PA campaign: 40,000 students’ letters to honor terrorist murderer upon his release after 40 years in prison
- Palestinian students about terrorist murderer in PA Ministry of Education campaign: “The hero of the cause… a shining star”
PMW: As long as terrorist murderers are the PA’s superheroes, Israel has no peace partner and there will be no peace. Inasmuch, as the PA is educating its children to see terrorist murderers as their personal superheroes Israel will have no one to talk to and there will be no possibility of peace for at least another generation.
The Palestinian Authority preparations for the upcoming release of terrorist murderer Karim Younes from Israeli prison on January 5th expose several fundamental aspects of PA ideology. The Ministry of Education is coordinating the writing of 40,000 letters from students, corresponding to the 40 years he was in prison, to welcome the terrorist the day he is released from prison.
For the PA, Karim Younes is no ordinary terrorist. For the PA, Younes is a symbol of everything the PA is trying to promote and a means to recruit the Arabs youth behind an integrated narrative. For this reason January 5th, 2023, will be a day of great celebrations for the Arabs Palestinian leadership.
Who is Karim Younes and why does the PA hold him in such high regard?
Karim Younes was born in 1957 in the Israeli-Arab city of Ara and holds Israeli citizenship. On Nov. 26, 1980, Karim Younes and his cousin Maher Younes, acting on the instructions of another relative, Sami Younes, attacked and murdered Israeli soldier Avraham Bromberg who was going home on leave.
The three terrorists Karim Younes, Maher Younes, and Sami Younes were arrested in January 1983, tried and convicted for murder, and sentenced to death. On appeal, their sentences were reduced to life in prison.
In 2011, Sami Younes was released from prison as part of the deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive by Hamas since 2006.
In 2012, Israeli President Shimon Peres decided to commute the sentences of Karim Younes and Maher Younes to 40 years in prison each, apparently as a goodwill gesture to the PA.
Karim Younes is the Palestinian terrorist who has spent the most consecutive time in Israeli prison.
- PA ideology I: Murdering Israelis is “nothing wrong”; makes a mother proud
As Palestinian Media Watch has repeatedly noted, for the PA, there is no”such thing as an “Israeli-Arab”. According to PA ideology, they are “Palestinians of the interior" meaning, that they don’t recognize Israel – it is the “interior of Palestine.” To incentivize the Palestinians of “the Interior” to participate in terror, the PA terror reward Pay-for-Slay policy includes an additional monthly payment for terrorists who hold Israeli citizenship.
Highlighting the PA idolization of murderers of Israelis, speaking on behalf of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul called the Younes terrorists “a national example of the resolve against the Israeli occupation” and “one of the symbols of the Palestinian struggle”:
“The participants in the event, which the [PLO] Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners’ Affairs held yesterday in cooperation with the Ramallah and El-Bireh District and the [PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club, renewed the oath and loyalty to prisoners Karim and Maher Younes for the beginning of their 36th year in the occupation’s prisons.
Fatah Movement Central Committee member and Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul said in a speech on behalf of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas that prisoners Karim and Maher Younes constitute a national example of the resolve of the members of our people against the Israeli occupation.
He also added that the Younes prisoners constitute one of the symbols of the Palestinian struggle, they and the thousands of prisoners who have paid and are still paying a heavy price for the freedom of their people.
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 15, 2018]
When Karim Younes’ mother died, Abbas posthumously awarded her the “Star of Freedom”:
Official PA TV newsreader: “His Honor [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas awarded the late national fighter Subhiya Younes, the mother of the most veteran prisoner, Fatah Movement Central Committee member, and great national leader Karim Younes, with the Star of Freedom from the Orders of the State of Palestine, when His Honor [Abbas] hosted heroic prisoner leader Karim Younes’ family and relatives at the [PA] presidential headquarters in Ramallah in the presence of PLO Executive Committee members and Fatah Central Committee members.”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “This is the least that can be done, the least that can be done. First of all, our brother [Karim Younes] is a leader, the most veteran prisoner, and a Fatah Central Committee member, and he is a very dear brother of ours – all that we do for him will not be enough to fulfill our duty [to him].”
