Palestinian Media Watch
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
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
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
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]
