganda. Nothing has changed, he claimed. Palestinian propaganda has always been virulently anti-Jewish. The only difference is that since the Oslo Accords, which allowed Arafat to set up his own television station, the programs are being broadcast from Israel instead of from Tunis. After Oslo, Arafat took over the Arab media, arrested or exiled many Arab correspondents, and closed local papers that did not follow his lime. Many Arabs are also discouraged by what Arafat is doing, but they cannot do or say anything…