PA TV uses culture to misrepresent Israeli cities as part of "Palestine"
Four current PA TV songs misrepresent Jaffa, Haifa and 20 other Israeli cities and regions
as parts of "Palestine"
as parts of "Palestine"
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
The Palestinian Authority continues to use culture and song to misrepresent Israeli cities and regions as if they are Palestinian or in "Palestine." Palestinian Media Watch has documented this ongoing PA policy of depicting a world in which "Palestine" exists and replaces Israel.
A new song exemplifying this denial of Israel's existence has been broadcast recently on PA TV:
"Oh bird, take me to [my] homeland
Color my eyelids with the soil of Palestine. Send greetings to Acre and to the Upper Galilee... Haifa... Jerusalem... Jaffa... Lod... Be'er Sheva... Tiberias... Beit Shean... Nazareth... Safed."
[PA TV (Fatah), March 6, 14, and 20, 2012]
Click to view
Palestinian Authority TV is controlled directly by Abbas' office.
This song joins another being broadcast now on PA TV that also uses the image of a bird flying over all of Israel, while misrepresenting Israeli cities as "Palestine":
"[Oh bird,] turn to Safed, and then to Tiberias, and send regards to the sea of Acre and Haifa. Don't forget Nazareth - the Arab fortress, and tell Beit Shean about its people's return...
My country Palestine is beautiful."
[PA TV (Fatah), June 24, July 13, Nov. 13,
Dec. 14, 24, 2011, and Feb. 11, 2012]
Click to view
Also this week, PA TV rebroadcast a song identifying cities all over Israel as "Palestinian." The music video displays scenes from places in Israel and a repeating image of a boy carrying a Palestinian flag:
"Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours... Ramle, Lod and Sakhnin are Palestinian... From Safed to Al-Badhan (near Nablus) is Palestinian; Tiberias and Ashkelon are Palestinian."
[PA TV (Fatah), May 13, and June 24,
July 14, 15, Sept. 2, 2011 Jan. 5, 8,
Feb. 25, March 19, 2012]
Click to view
Last month, PMW reported on a song that describes the Israeli cities of Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, Jerusalem, Ramle and Nazareth as part of "my country," Palestine. The song, which was rebroadcast 3 times last week, also expresses a desire for all these cities to be accessible "with no borders," meaning Israel would not exist.
"Even if our path has grown long, one day we will return:To Jerusalem, to Gaza, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord. To Jerusalem, to Ramle, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord... I wish I could enter my country with no borders."
[PA TV (Fatah), Jan. 30, Feb. 9, 29,
March 14, 15 (twice), 2012]
Click to view
The fact that the Palestinian Authority chooses to broadcast the message of a world without Israel in numerous cultural expressions is one of the indicators of its centrality to the Palestinian Authority.
The following are the lyrics of the newest song misrepresenting Israeli cities as Palestinian on PA TV:
"Oh bird, take me to [my] homeland
Color my eyelids with the soil of Palestine
Send greetings to Acre and to the Upper Galilee
To Bir Zeit, Haifa, Tira and Ayn Ghazal (Moshav Ofer)
To Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza and Jabalya
To Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin
To Khan Yunis, Rafah and Qalqilya
To Lod, Tubas and Hebron
To Be'er Sheva - every [Bedouin] tribe
To Tulkarem, Sila and Burqin
To Tiberias, Umm Al-Fahm and Beit Shean
To Tzippori, Lubya (Kibbutz Lavi) and Tur'an
To Nazareth and Safed of [Mount] Canaan
To Al-Shajara (Moshav Ilaniya), El-Bira and Hittin (Moshav Arbel)
Oh bird, take me to [my] homeland
Color my eyelids with the soil of Palestine"
Color my eyelids with the soil of Palestine
Send greetings to Acre and to the Upper Galilee
To Bir Zeit, Haifa, Tira and Ayn Ghazal (Moshav Ofer)
To Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza and Jabalya
To Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin
To Khan Yunis, Rafah and Qalqilya
To Lod, Tubas and Hebron
To Be'er Sheva - every [Bedouin] tribe
To Tulkarem, Sila and Burqin
To Tiberias, Umm Al-Fahm and Beit Shean
To Tzippori, Lubya (Kibbutz Lavi) and Tur'an
To Nazareth and Safed of [Mount] Canaan
To Al-Shajara (Moshav Ilaniya), El-Bira and Hittin (Moshav Arbel)
Oh bird, take me to [my] homeland
Color my eyelids with the soil of Palestine"
[PA TV (Fatah), March 6, 14, and 20, 2012]
Note: The following cities and sites mentioned in the song are located in Israel.
In Northern Israel: Acre, Upper Galilee, Haifa, Tira, Moshav Ofer, TIberias, Beit Shean, Tzippori, Umm Al-Fahm, Kibbutz Lavi, Tur'an, Nazareth, Safed, Moshav Ilaniya, and Moshav Arbel.
In Central Israel: Jerusalem, Jaffa, Ramle, and Lod.
In Southern Israel: Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva.