PMW: Murdering 22 children is heroic, says PA TV
Recently the PA has emphasized this message to Palestinians by glorifying the Ma'alot massacre - a terrorist attack in 1974 in which Palestinian terrorists took over a hundred Israeli children and their teachers hostage in a school. When Israeli forces tried to rescue them, the terrorists attacked the hostages with guns and grenades, murdering 22 of the children and 4 adults.Official PA TV glorifies Ma’alot massacre, praises terrorists who murdered 22 kids
Palestinian Media Watch recently reported on the square in Jenin, which was named after Khaled Nazzal who planned the attack. Israel subsequently removed the monument, after which Abbas' Fatah Movement vowed to rebuild it.
In addition to the Khaled Nazzal Square and the monument in Jenin, the Jenin district has now further named a street after terrorist Nazzal in the town of Burqin:
Headline: "In response to the removal of the monument, [the] Jenin [district] names a street after Khaled Nazzal"
"The town of Burqin, which is located southwest of Jenin, yesterday, Wednesday [July 5, 2017], named one of the town's streets after Martyr (Shahid) Khaled Nazzal in response to the occupation authorities' decision to remove and destroy the Martyr Nazzal monument in Jenin." [Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 6, 2017]
Official PA TV has also joined this campaign of praising the murders in Ma'alot. A TV narrator called it "an act of heroism" when she described how a Palestinian prisoner, whom Israel allegedly had brought in to persuade the terrorists to release the hostages, instead encouraged them to continue the attack and "do what they came for." According to PA TV, the act of dying while murdering 26 Israelis meant that the terrorists' "souls would float as Martyrs above the skies of Palestine."
Israeli-Indian statement ignores two-state solution
Thirty years after India became the first non-Muslim state to recognize the “State of Palestine,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed off on a joint statement on Wednesday that mentioned the Palestinian-Israel diplomatic process, but made no reference to a two state solution.Palestinian Authority Feels Slighted by Indian PM Modi’s Decision Not to Meet With Abbas During Israel Visit
The 20th clause of a 21-clause document that was issued following the two leaders’ lengthy working meeting referred to the diplomatic process.
“The two Prime Ministers discussed the developments pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process,” the statement read.
“They underlined the need for the establishment of a just and durable peace in the region. They reaffirmed their support for an early negotiated solution between the sides based on mutual recognition and security arrangements.”
Not only will Modi not be visiting the Palestinian Authority during his 49-hour visit, but the first day and a half of the visit passed without him once publicly referring to the Palestinian issue.
One senior Indian official said it was not his country’s style to engage in “megaphone diplomacy,” or go to other countries and lecture them on what they need to do. He said this is because to a large degree, India does not like it when other countries come to India and lecture it about relations with Pakistan.
Palestinian leaders have expressed disappointment over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision not to visit Ramallah, the political center of the Palestinian Authority (PA), as he continues with his three-day trip to Israel — the first ever by a sitting Indian prime minister to the Jewish state.
“We expected him [Modi] to visit both Israel and Palestine,” Palestinian Deputy Foreign Minister Tasir Jaradat told the Qatari-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera. “To play an important role between the two sides and to be able to spread the message of peace, one should visit both.”
“The PA is talking in terms of surprise, rather than outright criticism, that Narendra Modi has decided not to make time for its president in the course of a three-day visit,” an Al Jazeera correspondent in Jerusalem reported.
Modi last met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in May. Speaking after their encounter in New Delhi, Modi said India’s goal was ”to see the realization of a sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestine, coexisting peacefully with Israel.”
Part of Modi’s approach to enhanced relations with Israeli is based on what Indian analysts have called “de-linking” — engaging in bilateral cooperation with both Israel and the Palestinians and treating the two parties as separate entities.