ANALYSIS OF THE PALESTINIAN MEDIA BY DR. MICHAEL WISLANSKI
Communicated by Dr. Aaron Lerner, IMRA - Independent Media
Review and Analysis. Website: www.imra.org.il
Voice of Palestine radio broke into its regular programming (10AM) to
announce that Israeli troops and Jewish extremists were invading
Islamic holy places on the Temple Mount. Later on, Palestinian
television opened its afternoon news broadcast with a report showing
PA Prime Minister Ahmad Qreia (Abu 'Ala) accusing Israel of invading
the Temple Mount, during a PA cabinet meeting. "Prime Minister Ahmad
Qreia asserted that the attempt by Israel to invade Jerusalem
[Arabic: beit al-maqdas] was fraught with danger," announced Muhammad
Yassin, the senior PBC anchorman. Qreia was quoted as saying that
Israel was escalating plans to Judaize Jerusalem, and he cited the
destruction of "hundreds of homes" in the Silwan neighborhood. "Every
month there is another attempt to invade the Al-Aqsa mosque,"
asserted Prime Minister Qreia, wagging his finger. Throughout the
afternoon hours of the day, VOP radio continued to broadcast that the
Al-Aqsa shrine area (meaning both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa)
was being invaded by Israeli soldiers and Jewish extremists.
Palestinian rock-throwers injured several Jewish visitors and
policemen
during several hours of clashes. Meanwhile, Palestinian television
continued to promote continuing
demonstrations against Israeli fence-building operations.
FROM PALESTINIAN NEWSPAPERS:
"JERUSALEM PERSONALITIES CALL FOR THE DEFENSE OF AL-AQSA AGAINST
THE INVASION OF JEWISH EXTREMISTS." This was the main headline
in Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda. The paper also featured a front-page
picture of man in a field protesting what was said to have been
Israeli bulldozing of his olive trees near the village of Marda near
Nablus. In a separate article, 30 people were reported to have been
wounded in demonstrations against Israeli fence-building in Salfit and
other areas. Meanwhile, Al-Quds led with a picture of an
Israeli soldier, sitting near a Palestinian detained in the Hebron
area, sticking his tongue out at the camera. Al-Quds also
features a picture of a bedraggled Saddam Hussein atop an article
saying the former Iraqi leader will face 12 charges at his coming
trial. This newspaper also featured a story that, in 1967, Ariel
Sharon threatened to execute a coup d'etat against the Israeli
government, unless it decided to go to war.
June 5 2005---Sunday:
Palestinian television led its news broadcasts Sunday with the news
that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had issued a decree on Saturday
(June 4) delaying the legislative elections indefinitely. Dr. Abbas,
who heads the Fatah Movement, the PLO, as well as the Palestinian
Authority (PA), said a decision on a day for the elections,
originally set for July, would come after talks with HAMAS and
others. Both PA leader Abbas and Deputy PA Prime Minister Nabil
Sha'ath indicated that Fatah was prepared to agree to having
half the legislature chosen on a district level with the other half
chosen on a proportional basis of at-large seats. "The Hamas movement
completely rejects the postponement of the elections, which is
contrary to the Cairo Agreement," asserted Sami Abu-Zuhri, a Hamas
spokesman interviewed on PBC television. He referred to the
agreements between Abbas, Hamas and Islamic Jihad regarding elections
and a "cooling-off" period in attacking Israelis. The Hamas spokesman
said Abbas's decision was based on internal Fatah difficulties, he
hinted it was due to a Fatah desire to gain more time to get ready for
the elections at a time when there are strong indications that Hamas
may be stronger than Fatah believed. "This came because of the
internal situation inside Fatah, and it has nothing to do with
national Palestinian considerations," declared Abu-Zuhri. But Fatah
officials in the legislature echoed Abbas's comments yesterday that
the postponement was based on logistical difficulties in getting the
election law passed-so that there would be at least two months between
passage and voting. "We just need more time to get through the
bnecessary proceedings," said Abdul-Karim Abu-Salah, chairman of the
PA Legislature's Legal Committee.
