PMW Bulletin

July 31, 2011

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Abbas' advisor: PA should honor "Martyrs"

and not worry about donors' grants

http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=5347

By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@palwatch.org

f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.palwatch.org

Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas' advisor, Sabri Saidam, recently
defended the PA's honoring of Palestinian "Martyrs" by naming streets after
them and marking their birthdays. Palestinian Media Watch has reported on
the PA policy of turning terrorists into role models by naming events and
places after them. Abbas' advisor said Palestinians should continue this
practice and not be concerned about the condemnation from foreign countries
or the possibility that countries who support the PA financially will cut
funding:

"Blessings to the souls of our Shahids (Martyrs), whom we will not forget -
not for the sake of a grant, not for the sake of a deal..."

Earlier this year, Saidam expressed strong support for naming a square after
the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi whose bus hijacking killed 37 Israeli civilians
in 1978. The official PA daily reported that he "emphasized that the
anniversary of Dalal's Martyrdom-seeking (i.e., her terror attack) should be
made greater by inaugurating a [city] square in her name." Following a
popular inauguration of the "Martyr Dalal Mughrabi Square," Saidam told
Agence France-Presse:

"Every one of us has tried in his own way to express his pride in this
Shahida [Martyr Dalal Mughrabi]."

In the recent article he wrote in the official PA daily, he also expressed
sorrow over the fact that some Palestinians view the Martyrs "as a burden"
and do not wish to commemorate them out of fear of evoking international
condemnation:

"How it pains me to see people who view our Shahids (Martyrs) as a burden
because the donors will be angry and some countries will complain, or
because economic and everyday interests will be harmed... Blessings to the
souls of our Shahids, whom we will not forget - not for the sake of a grant,
not for the sake of a deal, and not for the sake of a position."

Saidam lamented that Palestinian youth don't know the names of past leaders,
and mentioned three Fatah leaders from the 1960s: Abu Ali Iyad, Abd Al-Fatah
Hamoud, Ahmad Al-Shuqeiri. Abu Ali Iyad was appointed head of Fatah military
operations in 1966, and was responsible for several terror attacks. Abd
Al-Fatah Hamoud was one of the founding members of Fatah and Ahmad
Al-Shuqeiri was the first chairman of the PLO.

When Palestinian Media Watch publicized the PA's plans to inaugurate a
square named after Mughrabi in 2010, international disapproval and criticism
forced the PA to cancel the inauguration. However, Fatah went ahead and held
informal inaugurations in 2010 and 2011.

As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, the PA has named numerous places
and events after Dalal Mughrabi.
http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=679

The following is the article by Saidam, Abbas' advisor:

By Sabri Saidam, Advisor to Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and under-secretary of
the Fatah Revolutionary Council:

Headline: "Are we loyal to the path of our fighters?"

"We have named streets after leaders who are not of our people, and have
marked the birthdays of other heroes who are not from our society, as a sign
of honor and esteem for them. This in itself is good and admirable, but
there must be equal or even greater zeal for the heritage of our own
struggle. How many of our young children and school pupils know of Abu Ali
Iyad, Abd Al-Fatah Hamoud, Ahmad Al-Shuqeiri, and others like them? What is
their position on our study curriculum? How it pains me to see people who
view our Shahids (Martyrs) as a burden because the donors will be angry and
some countries will complain, or because economic and everyday interests
will be harmed... Blessings to the souls of our Shahids, whom we will not
forget - not for the sake of a grant, not for the sake of a deal, and not
for the sake of a position."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 19, 2011]

The following are articles documenting Abbas' advisor's support for naming a
square after the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi:

"Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas and under-secretary of the Fatah
Revolutionary Council, Sabri Saidam, delivered a speech in which he
criticized [the fact] that many leaders don't participate in the [events
marking] the anniversary of Martyrs... He emphasized that the weapons must
be turned towards the main enemy [Israel] and that internal differences of
opinion must be set aside. Saidam noted the awful living conditions of the
families of Shahids (Martyrs), in the country and outside of it, and as
proof he said that the allowance to the family of Shahida (Martyr) Dalal
Mughrabi (i.e., leader of the bus hijacking in 1978 in which 37 civilians
were murdered) is a mere $123. He... emphasized that the anniversary of
Dalal's Martyrdom-seeking (i.e., her terror attack) should be made greater
by inaugurating a square in her name in the city of El-Bireh."