[Official PA TV News, May 9, 2022]
Karim Younes’ mother was apparently deserving of the medal since she believes that neither he nor any of the other terrorist murderers did anything wrong:
Terrorist Karim Younes' mother: "He [Karim Younes] is the one that strengthens my endurance: ’Mom, I didn’t do [wrong] – I didn't steal. I didn't harass a woman. I did nothing for you to be ashamed of. On the contrary, mom.’ He always encourages me…
I told him: ’Don't worry... You did nothing wrong.’ ... [To all his fellow prisoners I say:] ’Don't despair and don't worry. You did nothing wrong that harms your families or [causes] them to be ashamed of your actions. On the contrary, you bring us pride.’”
Official PA TV reporter: “By becoming a symbol of adherence to the [Palestinian] cause and the land, he has turned into a source of pride for his town 'Ara within the Green Line, and to all of Palestine.”
[Official PA TV News, Jan. 6, 2019]
- PA ideology II: Terrorist prisoners are heroes who must be honored
As PMW has extensively proven, in the eyes of the PA, Palestinian terrorists who murder Israelis are heroes. This principle is being stressed in a campaign launched by the PA Ministry of Education in which students are writing 40,000 letters of appreciation, specifically addressing Karim Younes but also all the “heroic prisoners”:
Students’ voices: “For us, Allah willing [soon to be] released prisoner [Karim Younes] (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1) is a role model of firmness, defiance, and achieving freedom. [He is] the hero of the cause, the most veteran prisoner of Ribat (i.e., religious conflict), a shining star in the occupation’s prisons. I send you my greetings, our heroic prisoners, full of the spirit of the great Martyrs, the sunset, and the height of darkness. Karim Younes, we are with you, the entire Palestinian people is with you.The time has come after 40 years, Allah willing your release will come. We are all with you. You are a man who sacrificed the best years of his youth for his homeland, for the people of Palestine.”
[PA Minstry of Education, Facebook page, Dec. 15, 2022]
As an expression of high regard for Karim Younes Fatah, at the behest of Abbas, decided to honor him by electing Younes to its Central Committee:
"[PA] Minister of Justice Ali Abu Diyak emphasized that the decision of the Fatah Movement leadership - led by President Mahmoud Abbas - to appoint the veteran prisoner Karim Younes to the Fatah Central Committee is the clearest and severest response to the campaign being led by Israel to accuse the prisoners, Martyrs (Shahids), and the Palestinian struggle of terror."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 28, 2017]
Issa Karake, then the PLO's Director of Prisoners' Affairs, welcomed the appointment, claiming that it constituted a statement that the Palestinian prisoners "are not terrorists and not criminals" but "freedom prisoners and fighters":
Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake: "I want to note an additional achievement, which was a political response by the Palestinian leadership when the Fatah Revolutionary Council made a decision to appoint prisoner Karim Younes, the most veteran of the prisoners, as a member of the Fatah Movement Central Committee. I think that this is a very great and significant political response, [which says] that our prisoners are not terrorists and are not criminals. They are freedom prisoners and fighters who enjoy an important national, human, and legal status among their leadership and among their Palestinian people."
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, May 28, 2017]
Singling out Karim Younes as a “Fatah Movement Central Committee member and imprisoned fighter commander” Abbas’ Fatah used the Ramadan festival as another excuse to praise the terrorist:
The image shows terrorist Karim Younes eating a meal in his prison cell.
Posted text: “Fatah Movement Central Committee member and imprisoned fighter commander #Karim_Younes, who has begun his 38th year in prison, eats the Ramadan fast-breaking meal alone in the Israeli discrimination basements. For 37 years he has not gotten to spend the days of Ramadan with his mother.Our heroic prisoners – we send you [our] full appreciation and admiration; you are the symbol of our cause and its prominent embodiment, the solid rock that does not break despite all the occupation’s steps to harm your determination. We draw hope and strength from you, and with your release our dream will be completed in the establishment of an independent Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem.”
