Voice of Palestine Honors Rather Than Condemns Bus Bomber
By Michael Widlanski 23 February 2004

Voice of Palestine Radio(VOP) (that is run by the PA and under the tight
control of Yasser Arafat) referred to the man who committed the bombing of
the bus in Jerusalem yesterday as a martyr ("shahid") in their news
programs. They treated him royally both yesterday and today.

Shahid is an honorary term given to someone who dies in battle. It is not
conferred to a criminal. If the act was considered a criminal act then he
would not be termed a martyr "shahid".

It should also be noted that the pro forma condemnation broadcast in Arabic
on VOP never said anything against the person who carried out the attack
itself. Instead the "condemnation" explained the act - blaming it on Israel
and voicing concern regarding its timing.

It is also noteworthy that yesterday's bombing was repeatedly described on
VOP as "an explosive operation" without any negative terminology associated
with it. In sharp contrast, the announcement of the demolition of the
"martyr's house" by the IDF was termed "barbaric" with VOP urging
Palestinians to come out of their houses to show resistance to the "racist
Israeli threats".

At 6:00 PM last night, right before the main evening news program last
night, PA TV broadcast film clips openly encouraging attacks against
Israelis. For example, they ran a clip of a small child no older than 6 - 7
years old singing to himself "by stone or by knife I will attack the enemy".
The clip was several minutes long and this chorus was repeated many times.
The clip demonstrates that the PA is actively encouraging attacks - even by
youths.

* Michael Widlanski, a specialist in Palestinian communications, teaches at
Hebrew University's Rothberg School, and he recently completed eight years
of research on the Palestinian mass media.