[Al-Ayyam, March 10, 2011]

Headline: "Residents insist on naming square in Ramallah after the Shahida
(Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi"

"Popular Palestinian activists announced yesterday that they were insisting
on naming a square in Ramallah after the Shahida Dalal Mughrabi. This
follows the PA postponement of an official inauguration of the junction,
owing to Israeli protest. March 13th will be the 33rd anniversary of Dalal
Mughrabi's death as a Martyr in a military operation that she led inside
Israel in 1978. About a hundred residents, representing universities and the
Palestinian Writers' Union, gathered yesterday and put up a huge poster,
inscribed with the name Dalal Mughrabi, and a picture of the boat in which
she entered Israel. Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Revolutionary Council [and
advisor to Abbas], Sabri Saidam, told Agence France-Presse: 'Today a popular
inauguration of the junction is being held. There has been insistence on
naming this junction after the Shahida Dalal Mughrabi. Every one of us has
tried in his own way to express his pride in this Shahida'... Senior Fatah
members said that they had decided to inaugurate the 'Shahida Dalal Mughrabi
Square' in the town of El-Bireh, close to Ramallah, despite Israel's threats
in the past to destroy it. Secretary of the Palestinian Writers' Union,
Murad Al-Sudani, told Reuters: 'The [Fatah] student Shabiba movement and the
Palestinian Writers' Union decided today to inaugurate the Shahida Dalal
Mughrabi square in the town of El-Bireh out of support for the path of
struggle, and to express honor to the Shahids (Martyrs) of the Palestinian
people.' A granite slab has been placed at the center of the square,
featuring an engraved image of Dalal Mughrabi inside a map of historical
Palestine, in the shape of a sail. A photograph of Dalal has been placed in
a different spot on the square; she is draped in a Palestinian keffiyeh and
holds an AK-47 machine gun."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 14, 2011]

Headline: "Al-Quds Open University marks anniversary of the Martyrdom of
Dalal Mughrabi with a call to approve the Families of Shahids (Martyrs) Law"

"Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Sabri Saidam,
emphasized that the Shahids (Martyrs) are the ones who should ascend the
highest dais, because they proved to the world that they are entrusted with
the sacred mission, since they sacrificed themselves for the sake of the
homeland. He said this yesterday, as the Al-Quds Open University marked the
33rd anniversary of the Martyrdom of Dalal Mughrabi, in cooperation with the
Palestinian Writers' Union and the National Union of Families of Shahids, in
the presence of Sabri Saidam; member of the Revolutionary Council, Naif
Sweitat; Secretary General of the Palestinian Writers' Union, Murad
Al-Sudani; Secretary General of the National Association of Shahids'
Families, Muhammad Sbeihat; Dean of Student Affairs at the university,
Muhammad Shahin; sister of the Shahida (Martyr), Rashida Mughrabi; and
several writers, family members of Shahids, and students. Saidam emphasized
that the Shahida Mughrabi remains in [our] minds and in our dreams...
Al-Sudani said that commemoration of the anniversary of [the death of]
Shahida Dalal by the union [of Palestinian Writers] arises out of a cultural
statement which lays the foundations for the homeland and announces the
transition to the sacred obligation, which the elevated and dear Shahid
masters set forth. He condemned the fact that there are some who are ashamed
to mark Dalal's anniversary [of Martyrdom], and said that whoever is ashamed
of his Shahids, is ashamed of [his] history. He emphasized that the Shahida
Mughrabi square should be inaugurated...

Sbeihat, for his part, stated that this ceremony of honor was not just for
Dalal Mughrabi, but for all the Shahids... Naif Sweitat of the National
Guidance [Directorate] delivered a speech on behalf of the family of Shahida
Dalal Mughrabi, in which he spoke of the political significance of the Dalal
Mughrabi operation... Muhammad Shahin said in a speech on behalf of the
university's president, Younes Amr: 'There is nothing that expresses greater
loyalty to Dalal than our providing for her illustrious sisters that which
will contribute to their resolve.'"

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 10, 2011]