PMW Bulletin
March 23, 2015

PA TV News libel: Israel is "drowning our youth in the swamp of [drug]
addiction"
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=14351

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

As policy, the Palestinian Authority demonizes Israel, libeling Jews and
Israelis as evil whose goal is to harm Palestinians, destroy the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, abuse Palestinian prisoners and rule the world by allying themselves
with terror organizations like Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Earlier this month, a newsreader on official PA TV News reiterated one of
the libels used by the PA to slander Israel, accusing Israel of
intentionally spreading drugs among Palestinians to destroy the young
generation:

PA TV newsreader: "PA TV has exposed that the occupation is using all means
to destroy our people and perhaps the most striking one is the drowning of
our youth in the swamp of [drug] addiction, after facilitating the entry of
all kinds of drugs for our youth."

[Official PA TV, March 1, 2015]

Click to view

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=767&fld_id=767&doc_id=14347

Last year, on an official PA TV program for youth that discussed the drug
problem in Palestinian society, the Commander of the Narcotics Division in
the Jerusalem District Yasser Izzat denied any Palestinian responsibility,
instead blaming Israel for causing the drug problem, stating that "the
occupation has stolen the people... it is stealing the people by destroying
them with drugs":

Commander of the Narcotics Division in the Jerusalem District Yasser Izzat:
"On the subject of Jerusalem: To tell the truth, Jerusalem is in danger. On
the subject of Jerusalem, the occupation has stolen the people - that is,
[it] stole the land and now it is stealing the people by destroying them
with drugs."

[Official Palestinian Authority TV, Feb. 23, 2014]

The following is a longer excerpt of the youth program discussing the
Palestinian drug problem:

Official PA TV program Speak Up, episode about the increase in drug use
among Palestinian youth, mainly in Jerusalem.
Guests on the program included District Deputy Governor of Jerusalem
Abdallah Siyam, Commander of the Narcotics Division in the Jerusalem
District Yasser Izzat and an anonymous youth from the street.
Commander of the Narcotics Division in the Jerusalem District Yasser Izzat:
"On the subject of Jerusalem: To tell the truth, Jerusalem is in danger. On
the subject of Jerusalem, the occupation has stolen the people - that is,
[it] stole the land and now it is stealing the people by destroying them
with drugs."
Youth: "With all the means you can talk about, you won't succeed in stopping
this phenomenon [of spread of drugs], because it is certainly supported by
the occupation and the occupation supports the entrance of [drugs] into
Palestinian land."
PA TV host: "A combined effort is necessary [to solve] this problem and to
get rid of it, for it is a great disaster, and it is part of the Israeli
occupation, which always targets our youth in order to distract them from
the Palestinian issue."

[Official Palestinian Authority TV, Feb. 23, 2014]