Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin
October 27, 2003

PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH
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PA Daily: America must be Fought in Iraq - Israel Must be Destroyed
by Itamar Marcus

Introduction:

The two burning tasks of the Arab world today are the total destruction of
Israel and the fight against the US in Iraq, according to the official
Palestinian Authority [PA] daily, Al Hayat Al Jadida. The call for Israel's
destruction, a basic and widespread Arab view, was to have been rejected by
the PA after the Oslo Accords, yet it continues to be promoted in the
tightly controlled PA media. It should be noted that the refusal to
recognize Israel's existence is expressed in the article by the rejection of
the name Israel, as well, as references to Israel are placed in quotation
marks as follows - "Israel" - implying - "so called Israel".

The article depicts Israel and the US as parallel and prime enemies of the
Arab world and this is consistent with the opinions of the general
Palestinian population according to the poll PMW released last week in
Washington. That poll found that 87% of Palestinians thought either the US
or Israel "is the single greatest threat to world peace". [51% answered
Israel, 36% answered the US]. The article's call to fight Americans in Iraq
is likewise consistent with PA opinions as the poll found that 42% of the
Palestinians support the Iraqi attacks on Americans and 74% of Palestinians
supported Saddam Hussein in the war.

The following is from the article in the PA daily:

"During these moments in history it is extremely important to adopt a direct
and decisive position regarding imperialism, and especially regarding the
Zionist entity. There is no option but resistance to imperialism... There is
a need to crystallize a position regarding the imperialist-Zionist project
in the Arab region. The resistance - that is meant to bring the expulsion of
the American occupation in Iraq - should be supported by all means. The same
applies to the struggle against the Zionist entity until the Zionist project
is defeated, it's entity is eliminated, and a free and Arab Palestine is
established as a first step towards uniting the Arab homeland and striving
towards independent development and socialism. There are no other
fundamental solutions to the Arab problem, but this one...
...The two state solution, a binational state, or even one democratic state
outside the Arab dimension, will not be capable of getting rid of the
contrast between the Arab masses and the Zionist-imperialist project in the
Arab region ...
[There is] another issue, that the world movement should decide and take a
standpoint: There are no "progressive Israelis". Every person, who is part
of the Zionist-imperialist project, even if he is "opposed" to Zionist
policy, is part of the structure of "Israel" ... A person cannot be
simultaneously both progressive and part of the Zionist entity - Zionist
project...
...Israel is an illegitimate state. This definition applies to organizations
and individuals that represent [Israel] or recognize it. Therefore, in order
to emphasize this illegitimacy, all ties with the "Israelis" should be
canceled, and in other words: normalization with Zionists should be opposed
on a world level, not only in the Arab homeland...
...There is no option other than the elimination of the imperialist-Zionist
project... The meaning of resisting Israel is resisting Globalization, and
vice versa..."

[Op. Ed. by Dr. Hisham Al-Bustani, a Jordanian columnist,
in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, official PA daily, Oct. 25, 2003]

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