FROM PALESTINIAN NEWSPAPERS:
Al-Ayyam led
its coverage with news of the election postponement as well as a
picture of Palestinian and foreign demonstrators pushing and shoving
with Israeli soldiers in the village of Salfit, protesting Israeli
fence-building operations. Al-Quds showed an almost identical lay-out
and coverage. It featured a picture of Israeli soldiers linking arms
in front of flag-waving demonstrators (some with Hebrew banners) near
the city of Nablus. This newspaper's cartoon made fun of the election
postponement, showing a man trying to hold back the hands of a clock.
A somewhat similar theme was shown in a cartoon in Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda,
where a member of the current legislature is seen dancing for joy at
the thought of election delays.
Al-Hayat June 5,
2005
[see
http://www.alhayat-j.com/pdf/5/page24.pdf]
Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda
provided almost identical news coverage and pictures at the top
of its front page, and its lead headline was "THE PRESIDENT DELAYS
THE LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS UNTIL LEGAL PROCEDURES AND NATIONAL
PROGRAMS ARE COMPLETED."
Recap of June3-4, 2005-Friday, Saturday-The official Palestinian
Authority (PA) broadcast media promoted what they called "fence
resistance" in the form of a "peaceful march" and public Friday
prayer assembly led by Sheikh Taysir Tamimi of the PA Waqf Ministry.
In a prominent red box on its front page, Al-Quds ran notices of the
scheduled marches at Bil'in, Salfit and at other sites, and PA radio
and television urged protesters to join the demonstrations for several
hours on Friday morning. Al- Ayyam ran a cartoon on Thursday
showing Palestinians blocking an Israeli bulldozer slated to
destroy illegal housing. [see
http://www.al-ayyam.com/znews/site/template/caricature.aspx?cid=324]
[Al-Ayyam June 2, 2005] After the protest, PBC
television showed sign of protesters waving banners in
English-"Uproot Settlers, Not Trees"-and being carried away by
soldiers. But there were no pictures of violence at the protest site
at the village of Bil'in during which an Israeli soldier was
blinded in one eye when it was shattered by a rock thrown by one of
the demonstrators. The use of the term 'muqawamat al-jidr' -FENCE
RESISTANCE-suggests something more than non-violent behavior, because
"muqawama"-resistance-is usually a term from the Palestinian political
lexicon that is used in a violent setting.
Palestinian television, radio and newspapers reported that
Mahmoud Abbas was in good health following minor surgery.
POSTPONING THE ELECTIONS
"There was no choice but to delay the elections until action is
completed by the legislature," declared Dr. Abbas in a television
interview Saturday afternoon (June 4). He explained that the
Palestinian legislature had not completed the election law during
weeks of deliberations. But Deputy PA Prime Minister Nabil Sha'ath
suggested deeper factors behind the Abbas postponement of the
elections. "There was worry in the Fatah movement about our political
program and the entire Palestinian struggle that have been in
effect for the past 30 years, and this struggle and this program will
continue," asserted Dr. Sha'ath. His reference to the 30-year program
of the Fatah appeared to be a reference to the 1974 "Program of
Stages" under which the PLO said it would conquer all Israeli-held
territory by a sequence of diplomatic and military moves.
BACKGROUND ANALYSIS: HAMAS-PLO RELATIONS
Abbas has tried to channel Islamic fervor in his own direction and not
to confront the Hamas movement directly, hoping for a change in
fortunes after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza scheduled for August,
one month after the date originally set for Palestinian elections.
Abbas continues to reach out to Hamas, and his top leaders suggest
that there is nothing fundamentally different about the final aims of
Fatah and Hamas, but that Fatah is more able to get things done.
Deputy PA Prime Minister Sha'ath's comment on the "30-year program"
of the Fatah is similar to one made in February on VOP radio by
Yasser Abd-Rabo (a close advisor of Abbas and member of elite PLO
Executive) that Hamas and Fatah share a program of staged goals.
