Songs promoting violence become Palestinian hits

Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik | Nov 8, 2015

Songs promoting terror and violence become Palestinian hits

Popular song in Ramallah:

"I'm coming towards you, my enemy,
We're going down from every house
with cleavers and knives"

For months, Fatah-run TV playing song

famous for motivating Palestinians

to attack Israelis:

"The revolution of a people holding rocks...

Allah is with us. He is stronger and greater than the Children of Zion"

Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Songs that encourage Palestinians to use "cleavers and knives" against Israelis, riot, and throw rocks, are being heard in the streets of Ramallah and are popular among Palestinian youth:

"The owner of the stall selling discs on Al-Irsal Street [in Ramallah] said that the discs of national songs make up 90% of his sales at the moment because the prevailing national sentiment causes people to buy them... From another stall near the El-Bireh cultural center the song 'I come out to you, my enemy, from every home, neighborhood and street' is heard."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 2, 2015]

The song "I come out to you, my enemy, from every home, neighborhood and street" was posted by Abbas' Fatah movement on its Facebook page already in November last year, only a few days after terrorists murdered 5 Israelis in a synagogue with butchers' knives and guns as documented by Palestinian Media Watch. As reported in the PA daily, that song is very popular at the moment, along with other "national songs." The lyrics of the popular song include the following call to butcher "the enemy":

"I'm coming towards you, my enemy,

We're going down from every house with cleavers and knives,

With grenades we announced a popular war.

I swear, you won't escape, my enemy,

from the revolution and the people.
How will you escape the ring of fire,

while the crowds are blocking the way?"

[Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," Nov. 22, 2014]

Click to view

Similarly, for months now, Fatah-run TV has been broadcasting a song famous in the past during both intifadas for motivating Palestinians to take to the streets and engage in violence against Israel. The song expresses faith in Allah who is "stronger and greater than the Children of Zion" and it encourages dying for "my land... My red blood will water the green with the flavor of lemon":

"Where are the millions?

Where is the Arab people?

Where is the Arab rage?

Where is the Arab blood?

Where is the Arab honor? ...

In my chest is a [whole] gun magazine, where are you, my brothers?

The revolution [needs] men, it is not bought with money

The revolution of a people holding rocks against fleets

[They] sacrificed from young to old, out of obligation and not as a kindness...

Allah is with us. He is stronger and greater than the Children of Zion

Even if they hang, kill and bury [me], my land will not be humiliated

My red blood will water the green with the flavor of lemon

The fire of revolution is getting stronger and flaring up. We are the victors."

[Fatah-run Awdah TV, since August 2015]

Click to view

Also in the Gaza Strip, children are fond of "intifada songs," the official PA daily reported:

"The children of Gaza are determined to take part... in the mass insurgency, in order to help the Al-Aqsa Mosque and occupied Jerusalem in their own way. Some recite revolutionary poems, some recite farewell verses for the Martyrs (Shahids), and others shout revolutionary slogans, which remind their listeners of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., the second Intifada, PA terror campaign 2000-2005), 15 years ago.

A group of children aged 7-11... play around with the language of the revolution, their shouts attracting the looks of passersby and making them stop and listen to the voice of the Intifada emanating from their mouths, through expressions such as 'O Martyr, you have enchanted my soul' and 'O Martyr, remain calm, we will continue the struggle.'"

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 1, 2015]

The paper interviewed an 11-year-old girl from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Mariam, who stated that she loves the songs of the intifada, and wants to "fight the occupying Jews":

"I love the songs, I love to sing them. My siblings also sing them at home, and we always see mom and dad turn on the TV when these songs are on. We also see Martyrs killed by the Jews. I always hear the song 'On the borders,' and long to fight the occupying Jews when I grow up."

The music video of the song "On the borders" mentioned by the girl shows masked Hamas fighters with weapons, rockets being fired at Israel, and scenes from rocket attacks against Israel. The song is performed by a child in army uniform and praises two Hamas terrorists. It also speaks of capturing Israeli soldiers to "raise the morale" and force Israel to release Palestinian prisoners (See lyrics below).

The following are longer excerpts of the reports in the official PA daily describing the popular songs among Palestinian youth:

Headline: "The national songs - the roaring at the heart of the Palestinian street"

"In periods of relative quiet in the Palestinian territories, the national songs are less common, but during insurgencies and intifadas, which come one after the other, they stand out quickly from the first moments.

Songs to the Martyrs (Shahids), the injured, the prisoners, and the exiled, songs to the flag and the stones of the destroyed home, songs for cities we long for, songs for villages whose residents were forced to abandon them and the beach, songs for the seasons, the granary, the places of exile, songs to the pine and oak trees, and songs to the anemone and the sage.

In a stall behind the Arab bank in Ramallah, two young women turn over discs of national songs, talk with the stall owner about the new songs, and [ask] if there are songs about Jerusalem and Gaza. At the same time, a young man is going around the Al-Manara Square in his car, playing Qassem Al-Najjar's song 'Do you know what intifada is?'

(PMW editorial note: This is a very militant song. The video shows footage of Palestinians rioting and during clashes with Israeli soldiers, Palestinians throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, burning tires. Also footage of dead "Martyrs" wrapped in the Palestinian flag. The video is full of Fatah symbols. The song, which is more like a speech, encourage Palestinians to engage in intifada and in confrontations and to cancel security cooperation with "the Sons of Zion," to "crush traitors and informers," boycott Israel etc. During part of the speech, the statement "Allahu Akbar - Allah is greater" is heard as well. The last words are "We will die, and Palestine will live.")

20 meters away, from a store on Al-Irsal Street, comes the voice of Abu Arab: 'O bird, take me to the homeland, color my eyes with the soil of Palestine, send my regards to Acre and the Upper Galilee, to Bir Zeit, Haifa, Tira, and Ayn Ghazal.'

