Abbas pays cash grant for saying there is no Israel – only "Palestine" in PA TV quiz

Lebanese "refugees from Palestine" - residents of the Al-Badawi and Nahr Al-Bared refugee camps in Lebanon participated in a PA TV cash prize quiz for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan sponsored by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs, and official PA TV

Woman 1: "[I'm] from Al-Tira [near] Haifa, in Palestine (sic., Israel)."

Official PA TV host: "How significant is Palestine for you?

Woman 1: "Palestine is in our hearts, and we educate our children and future generations that we have the right of return to Palestine."

Host: "Why do our people in the diaspora keep the names of their villages and cities?

Woman 2: "We have not forgotten Palestine nor any of its regions… Allah willing we will return soon, each to his area. The right of return is legitimate…"

Host: "Why is it important that we pass on this message, the names of the cities, the names of the villages, and the story that happened in 1948… to the younger generation?" …

Woman 2: "We educate our children on the principle that we have a land that was stolen and is occupied by the Zionist enemy." …

Host: "Your answer was correct. You receive from us a [cash] prize, a presidential grant given to you on behalf of President Abbas…"

Host: "Why do we not consider any other homeland outside of Palestine as our homeland?" …

Woman 3: "No! This is our land. Palestine is our land and our homeland! Allah willing, Palestine will be liberated, and we will return to our lands. We are sitting here [in Lebanon] as guests… Generation after generation, we teach [our children] that we have a land and a homeland, which must be liberated."

Host: "Your answer fills the heart with pride and joy, because as a Palestinian people, we have the right to return to our homeland. You have won a presidential grant…"

Host: "How important is the right of return for our people?"

Man 1: "Important. We hope to return already today! The right of return is a right! And there is no substitute for our homeland!" …

Host: "You have won a presidential grant…"

Host: "How important is it that we teach our children about the holy sites of Islam and Christianity that belong to us, about our Palestinian villages and cities from which our people were expelled?"

Man 2: "It is very important… We must teach the younger generation so that the memory will be preserved in their hearts, and of course so that we will return to Palestine, Allah willing!" …

Host: "You have won a presidential grant…"

Host: "Why have our Palestinian people insisted on keeping the names of their villages and towns from which they were expelled?"

Woman 4: "To preserve our homeland, Palestine… Because Palestine is our land, our homeland, our soil, and our right!" ...

Host: "Allah willing, we will return to the homeland's soil!"

Host: "You have won a presidential grant…"

Man 3: "[I'm from] the subdistrict of Safed in Palestine (sic., Israel)."

Host: "Why do our people not consider any country they live in as their homeland, instead of Palestine?"

Man 3: "We cannot leave our land, our cause, our soil, and our land! … We are the children of Palestine, and we do not want any other land to be a substitute for Palestine! … In Lebanon we are guests…"

Host: "You have won a presidential grant…"

Man 4: "[I'm from] the subdistrict of Safed in Palestine (sic., Israel)."

Host: "Why do our Palestinian people insist on keeping the names of their villages from which they were expelled in 1948?"

Man 4: "We want to return because everyone [wants to return] to his village, to his area, and to his land – Palestine… We cannot give up Palestine, it has no substitute."

Host: "How important is it that you pass on the name of the village… to your children… so that they too know… that they have a right?" 

Man 4: "We always continue to tell [our children] there is nothing like our land and borders! … Allah willing, all the refugee camps in Lebanon will return to the land of Palestine, to their land…"

Host: "You have won a presidential grant…"

Host: "What does Palestine mean to you?"

Woman 5: "This is my land."

Host: "You receive from us a prize, which is a presidential [cash] grant given on behalf of the honorable President Abbas, the Department of Refugee Affairs [in the PLO], and Palestinian Television. Here you go!"

[Official PA TV, Discourse of Memory, March 17, 2026]

Residents of the Al-Badawi and Nahr Al-Bared refugee camps in Lebanon participated in a PA TV cash prize quiz for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan sponsored by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs, and official PA TV. The envelopes with the cash bore the PA's logo.