FRIDAY MOSQUE SPEECH
The radio-broadcast speech from the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was
given by Sheikh Youssef Abu-Sneina, and it was devoted to long attack
on Israel on the 38th anniversary of the June 1967 war. He attacked
Israel for "the unpardonable crime" of destroying illegally-built
homes in the neighborhood of Silwan, referring to this as part of "the
Judaization of Jerusalem." Another part of the mosque speech
attacked America and the West. "Iran is facing direct American threats
because of its nuclear program, and we read in the press how
[Israeli] settlers who want to enter Al-Aqsa," declared Sheikh
Youssef Abu-Sneina. "How can Muslims live in the Western countries
these days, and how can they be attacked solely for being Muslims"
asked Sheikh Youssef Abu-Sneina, in a speech broadcast from the Al-Aqsa
Mosque on Voice of Palestine Radio. "Our people have realized that
there will be no end to it until the rule of Islam returns to the
land," declared Abu-Sneina, who is employed by the Palestinian
Authority (PA). During his speech, Abu-Sneina also hammered
at the theme that American forces repressed Muslims in Afghanistan and
Iraq as well as deliberately desecrating Islamic sites and copies
of the Quran, Islam's scripture. On the other hand, the
televised mosque address from Gaza was a rather staid analysis about
family and belief in God, and the speech was not given by Sheikh
Ibrahim Mudeiris, a known supporter of Al-Qaeda who has called for
attacking Jews in his recent broadcast speeches. Deputy PA Prime
Minister castigated Shekh Mudeiris's attacks on Jews in a television
appearance on May 18.
FROM PALESTINIAN NEWSPAPERS:
The front pages of all three dailies-Al-Quds, Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat
al-Jadeeda-all showed released Palestinian prison convicts
praying at the grave of Yasser Arafat, with flowers draped on
portraits of the late Palestinian leader.
|
|
|
|
ANALYSIS OF THE PALESTINIAN AND ARAB RADIO, TV AND MEDIA
June 7, 2005
From Palestinian Radio: PA Prime Minister Ahmad Qreia (nicknamed Abu
'Ala) condemned in the strongest terms the resumption of the
Israeli policy of assassinations (VOP radio, 4PM-Jerusalem
Time), and accused Israel of war crimes. Meanwhile, Qreia and the
Palestinian broadcast media apparently made no condemnation or
comment concerning the rocket attacks earlier in the day (Tuesday) on
the town of Sderot, though they did mention that two people were
killed and several wounded by a Palestinian mortar attack [which
turned out to be a short-range Qassam rocket] on the Israeli
settlement of Ganei Tal inside Gaza. "This is a grave war crime," VOP
radio quoted Qreia, who added, "this endangers the tahdiyya," a
reference to the on-again-off-again Palestinian "cooling-off period"
of not attacking Israelis. Qreia was responding to an Israeli attack
on a house in Qabatya where several armed operatives of the Islamic
Jihad were holed up, and in which two armed were killed [Note-Israel
says that the Islamic Jihad in the northern part of the West Bank is
continuing the planning and execution of terror attacks, including the
February bombing in Tele Aviv and the abortive human bombing in
Jerusalem last week. See also bottom radio item below]. VOP
identified the dead men as Murawah Kmeil and Nasser Abdel-Rahim
Zakarna, and it pronounced them martyrs. Earlier in the day, Chief
Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Saeb 'Arikat said the
Palestinians rejected Ariel Sharon's comment that Jerusalem would
remain "Israeli property" [mulk isra'li] under a permanent settlement.
Voice of Palestine radio interviewed 'Arikat in the morning and quoted
him at length in its Tuesday morning (June 7) and afternoon
broadcasts. VOP radio noted with approval that the US Department had
opposed new Israeli settlement activities and expansions, citing
comments by David Welch.