(PMW has reported on this song, which misrepresents several cities and towns in Israel as were they in the Palestinian "homeland." It has been broadcast numerous times on official PA TV and PA TV Live since 2012, most recently on Nov. 3, 2015)

Muhammad Al-Ghouj, a young man from Jericho, said that he bought two discs of national songs - the first including 15 national songs, old and new, and the second of the Alashekeen band.

(PMW editorial note: PMW has reported on songs performed by the Alashekeen band, one of which promotes violence and the destruction of Israel: "Pull the trigger. We shall redeem Jerusalem, Nablus and the country." In 2010, PA Chairman Abbas declared the band a "national institution.")

He noted that the last insurgency affected the minds of 80% of Palestine's young people, and therefore they switched to national songs rather than entertaining songs.

Alaa Al-Din Nawfal from Ramallah said: 'I keep some national songs on my cell phone and listen to them non-stop. A few days ago, I received a disc of songs from the first Intifada (i.e., Palestinian wave of violence and terror against Israel, 1987-1993)... having looked for it for a long time...

Hamza Safi from the Al-Amari refugee camp, owner of the stall selling discs on Al-Irsal Street, said that the discs of national songs make up 90% of his sales at the moment because the prevailing national sentiment causes people to buy them... From another stall near the El-Bireh cultural center the song 'I come out to you, my enemy, from every home, neighborhood and street' is heard."

(PMW has reported that Abbas' Fatah movement posted this song on its Facebook page, it includes the words: "I'm coming towards you, my enemy/ We're going down from every house with cleavers and knives/ With grenades we announced a popular war/I swear, you won't escape, my enemy...")

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 2, 2015]

Headline: "The children of Gaza take part in the mass insurgency through songs and revolutionary calls"

"The children of Gaza are determined to take part, along with their young compatriots, in the mass insurgency, in order to help the Al-Aqsa Mosque and occupied Jerusalem in their own way. Some recite revolutionary poems, some recite farewell verses for the Martyrs (Shahids), and others shout revolutionary slogans, which remind their listeners of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (i.e., the second Intifada, PA terror campaign 2000-2005), 15 years ago.

A group of children aged 7-11 from the Al-Zeitoun neighborhood of central Gaza, play around with the language of the revolution, their shouts attracting the looks of passersby and making them stop and listen to the voice of the Intifada emanating from their mouths, through expressions such as 'O Martyr, you have enchanted my soul' and 'O Martyr, remain calm, we will continue the struggle.' This reminded them [the passersby] of the days of the second Intifada, which broke out in order to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian holy sites, which the occupation was defiling at the time.

A young boy, Muhammad Yahya, one of those applauding the revolution, said: 'We want the Jews to leave Palestine, and we must stand by the young people who go to fight at the border. We see them every day on television, and we see how the Jews kill people. We want to fight like them, but cannot...' The mass insurgency, whose spark was ignited in occupied Jerusalem, has expanded to the entire West Bank, with the support of the masses of our people in Gaza. It was not accidental, but rather a natural result of a series of cumulative political [incidents] and Israeli escalation measures, which led the Palestinian people to a point where it cannot bear them anymore nor remain silent about them. As a result, the stabbing operations (i.e., attacks against Israelis) carried out by the heroes of the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem have begun terrorizing the settler herds and causing them to stay inside their homes, and in their hallucinations, the occupation army soldiers have begun killing anyone who passes by them - adults and young people, boys and girls - thinking they might stab them.

11-year-old Mariam Hammad set out on an intifada together with the groups of children, by shouting revolutionary slogans and singing revolutionary songs, which indicate their love for the homeland and their strong will to defend it in any possible way.

Mariam said: 'I love the songs, I love to sing them. My siblings also sing them at home, and we always see mom and dad turn on the TV when these songs are on. We also see Martyrs killed by the Jews. I always hear the song 'On the borders,' and long to fight the occupying Jews when I grow up."

(PMW editorial note: The "On the borders" music video shows masked Hamas fighters with weapons, rockets being fired at Israel, and scenes from rocket attacks against Israel. The song is performed by a child in army uniform and praises two Hamas terrorists. It also speaks of capturing Israeli soldiers to "raise the morale" and force Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.)

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 1, 2015]

Song "On the Borders" published on YouTube on Oct. 10, 2014

"The [Izz Al-Din] Al-Qassam people went out to the borders

To capture soldiers

And raise the morale

Going, going, [Izz Al-Din] Al-Qassam people are winning

Allah willing, tomorrow our prisoners will leave their prison cells (i.e., in exchange deal with Israel for captured soldiers)

And from below and above ground

Fire is lit in the battlefields

Salute the lions of honor, who roar standing tall

The 'Devoured Chaff' battle (i.e., 2014 Gaza War)

Remains [a source of] honor and a wonder

[Ahmed] Al-Ja'abari (i.e., planner of numerous Hamas terror attacks) and [Abd Al-Aziz] Al-Rantisi (i.e., co-founder of Hamas), giving the lethal blow"

[YouTube, Oct. 10, 2014]

Ahmed Al-Ja'abariwas a member of Hamas' political bureau and, beginning in 2002, the operational commander of Hamas' military wing, the Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades. Israel holds him responsible for all terrorist activities against Israel originating from the Gaza Strip between 2002 and his death in 2012, including numerous suicide bombings that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers. He was involved in the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit (June 25, 2006) and in the negotiations surrounding Shalit's release in October 2011. Al-Ja'abari played a leading role in the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Nov. 14, 2012.

Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi - Co-founder of the terrorist organization Hamas

Fatah-run TV broadcasts song famous for motivating Palestinians to take to the streets and engage in intifada against Israel