RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday he hoped to persuade Palestinians peaceful dialogue was the way to statehood after an Israeli pullout from Gaza that militants claimed as a victory for armed struggle.On the very same day, the PA's Ministry of Culture was busy as well:
Declaring the 'jihad' or 'holy struggle' of confrontation with Israel over, Abbas told Reuters it was time for what he called the 'greater jihad' of economic revival, rule of law and talks with the Jewish state to achieve a lasting peace.
Abbas said he has been promoting that message at recent public rallies celebrating the first evacuation of Jewish settlements from Israeli-occupied land Palestinians want for a state.
'The people are responding in a remarkable way. The people's beliefs are changing,' he said."
The PA's Ministry of Culture released its "Book of the Month" today, a poetry collection honoring suicide terrorist Hanadi Jaradat, who murdered 29 Israelis. It was distributed as a special supplement in the daily Al-Ayyam.
Entitled "What Did Hanadi Say?" the collection includes a poem glorifying Jaradat's act of suicide terror, calling it "the highest goal":
"O Hanadi! Shake the earth under the feet of the enemies! Blow it up! Hanadi said: "It is the wedding of Hanadi the day when death as a Martyr for Allah, becomes the highest goal."
Now, we wait for a single mainstream media outlet to point out the jarring contradiction between Abbas' words and his actions.
And wait. And wait.
I just wrote to Reuters about this; we'll see what kind of form letter I get in return:
To the Editors:
On the very same day that Mahmoud Abbas claims in your interview to now be promoting a culture of peace among Palestinians, his own Ministry of Culture published a book praising a female suicide bomber who killed 29 Israelis.
Would it be too much to ask you, as a supposed "news" organization, to go a tiny bit beyond parroting the words of a proven liar and actually exposing the clear fraud he is trying to use you for? I seem to remember learning that news organizations should be a little skeptical of what leaders say; yet I have yet to see you expose a single incongruity within your beloved Palestinian Authority.
Would it be physically harmful to you to mention that the terrorist Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades gets money from Abbas' PA, which in turns gets its money from US and European taxpayers?
Is it too taxing for your Arabic-speaking reporters to mention the incitement that is printed and broadcast daily in the Palestinian media, directly breaking a signed agreement with Israel?
Or does your own political agenda trump actually reporting the news?