PA Civilian
Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan charged Israel with being phony and
insincere in its preparations for the Gaza withdrawal during meetings
last night that were quoted today on VOP radio. The PA-run station
also featured an interview with PA Minister Ghassan al-Khatib charging
Israel with forging maps and documents regarding the map determinants
of the Gaza Strip-in order to keep some settlers in Gaza. [Note:
There is an apparent discrepancy between the 1949 armistice line and
the 1956/7 withdrawal line in Gaza-MW.] There was no mention during
the VOP morning broadcasts of the four rocket attacks on Sderot inside
Israel in the VOP reports, but the mid-day reports cited "three
martyrs" in fighting in Rafah and in Qabatya near Jenin.
PBC TELEVISION:
In its morning reports, PBC led with a re-run of yesterday's afternoon
news showing PA Prime Minister Ahmad Qreia (Abu 'Ala) accusing
Israel of invading the Temple Mount, during a PA cabinet meeting.
"Prime Minister Ahmad Qreia asserted that the attempt by Israel to
invade Jerusalem [Arabic: beit al-maqdas] was fraught with danger,"
the report reiterated. PBC television then moved to PLO Chairman
Abbas's comments on the issue. "President Abbas demanded that Israel
to stop its dangerous violations of the Al Aqsa Mosque led by
Jewish extremists acting under the protection of the Israeli police."
Abbas was shown checking the matriculation exam papers of Palestinian
students and making comments to a crowd outside a school: "It is
incumbent on Israel and the international community to put a stop to
these dangerous violations," Abbas said.
FROM PALESTINIAN NEWSPAPERS:
Al-Quds (lead
item): CONFRONTATIONS IN AL-AQSA COURTYARD BETWEEN THE WORSHIPERS AND
THE POLICE FOLLOWING PERMISSION GIVEN TO JEWISH EXTREMISTS TO ENTER
THE JERUSALEM SHRINE [top of page picture showing Israeli forces using
tear gas]. Lower down on front page: Pres. Abbas and PM Qreia Warn of
Dangerous Attempts to Invade Al-Aqsa and to Destroy Homes in Silwan
Al-Ayyam: ANGRY MASSES PROTECT JERUSALEM SHRINE, CHASING JEWISH GROUPS
FROM ITS COURTYARD: ON DAY OF JUDAIZATION OF JERUSALEM UNDER THE
OCCUPATION Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda: NEW TERROR ATTEMPT TO INVADE AL-AQSA
ENDS IN FAILURE [shows tear gas picture similar to Al-Quds] Al-Hayat
cartoon shows Sharon as papa-duck followed by George Bush chickadee in
pond:
www.alhayat-j.com/char.php?cid=98
Review of Today's PA Media:
Abbas Charges Israel With War Crimes.
From Palestinian Authority Radio
(The Voice of Palestine): PA Prime Minister Ahmad Qreia (nicknamed Abu
Ala) condemned in the strongest terms the resumption of the Israeli
policy of assassinations (VOP radio, 4PM-Jerusalem Time), and accused
Israel of war crimes. Meanwhile, Qreia and the Palestinian broadcast
media apparently made no condemnation or comment concerning the rocket
attacks earlier in the day (Tuesday) on the town of Sderot, though
they did mention that two people were killed and several wounded by a
Palestinian mortar attack [which turned out to be a short-range Qassam
rocket] on the Israeli settlements.
