Bulletin
May 3, 2010
Palestinian Media Watch
In a press conference today with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny
Ayalon, Palestinian Media Watch released a new report entitled

From Terrorists to Role Models:
The Palestinian Authority's
Institutionalization of Incitement

The PA's policy of naming schools, summer camps,
sporting events, streets and ceremonies after terrorists
fundamentally undermines the chance for peace

by Itamar Marcus, Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Barbara Crook
and PMW staff
p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@palwatch.org
f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.palwatch.org

"For this report, PMW chose 100 examples of places and events named after 46
different terrorists in order to show the scope of the phenomenon. Twenty
six of the examples have been reported in the Palestinian media in 2010."

The report documents that: "Terror glorification is highly visible in
Palestinian society. A Palestinian child can walk to school along a street
named after the terrorist Abu Jihad, who planned a bus hijacking that killed
37, spend the day learning in a school named after Hamas founder Ahmad
Yassin, in the afternoon play football in a tournament named after suicide
terrorist Abd Al-Baset Odeh who killed 31, and end his day at a youth center
named after terrorist Abu Iyad, responsible for the killing of the 11
Olympic athletes in Munich. A young woman can join a university women's club
named Sisters of Dalal, after Dalal Mughrabi, attend a week at Al-Quds
University honoring suicide bomb builder Yahya Ayyash, and participate in
university rallies named after numerous terrorists. Honoring terrorists
envelops and plays a significant part in defining the Palestinian world."

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said at the press conference:
"I thank PMW for this research. We will study it and give our response. I
welcome the activities of this organization, which exposes Palestinian
society and the Palestinian Authority as they present themselves, not to the
world but to themselves."

[www.mfa.gov.il accessed May 3, 2010]

The Deputy Minister further stated that:
"True peace must be built on a foundation of trust between the parties. The
continuation of incitement on the part of the Palestinians will not help
build trust and understanding between us. Therefore, before the start of the
talks, the PA must decide if it is a partner for true peace and stop the
ongoing incitement and boycotts against Israel."

[www.mfa.gov.il accessed May 3, 2010]

Click here to see the full PMW report on the PA's glorification of
terrorists in PDF.
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103359537071&s=4998&e=001d16-z9fPaSv8pEDw4tN1EEYsdt56MmIBWN1AGGQEKMMv7aSATM2pUjjCB0fh_KsxS-4C9NbIqQvBnC-HNSyD5A1-lbfrKLjBMRL0FmQvttL2M4fqM8rcXI1KWHzc4bx__UVdv4b3nvyoibRTjKMkDBUgKD1l7T8vRUJBQ0CWmVHK0jgNJuD8770vsEvHGmIemqRcH9AVYSD_9b-RSKHdq2jKWsC8d3o1
The following is the executive summary of the report:

Executive Summary
The Palestinian Authority has named numerous locations and events after
Palestinian terrorists responsible for killing Israeli civilians. In this
special report, Palestinian Media Watch investigates the breadth of this
phenomenon and to what extent it continues in 2010. Furthermore, PMW will
assess whether this represents activities of a fringe group within society,
or represents Palestinian Authority policy.

Findings
The Palestinian Authority's recent naming of a square in Ramallah after the
terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who led a terror attack that killed 37 civilians,
was not an isolated incident. It is one example among many of how the PA has
institutionalized incitement by systematically turning terrorists into role
models.

In this report, Palestinian Media Watch documents the ongoing Palestinian
Authority policy of glorifying terrorists through the naming of places and
events after them, especially after those responsible for the most murderous
attacks. Dalal Mughrabi, whose bus hijacking killed more Israelis than any
other Palestinian terror attack, has been immortalized through the naming of
numerous places and events, including: Two elementary schools, a
kindergarten, a computer center, summer camps, football tournaments, a
community center, a sports team, a public square, a street, an election
course, an adult education course, a university club, a dance troupe, a
military unit, a dormitory in a youth center, a TV series, a TV quiz team
and a graduation ceremony. And Mughrabi is just one example among many.

For this report, PMW has chosen 100 examples of places and events named
after 46 different terrorists in order to show the scope of the phenomenon.
Twenty six of the examples have been reported in the Palestinian media in
2010.

Terror glorification is highly visible in Palestinian society. A Palestinian
child can walk to school along a street named after the terrorist Abu Jihad,
who planned a bus hijacking that killed 37, spend the day learning in a
school named after Hamas founder Ahmad Yassin, in the afternoon play
football in a tournament named after suicide terrorist Abd Al-Baset Odeh who
killed 31, and end his day at a youth center named after terrorist Abu Iyad,
responsible for killing the 11 Olympic athletes in Munich. A young woman can
join a university women's club named Sisters of Dalal, after Dalal Mughrabi,
attend a week at Al-Quds University honoring suicide bomb builder Yahya
Ayyash, and participate in university rallies named after numerous
terrorists. Honoring terrorists envelops and plays a significant part in
defining the Palestinian world.

Two types of incitement: Direct calls to kill vs. honoring terrorists who
killed
The PA practice of honoring terrorists is a very dangerous form of
incitement, because it praises the killer and the act of killing after the
actual murder has taken place. When an Imam on PA TV calls to kill Jews, the
murder is at that point a possibility. No one has yet been killed. Honoring
a suicide terrorist does not refer to a possibility, but glorifies an actual
murder.

When PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas funded a computer center named after
Mughrabi, he was telling Palestinian society that killing Rebecca Hochman
and her sons, 6-year-old Roi and 3-year-old Ilan, along with 34 other
civilians in a bus hijacking, was not merely acceptable, but an act worthy
of honor. When the PA Ministry of Education held a football tournament named
after suicide terrorist Odeh who killed 31, it was saying that the act of
murder is what turns Palestinians into heroes. The PA's message that
terrorists are role models is as damaging to peace as it is disturbing.
Honoring a murderer is incitement to murder.

PA leaders honor terrorists
The terror veneration that this report documents is not of a fringe group
but is policy of the PA, the Fatah party and the Palestinian leaders. PA
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in April 2010 sponsored a sports event named
after Abu Jihad, who orchestrated Dalal Mughrabi's bus hijacking and many
other terror attacks. And Abbas, in addition to funding the computer center
named after Dalal Mughrabi in 2009, also publicly supported the naming of
the square in her name in 2010.

Palestinian Authority defends policy of honoring terrorists
In response to PMW's exposing the plans to name a square near Ramallah after
Dalal Mughrabi, the Palestinian Authority defended this practice at the
highest levels, acknowledging that this terror veneration is part of PA
policy:

Mahmoud Abbas, PA Chairman, on naming square after Mughrabi:
"Of course I did not go myself, but I do not deny [the naming]. Of course we
want to name a square after her." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 17, 2010]

Siham Barghouti, PA Minister of Culture, on naming square after Mughrabi:
"Honoring them in this way [by naming public places after them] is the least
we can give them, and this is our right." [Al-Ayyam, Jan. 11, 2010]

Mahmoud Al-Aloul, member of Fatah Central Committee, defending immortalizing
terrorists:
"It is important to continue commemorating the memory of the Shahids
(Martyrs) and the Palestinian acts of heroism, and most importantly the
anniversary of the Martyrdom of Dalal Mughrabi, heroine of the Coastal Road
operation [attack that killed 37], which falls on March 11th... Al-Aloul
said that Fatah has acted and continues to act to immortalize its Shahids
(Martyrs) and heroes... He added: 'It is our right and our duty to take
pride in all of the Shahids (Martyrs), and it is our duty to convey this
message in the most direct manner to the generations to come.'"

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 25, 2010]

Speaking on behalf of Mahmoud Abbas, about street named after Abu Jihad:
"In his speech on behalf of the President [Abbas], Tayeb Al-Rahim said:
'Today we are celebrating the inauguration of a street named after the
leader Abu Jihad, Prince of the Shahids... He had the honor of introducing
the idea of the armed Palestinian struggle... We say that the entire
[Palestinian] nation has become Abu Jihad, and that our people are proud of
him. His name has been given to hospitals and schools and centers and
streets. Abu Jihad did not die; he lives on in our midst. Abu Jihad is the
engineer of the revolution; the first bullet." [Emphasis added]

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 21, 2010]

Defining a terrorist for this report
In this report, a terrorist is defined as a person who carried out, planned,
organized or assisted in attacks that deliberately targeted civilians for
the strategic goal of killing civilians and/or terrorizing a civilian
population. It does not include as a terrorist act the attacking of military
or terrorist targets for the purpose of eliminating a real or perceived
threat, even though civilians may have been killed. The strategic purpose is
critical in the definition of terror. Attacks intentionally directed at
civilian targets are terror. Attacks targeting military targets are not
terror, even if civilians were also killed.

Furthermore, this report does not include individuals who participated in
terror activities but later turned to political activity. The many places
and events named after Yasser Arafat are not included, even though he
planned numerous terror attacks whose sole purpose was the killing of
civilians, because he later received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Non-Palestinians included in this report
It is not only Palestinians involved in violence who are honored in this way
by the PA. Iraqi insurgent Ali Al-Naamani committed the first suicide
bombing attack in Iraq, killing four American soldiers. The Palestinians
named a square in the center of Jenin after him. Likewise, Saddam Hussein
has a Palestinian school and a road named after him. While these two do not
fit the strict definition of terrorists, they have been included in the
report because they are important for showing the range of people involved
in violence who have been honored within the PA.

Methodology - general terrorist glorification not included in this report
This report is documenting only the naming of places and events in honor of
terrorists that have been cited in the PA media. PMW has not investigated
all the PA schools or all street names and therefore the full extent of the
phenomenon is certainly greater. In addition this report does not include
the PA practice of glorifying terrorists directly through events in their
honor, such as, assemblies, rallies, or TV specials on anniversaries of
terror attacks. For example, on the annual anniversary of Dalal Mughrabi's
bus hijacking, PA TV has broadcast many special reports, interviews and
programs about her and the attack. While all this greatly compounds the
problem, it is beyond the scope of this report.

Conclusion
The explicit and unmitigated rejection of terror on moral grounds is a basic
condition for a sincere and lasting peace. Whereas the PA leadership has
publicly committed to fight violence, this message can only be seen as
insincere by their own people, when numerous terrorists who murdered
Israelis are repeatedly glorified by the PA leadership even in 2010.
Indeed, there is no more fundamental statement of support for violence and
terror than when the single act of intentionally targeting and killing
Israeli civilians is enough to immortalize the name of the killer.
If there is to be any chance for peace, the Palestinian leadership must
convince their own people that terror is rejected -- not merely because it
is damaging to Palestinian interests in 2010, but because it is immoral and
wrong at all times. For peace to have a chance, terrorists must be
ostracized as immoral outcasts, not immortalized as heroes and role models.