PA Min. of Educ. to kids: There is no Israel, “the entire land is ours, from the Sea to the River”
At PA school event, poster featuring the PA map of “Palestine” erasing Israel instructs kids: “Palestine – the entire land is ours, from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River”
While participating in a school event marking Palestinian Keffiyeh Day - i.e., Arab headdress day – Palestinian school children at the Kafr Qaddum High School for Girls in Qalqilya received a strong message:
“Palestine – the entire land is ours, from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River”
Images from the event posted by the PA Ministry of Education show that several PA maps of “Palestine” that erase Israel were prominently displayed at the event. The PA ministry wrote that similar celebrations were held “in all the homeland’s schools.”
The image below shows a man speaking at the event. Behind him are three versions of the PA map of “Palestine” that presents all of Israel together with the PA areas as “Palestine.” The poster in the middle announces that the event is held “under the auspices of Qalqilya District Governor Rafe’ Rawajbeh and [PA] Minister of Education Marwan Awratani”:
[Facebook page of the PA Ministry of Education, Nov. 16, 2021]
Text on poster (right): “Palestine – the entire land is ours, from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River”
[Facebook page of the Kafr Qaddum High School for Girls in Qalqilya, Nov. 17, 2021]
Text on poster (top left): “My homeland”
[Facebook page of the Kafr Qaddum High School for Girls in Qalqilya, Nov. 17, 2021]
The third map erasing Israel is displayed on a tripod (left of speaker) and is covered in the colors of the Palestinian flag with a keffiyeh pattern overlaid on it.
[Facebook page of the Kafr Qaddum High School for Girls in Qalqilya, Nov. 17, 2021]
Posted text: “Today, [Nov. 16, 2021,] the [PA] Ministry [of Education] marked Palestinian Keffiyeh Day in all the homeland’s schools, which takes place simultaneously with the State of Palestine’s declaration of independence (see note below -Ed.).”
[Facebook page of the PA Ministry of Education, Nov. 16, 2021]
The official PA daily also reported from the event, adding this image and text explaining the PA Ministry of Education and Fatah’s involvement in and responsibility for the event:
“The [Qalqilya District] Education Directorate (i.e., under the PA Ministry of Education) and the Fatah Movement Qalqilya branch, under the auspices of Qalqilya District Governor Rafe’ Rawajbeh and [PA] Minister of Education Marwan Awratani, held the Palestinian Keffiyeh Day festival (i.e., Arab headdress) at the Kafr Qaddum High School for Girls.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 17, 2021]
Denial of Israel's right to exist and the use of the PA map of “Palestine” erasing Israel's existence in an educational context in the PA is official PA policy. Palestinian Media Watch has documented hundreds if not thousands of examples of the PA map displayed in educational settings, be it at events, in schoolbooks, in magazines distributed to youth at PA schools, at youth movement activities, or elsewhere.
The slogan that “Palestine” stretches “from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River” is also a central part of PA vocabulary. Earlier this year, a Fatah official explained that Fatah’s goal is to destroy Israel, stressing that Palestinians will continue riots until “liberating… Palestine from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River”:
Fatah Shuafat and Beit Hanina Branch Deputy Secretary Musa Al-Rajabi: “We are remaining here. Jerusalem won’t agree to being divided in two. Jerusalem is ours. Jerusalem is Arab, Islamic, and Christian… We’ll protect Sheikh Jarrah as we’re protecting the Al-Aqsa Mosque. We’ll protect the Damascus Gate as we’re protecting the Lions’ Gate. We’ll rise up every day against this tyrannical occupation that is heavily armed … We’ll continue to confront it with bare chests until the liberation of Palestine – Palestine from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River, Palestine which is Arab and Islamic. It will remain ours.”
[Official PA TV, May 18, 2021]
PMW's new report on Fatah's education of youth in its WAED magazine shows the PA/Fatah message to children is that Israel is destined to be replaced by Palestine from the River to the Sea.
Palestinian declaration of independence - On Nov. 15, 1988, before the Palestine National Council (PNC), the Palestinian parliament in exile in Algeria, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Yasser Arafat declared the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Although the borders were not specified in the declaration, it recognized the UN partition plan of 1947, which called for the creation of a Jewish state and an Arab state in the former British Mandate for Palestine.