Ganei Tal inside Gaza: "This is a grave war crime", VOP radio
quoted Qreia, who added, "this endangers the tahdiyya" a reference to
the on-again-off-again Palestinian "cooling-off period" of not
attacking Israelis. Qreia was responding to an Israeli attack on a
house in Qabatya where several armed operatives of the Islamic Jihad
were holed up, and in which two armed were killed [Note: Israel says
that the Islamic Jihad in the northern part of the West Bank is
continuing the planning and execution of terror attacks,
including the February bombing in Tel Aviv and the abortive human
bombing in Jerusalem last week. See also bottom radio item
below]. VOP identified the dead men as Murawah Kmeil and Nasser
Abdel-Rahim Zakarna, and it pronounced them "martyrs". Earlier
in the day, Chief Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Saeb
Arikat said the Palestinians rejected Ariel Sharon's comment that
Jerusalem would remain "Israeli property" [mulk israli] under a
permanent settlement. Voice of Palestine radio interviewed Arikat in
the morning and quoted him at length in its Tuesday morning (June 7)
and afternoon broadcasts. VOP radio noted with approval that the US
Department had opposed new Israeli settlement activities and
expansions, citing comments by David Welch. PA Civilian Affairs
Minister Muhammad Dahlan charged Israel with being phony and insincere
in its preparations for the Gaza withdrawal during meetings last night
that were quoted today on VOP radio. The official PA radio station
also featured an interview with PA Minister Ghassan al-Khatib charging
Israel with forging maps and documents regarding the map determinants
of the Gaza Strip, in order to keep some settlers in Gaza. There was
no mention during the VOP morning broadcasts of the four rocket
attacks on Sderot inside Israel in the VOP reports, but the mid-day
reports cited "three martyrs" in fighting in Rafah and in Qabatya near
Jenin.
Review of Today's PA Media:
Abbas Charges Israel With War Crimes.
PBC TELEVISION: In its morning reports, PBC led with a re-run
of yesterday's afternoon news showing PA Prime Minister Ahmad Qreia
(Abu Ala) accusing Israel of invading the Temple Mount, during a PA
cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Ahmad Qreia asserted that the attempt
by Israel to invade Jerusalem [Arabic: beit al-maqdas] was fraught
with danger, the report reiterated. PBC television then moved to PLO
Chairman Abbas's comments on the issue. "President Abbas demanded that
Israel to stop its dangerous violations of the Al Aqsa Mosque led by
Jewish extremists acting under the protection of the Israeli
police". Abbas was shown checking the matriculation exam papers of
Palestinian students and making comments to a crowd outside a school:
"It is incumbent on Israel and the international community to
put a stop to these dangerous violations", Abbas said.
FROM PALESTINIAN NEWSPAPERS: Al-Quds (lead item):
CONFRONTATIONS IN AL-AQSA COURTYARD BETWEEN THE WORSHIPERS AND THE
POLICE FOLLOWING PERMISSION GIVEN TO JEWISH EXTREMISTS TO ENTER THE
JERUSALEM SHRINE [top of page picture showing Israeli forces using
tear gas]. Lower down on front page: Pres. Abbas and PM Qreia Warn of
Dangerous Attempts to Invade Al-Aqsa and to Destroy Homes in Silwan
Al-Ayyam: ANGRY MASSES PROTECT JERUSALEM SHRINE, CHASING JEWISH GROUPS
FROM ITS COURTYARD: ON DAY OF JUDAIZATION OF JERUSALEM UNDER THE
OCCUPATION Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda: NEW TERROR ATTEMPT TO INVADE AL-AQSA
ENDS IN FAILURE [shows tear gas picture similar to Al-Quds] Al-Hayat
cartoon shows Sharon as papa-duck followed by George Bush chickadee in
pond:
http://www.alhayat-j.com/char.php?cid=98
June 10, 2005
The official Palestinian Authority (PA) media stressed last night's
interview with Mahmoud Abbas that sent a series of tough but mixed
messages to the Palestinian audience today regarding continuing
violence against Israeli targets. The underlying theme of Abbas's
remarks was that he, too, distrusted Israel's intentions and that
attacking Israel might be justified, but it was strategically wrong
for individuals to carry out such attacks and make the Palestinians
look bad. "We cannot make mistakes. We have to make sure that
only the other side makes mistakes until we have the power to appear
before the world." [SEE ABBAS INTERVIEW below ---see also PBC
Television item below] The Palestinian distrust of Israel was shown in
a cartoon in Al-Quds were the withdrawal map from Gaza was sketched
out in disappearing ink. Abbas's approach for continuing the lull was
rejected by spokesmen of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations,
although the Palestinian newspapers said the opposite. [see
items below] At the same time, an official mosque sermon, broadcast by
the PA's Voice of Palestine radio, attacked Israel and the US for a
policy of desecrating Muslim prisoners' copies of the Quran, Islam's
scripture.