[Official Fatah Facebook page, May 10, 2020]
Speaking specifically about Karim and Maher Younes, the Fatah Movement Revolutionary Council “noted with praise the honor inspiring history of struggle” and declared them “a symbol of human freedom and honor”:
“The Fatah Movement Revolutionary Council noted with praise the honor inspiring history of struggle and the legendary resolve of prisoners Karim and Maher Younes (i.e., terrorists, murdered 1 together), 39 years after their imprisonment…
The Revolutionary Council noted in a press release yesterday, Wednesday [Jan. 6, 2021]… that the two prisoners have become a symbol of human freedom and honor.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 7, 2021]
- PA ideology III: The EU-funded Ministry of Education's goal is to teach children to glorify terrorists
Building on the two previous ideological blocks, the PA then adds the crowning element: Using the European-funded PA educational system to brainwash Palestinian children into admiring all terrorist murderers.
In anticipation of the release of Karim Younes, as part of the “values” and “principles” of the PA, the PA Ministry of Education launched the special campaign mentioned above in which children write letters of praise to “leader” Karim Younes:
Official PA TV host: “When we speak about the Palestinian teacher, we speak about building the people’s education, and building social thinking… Tell us the details of the campaign of 40,000 letters to prisoner leader Karim Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with an accomplice).”
PA Ministry of Education Spokesman Sadeq Al-Khadour: “. Letters will be [written] until reaching 40,000 letters, which Allah willing will be given to released prisoner Karim Younes immediately upon his release. We in the Ministry of Education are proud that our Palestinian teachers, when we chose this day, the teachers are continuing with values and lead the students to peaks… Karim Younes deserves all of this loyalty from us and from our educational family.”
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Dec. 14, 2022]
Announcing the launch of the campaign, the Bethlehem High School for Girls said it sends a “message of love, gratitude, and appreciation” to Karim Younes:
“The Bethlehem High School for Girls, in partnership with the Palestinian [PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club, the [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs, the Association of Released Prisoners, and the [PA] Ministry of Education, launched [a campaign of] 40,000 letters to the most veteran prisoner Karim Younes as a message of love, gratitude, and appreciation for his resolve inside the occupation’s prisons…”
[PNN, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 16, 2022]
Director-General Abdallah Zaghari of the PA-funded Palestinian Prisoners’ Club added:
“The letters that the young students of Palestine will write are messages of love for the homeland and appreciation for the prisoners and Martyrs.”
[PNN, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 16, 2022]
Describing the success of the brainwashing and encompassing the three PA ideological elements, the official PA daily highlighted the letter of student An’am Tahhan, who referred to Karim Younes as a “rebelling hero”, a “legend” whose wrinkles tell a story of a nation, a story about a people”:
“Yesterday, Wednesday [Dec. 14, 2022], the [PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club and the [PA] Ministry of Education launched the campaign ‘40,000 letters of loyalty from the students of Palestine to the most veteran prisoner Karim Younes’ (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with an accomplice)…
Female student An’am Tahhan knows that Karim Younes is one of the most veteran prisoners in the occupation’s prison, and that he has been in prison for 40 years. She wrote to him: ‘O our rebelling hero, O educator of the lauded generations, you are not just a man who was imprisoned, but rather a legend that history cannot contain. Every wrinkle in your pure face has a story of a prisoner,a story of a nation, a story about a people. You have sacrificed the years of your life in order to raise the word “justice,” so as not to allow the oppressive occupier to steal your homeland.’
The Prisoners’ Club and the Ministry of Education will choose the 20 best letters written by the students in the homeland’s schools and will give them to prisoner Karim Younes at his reception ceremony, which will take place in Ramallah.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 15, 2022]
The PA-funded Prisoners’ Club and the PA Ministry of Education will choose the 20 best letters written by the students “in the homeland’s schools” and will give them to prisoner Karim Younes at his reception ceremony, which will take place in Ramallah.
A daily countdown to terrorist Younes’ release has also appeared on the front page of the official PA daily since December 8th. The following is one example:
The banner shows terrorist prisoner Karim Younes.
Text on banner: “23 days until the time of freedom
The most veteran prisoner, leader Karim Younes”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 12, 2022]
PMW: As long as terrorist murderers are the PA’s superheroes, Israel has no peace partner and there will be no peace. Inasmuch, as the PA is educating its children to see terrorist murderers as their personal superheroes Israel will have no one to talk to and there will be no possibility of peace for at least another generation.