After loss of US award, PA governor reiterates esteem for terrorists
Ramallah governor reiterates her esteem for terrorists
after her American "Citation of Honor" was withdrawn
due to PMW's exposure of her terror glorification
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Philadelphia Councilwoman Maria Sánchez has withdrawn the Citation of Honor that she awarded to Palestinian Governor of Ramallah Laila Ghannam last month. Sánchez's action came after Palestinian Media Watch informed her and released a report documenting that Ghannam has a long record of glorifying Palestinian terrorists, including terrorists responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis. Sánchez had been unaware of Ghannam's terror glorification at the time of the award, but immediately denounced Ghannam's statements praising terrorists.
Now Sánchez has also withdrawn the Citation of Honor itself. Palestinian Authority Governor Ghannam explained that "according to Sánchez's statements, the citation had been withdrawn from her because of her 'support of terror.'" Ghannam responded to the cancellation reiterating her support for terror and glorification of terrorists:
"We are not interested in citations of honor that require us to slander our fighters and our supporting pillars as terrorists."
Ghannam also stated that the withdrawal of the award "emphasizes the US administration's alienation from the Palestinian struggle," and that Councilwoman Sánchez had "yielded to the terror of the occupier and the Zionist lobby."
The terrorists Ghannam has honored, causing her to lose the award, include Abdallah Barghouti, who built bombs for suicide terrorists and is currently serving 67 life sentences for complicity in murder of 67 civilians, and the founder of Hamas, Ahmed Yassin, who was responsible for the deaths of hundreds in suicide bombings in Israel. Ghannam rejects calling them and dozens of others "terrorists" and says they are "pillars" of Palestinian society.
View more examples of Ghannam's support for terror here.
The following is the full report on Ghannam's response to the withdrawal of the Citation of Honor:
Headline: "Ghannam: The citations of honor we value most are those we see in the eyes of the mothers of the Martyrs and the prisoners"
"District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh Dr. Laila Ghannam stressed that the citations of honor which are dearest and most significant are those we see in the eyes of the mothers of the Martyrs and the prisoners, in particular because they express our nation's heartbeat and uncompromising will.
She clarified that the fact that Councilwoman Maria Sánchez, the representative of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had apologized for awarding her a Citation of Honor - which was being awarded for the first time to an Arab leader - emphasizes the US administration's alienation from the Palestinian struggle. [Ghannam] noted that, according to Sánchez's statements, the citation had been withdrawn from her because of her 'support of terror.' The American Councilwoman wrote in a letter that the Palestinian and Arab community had deceived her when it claimed that Ghannam supported human rights and women's rights, whereas she was revealed to support terror with her actions and statements.
She [Sánchez] also apologized to the occupation for having honored her and met with her. Ghannam described to the Councilwoman the attacks the occupation carries out against our defenseless people, the Judaization of Jerusalem and the attack on all that is Palestinian through killing, oppression and imprisonment. She also mentioned our male and female prisoners, stating that the harassment they are subjected to is the result of the world's silence in face of the occupation's arrogance and tyranny.
In addition, the District Governor told the Councilwoman about the suffering of our people caused by the racist separation fence, which is consuming Palestinian land, and by the settler herds, and demanded immediate intervention to put an end to the tragedy the occupation has brought upon our people.
Ghannam noted that these declarations did not motivate the Councilwoman to support human rights; on the contrary, she yielded to the terror of the occupier and the Zionist lobby.
She [Ghannam] also emphasized that she would not apologize for having given the Councilwoman a memento representing the Palestinian heritage, which would continue to remind her of the injustice done to the Palestinians' rights and the fact that she had yielded to the occupier's terror, racism, tyranny and its persecution of all Palestinians, wherever they are.
Ghannam said: 'We are not interested in citations of honor that require us to slander our fighters and the supporting pillars of our struggle as terrorists,' emphasizing that it is the occupation's actions against our defenseless people, and not [our people's] defense of its dignity and land, that is terror."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 23, 2015]