Bulletin
Sept. 2, 2009Palestinian Media Watch
Palestinian TV children's quizzes teach that there is no Israel
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Palestinian Media Watch:
p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@palwatch.org
f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.palwatch.org

Palestinian children are taught through formal and informal education to see
a world in which "Palestine" replaces all of Israel. Two children's quizzes
broadcast last week on Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority television
show how the PA routinely teaches its children to identify all Israeli
cities as Palestinian cities.

In the two quizzes on PA TV, children were asked to identify Palestinian
cities. The suggested answers were exclusively Israeli cities: Haifa, Jaffa,
Acre and Tiberias.

The following are the transcripts of the PA TV quizzes:

Quiz 1: Haifa, Jaffa and Acre are "Palestine"
Host reads clue: "Where is Palestine's most important port, in Haifa, Jaffa
or Acre?"
Child: "Jaffa."
Host: "Is it correct?"

[Checks computer.]
Host: "Bravo!"
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 26, 2009]
To view this PA TV quiz, click here
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=408&fld_id=408&doc_id=1288

Quiz 2: Jaffa, Acre and Tiberias are "Palestine"
Host reads clue: "There's a Palestinian city whose walls are very high and
strong, and Napoleon, whom we all know, stopped his battle, because he was
unable [to breach] the solid walls.
Which city is it, Jaffa, Acre or Tiberias?"
Child: "Acre."
Host: "Applause, bravo!"
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 30, 2009]
To view this PA TV quiz, click here
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=408&fld_id=408&doc_id=1289

The following are examples from PA schoolbooks, which also teach Palestinian
children to imagine a world without Israel:

"Coastal states differ in terms of their access to water sources, such
as...: states located on sea coasts with accesses to two seas, for example:
Palestine and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea."
[Physical Geography and Human Geography, Grade 12, p. 105]

"Palestine has a long coast facing the Mediterranean Sea and a short coast
on the Gulf of Aqaba."
[Health and Environment Studies, Grade 8 (2003), p. 130, the Israeli city of
Eilat is on the Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba) - Ed.]

"The Tiberias Lake [Sea of Galilee], in Palestine."
[Physical Geography, Grade 5, p. 25]
For the full report on Palestinian schoolbooks click here
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=122

The following are examples of previous PA TV quizzes teaching the identical
message of a world without Israel:

Child host: "List three Palestinian ports... we have the Haifa port, Jaffa,
Ashkelon, Eilat, Ashdod & Gaza." [Note: All are Israeli cities except Gaza.]

Child host: "What is the size of the state of Palestine?"
(On phone) Haidar: "27,000 sq. km."
[Note: The size of the West Bank and Gaza is 6,220 sq. km. The figure of
27,000 sq. km. includes all of Israel.]

Child host: "Name three countries bordering Palestine."
(On phone) Muhammad: "Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt."
[Note: Only Israel borders Lebanon.]

Child host: "The Palestinian borders overlook two important seas. What are
their names?"
(On phone) Lama: "The Mediterranean and the Red Sea."
[Note: The Red Sea borders Israel's southern tip.]

Child host: "What's the name of the only sweet-water lake in Palestine?"
On phone, Ayyam: "The Tiberias Sea [the Sea of Galilee]."
[Note: The Sea of Galilee is in Israel.] [PA TV (Fatah), Sept. 1, 2008]

Child host: "Where is Ein Harod [Israeli town]?"
Child: "In Palestine."
Child host: "Good. Which mountain is the tallest in Palestine? And where is
it located?"
Child: "Mount Meron [in Israel]."
Child host: "That's half an answer, where is it located? In Nablus, Hebron
or Galilee?"
Child: "In the Galilee [in Israel]."
Child host: "Correct answer. The tallest mountain in Palestine is Mount
Meron, in the Upper Galilee, east of the mountain is the city of Safad
[Israeli city], the capital of northern Palestine."
[PA TV (Fatah), Sept. 9, 2008]

Child host: "What is the name of the desert in Palestine?"
Nahad: "The Negev desert" [southern Israel]
Child host: "Correct answer."
[PATV (Fatah), Sept. 18, 2008]

Child host: "Which of the Palestinian cities is named after the Roman ruler,
the Emperor Tiberias?"
Child: "Tiberias." [Israeli city]
Child host: "Your answer is correct."
[PA TV (Fatah), Sept. 20, 2008]

Child host: "Yesterday's riddle: O bride of Palestine, the most beautiful in
the garden, O you who sit on the shore waiting for time to return. Don't
cry, my dear, beautiful daughter of Canaan ... And the answer is: Jaffa.
[Israeli city - part of Tel Aviv]"
Child host: "Which Palestinian city is called 'the flower of Galilee'? The
possibilities are: Tiberias, Nazareth, Acre." [All are Israeli cities]
Answer: "Nazareth."
[PA TV (Fatah) Sept. 15, 2008]