PBC TELEVISION INTERVEW: Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas: Israel
is continuing its provocations in the West Bank, Gaza and
Jerusalem, and this must cease, declared Dr. Mahmoud Abbas, in a
special interview with Palestinian Television (PBC) Thursday night
(June 9). He excoriated Israel for its fence-building program
and for what he called the "Judaization of Jerusalem," and he insisted
that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was only the first step in
"withdrawing from all Palestinian lands." Abbas insisted on Israel
turning over airport, port and an overland safe passage route, saying,
"we are afraid that Gaza will be turned into a big prison "It is
to be expected that Israel will attempt provocations here and there,"
but, said Abbas, it was important for the Palestinian community to
react as a unit and not through individual responses. "We cannot
make mistakes. We have to make sure that only the other side makes
mistakes until we have the power to appear before the world." "They
make ten mistakes, and we make one mistake, and everybody hears about
our mistake." "Every individual takes the response into his own
hands, and this is impossible and unacceptable," continued Dr. Abbas,
who said responding to Israel was a national communal right. But his
remarks were rejected by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. "Any attack on
our people will be met with a response by the resistance
force," asserted Sami Abu-Ramzi, a senior Hamas official, shown on PBC
television shortly after a televised meeting with Dr. Abbas. [Note:
"Resistance" is the term usually applied to attacks on Israeli
targets.-MW] "We cannot stand by with Zionist attacks on the tahdiyya
[lull]," asserted Khalid Batsch of Islamic Jihad, also after meeting
Abbas. ALSO ON PBC TELEVISION: A Fatah spokesman, Samir Al-Mushharawi,
said that keeping the tahdiyya-the "cooling-off period" or "lull"-was
a Palestinian national interest. "The tahdiyya is a national
interest, and we have to observe it. The power of the
Palestinian position is in observing this position. This means that
individual responses to Israeli actions are wrong, and they must be
decided by the national leadership." Israel's withdrawal from
Gaza is doomed to failure, unless it coordinates better with the
Palestinians, asserted Muhammad Dahlan, PA Civilian Affairs Minister
in remarks to civic leaders that were broadcast on television.
Like Abbas, he insisted that Israel, when it withdraws from Gaza,
must turn over airport, sea port and an overland "safe passage" route
to the Palestinians.
VOICE OF PALESTINE RADIO: Abbas's comments opened the
Friday morning broadcasts of Voice of Palestine (VOP) state radio. In
a VOP interview, General Jibril Rajoub, Abbas's National Security
Advisor, said that the tahdiyya [lull in fighting] was a strategic
decision by the Palestinians and part of the Palestinian struggle.
Rajoub said that one of Abbas's objectives during his recent
Washington trip was to turn American sympathy into increased
pressure on Israel to stop settlements and to make total
withdrawal. [Abbas in his interview said that if America pressed
Israel, Israel would have no choice but to accede to the Palestinian
perspective.]
FROM PALESTINIAN NEWSPAPERS: Al-Quds (lead item)-FACTIONS
ASSERT COMMITMENT TO TAHDIYYA (LULL) IN A MEETING IN GAZA WITH
PRESIDENT (SECOND ITEM)Dahlan: Israel's fence-building will create
third Intifada TOP OF PAGE PICTURE: Israeli border police struggling
with demonstrators at Salfit concerning fence building.
Al-Ayyam: ABBAS DECLARES WITH FACTIONS CONTINUATION OF LULL,
ASSERTS ELECTION DATE AFTER CONSULTATION WITH FACTIONS
TOP-OF-PAGE PICTURE: Palestinian youth standing in his underwear in
front of Israeli army road block, with caption saying that settlers
made the youth strip in front of Nevei Dekalim settlement in Gaza.
Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda: Similar lead headlines and stories, with
sub-leads on Abbas calling the Tahdiyya (lull in fighting) a national
interest of the Palestinians; also coverage of Dahlan comments that
Israel setting the foundation for next Intifada.
June 12, 2005
Voice of Palestine radio reported late Saturday that Israel had
reached agreement with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to
allow the "Badr Division" of Palestinian forces to enter the West Bank
after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. VOP cited Israeli sources,
saying Israel refused to allow the forces into Gaza.. PA Interior
Minister General Nasser Youssef announced the appointment of Colonel
Jamal Abu-Zeid as a security coordinator, and a spokesman for Youssef
[Tawfiq Abu-Khousa] warned about internal "strife" [Arabic: fitna]
that would benefit Israel. His remarks came after several shooting
incidents near headquarters in Gaza. PLO Political Department Director
Farouk Qaddoumi said Ariel Sharon was pushing a Gaza withdrawal in
order to seize 95 percent of the West Bank. "Four armed men from the
Iraqi resistance were killed in an American air raid near the Syrian
border," VOP announced, adding that Syria had repudiated American
insinuations that it had left secret police in Lebanon.
PBC TELEVISION
Reports similar to VOP along with airing of shots showing first auto
race in years near Ramallah. Cartoon on subject also appeared
in Al-Ayyam [see
http://www.al-ayyam.com/znews/site/template/caricature.aspx?Date=6/11/2005]
FROM PALESTINIAN NEWSPAPERS:
Al-Quds (lead item)DAHLAN AND MOFAZ DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OF ISRAELI
WITHDRAWAL AND SAFE PASSAGE ROUTES. Second Item: Abbas Cancels Tour of
Gulf Countries Due to Schedule Pressure; Third Item: Former Israeli 'Shabak"
Director Avi Dichter Says No Choice But Palestinian and Israeli
States.Other Item: Hamas and Hizballah Leader Nasser-allah Held
Meeting in Beirut to Coordinate Policy. Top of page picture:
Israeli forces blocking large crowds outside Jerusalem's Old City
during Friday prayers, which had been blocked off for those under 40
years old.
Al-Ayyam:
Similar top of page picture in this newspaper, with major headline: ABU
MAZEN INITIATES ELECTORAL AMENDMENT FOR PRESIDENT AND LEGISLATURE, AND
WILL ASK LEGISLATURE TO APPOINT HIM A DEPUTY [VICE PRESIDENT] NOW.
Side Report-2 Islamists Killed in Fighting near Damascus with Syrian
Police
Al-Hayat
Al-Jadeeda:
(lead item) THE HEROIC MARTYRING OF THE COMMANDER OF THE AL-AQSA
BRIGADES IN GAZA
June 17, 2005
The official Palestinian Authority (PA) media has been giving small
coverage to Palestinian-Israeli meetings (June 15/June16), describing
the meetings sparingly [Sayid-Kaplinsky in Tel Aviv], occasionally
positively (PBC Television June 15/16). Reports on preparations
for a summit between Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon have usually
been sparse and buried at the bottom on the news shows.
There has apparently been no mention of Qassam rocket attacks on
Israel in the PA broadcast media, nor any mention or condemnation of
continuing activities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but PBC television
again aired an interview with Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri (Friday)
on growing European ties with Hamas.
www.alhayat-j.com/pdf/17/page20.pdf. The main message of the PA
media-given through statements of Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Qudwa and
some spare comments from PLO Chairman Abbas-is that the PA insists on
total Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands. [SEE Dahlan
interview]. The same point has been made in daily interviews on Voice
of Palestine radio by Saeb 'Arikat, the PLO's chief negotiator and
former PA minister. Al-Qudwa and 'Arikat have been insisting on total
release of Palestinian prisoners and Israel's ceasing all proceedings
against "wanted men." PBC television and Voice of Palestine (VOP)
radio aired segments of Abbas's speech at the Doha conference ( aired
Thursday and Friday) blaming Israel for Palestinian failures to
achieve prosperity and democracy. [PBC showed long shots of friendly
meetings between Abbas and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shar'a, and
it featured the Doha Conference criticism of American
"pressure" on Syria.]
THE PALESTINIAN VIEW OF DISENGAGEMENT---PBC TELEVISION -
MUHAMMAD DAHLAN, PA MINISTER, IN CHARGE OF GAZA
In a lengthy statement on camera, Abbas's point man in Gaza, Muhammad
Dahlan, insisted that the PA regarded the Israeli disengagement as
incomplete unless it included turning over port, airport and "safe
route" facilities to the PA. "Mr. Dahlan said the Israeli withdrawal
had the potential for success or for a catastrophe for the region in
its entirety," declared the PBC Anchorwoman [PBC JUNE 16 EVENING].
DAHLAN: "If this
Israeli withdrawal includes all the elements we have spoken about with
the international community, then the Gaza Strip and the northern West
Bank will head, rise up, I believe, to a new direction. And this
means the Rafah Crossing, the transfer points between us and the
West Bank, the Safe Passage Overland Route, Mina (port), the
airport-all these essential elements. And if Israel agrees to these
points, then there's an opportunity for the Gaza Strip and the
northern West Bank for prosperity, development and a new way. But if
Israel looks at the withdrawal as merely a redeployment of its forces,
without giving us Mina, the airport, and without giving us freedom of
movement to the West Bank, without letting us trade and exchange goods
with the West Bank-not Israel-then that means that Israel wanted a
redeployment in order to place Gaza under siege."
PALESTINIAN TELEVISION
--DEPUTY
PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER NABIL SHA'ATH: In a visit to
Saudi
Arabia, Mahmoud Abbas's deputy announced June 15 that Saudi Arabia had
agreed to furnish "secondary developmental materials" to PBC
television. [It was not clear if this meant cultural and religious
programming or money or both.] A few days earlier Sha'ath, who is also
Minister of Information in the Abbas regime, publicly thanked Egypt
for supplying programming and films to PBC. [Note: During the Arafat
regime, many of the film montages and propaganda tapes were made in
Egypt with Egyptian actors-MW.] In its film montages, PBC television
is beginning to go back to the use of sharp and short propaganda clips
occasionally [reminiscent of the Arafat era] -such as a clip designed
to boost physical confrontation with Israeli soldiers at the "racist
bloody fence"-as the various Israeli barriers are commonly called in
the PA media. This film-a two-minute montage-is usually shown before
or after the news programs, and it features shots of demonstrators
pushing soldiers, striking with poles or throwing rocks. The camera
holds on a close-up of a bit of graffiti painted on a wall: "Sharon
Knows Only War"-written in English. Afterwards, Arabic words remain on
the screen: "This Wall Shall Fall."
BACKGROUND ANALYSIS
The continuing concern about internal Palestinian violence re-surfaced
briefly in PBC and VOP reports about PA Prime Minister Ahmad Qreia's
remarks at commencement ceremonies at Al-Najah University in Nablus.
Qreia called for an end to "security anarchy." Items of this kind have
appeared on the front pages of the newspapers, but they are generally
at the bottom of the line-up on radio and tv. But this time, the clip
on PBC television included several sharp remarks from Qreia, dressed
in traditional university gown, in which he hinted broadly at
resignation of his government. "This state has no future with a
continuation of anarchy," Qreia concluded.
Dr. Michael Widlanski is a specialist in Arab politics and
communication whose doctorate dealt with the Palestinian broadcast
media. He is a former reporter, correspondent and editor,
respectively, at The New York Times, The Cox Newspapers-Atlanta
Constitution, and The Jerusalem Post. Via IMRA - Independent Media
Review and Analysis.
Website: www.imra.org.il
|