Despite the ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), the PA continues to teach its children that the entire land is “Palestine,” and that someday they will “return” to Israeli cities.
At a rally under the auspices of the PA Minister of Culture, girls sang a song which presents various Israeli cities as part of “my country Palestine,” the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) organization reports.
PMW translated a video clip in which the girls can be heard singing:
"Oh flying bird, circling around,
My eyes protect you and Allah keeps you safe
By Allah, oh traveling [bird], I burn with envy.
My country Palestine is beautiful.
Go to Jenin and bring me from its valley greetings to Nablus,
Tulkarem and their soil.
Drink the water of Jaffa's port,
don't forget Ramle and Ramallah.
Turn to Safed, and then to Tiberias,
and send regards to the sea of Acre and Haifa.
Don't forget Nazareth, the Arab fortress,
and tell Beit Shean about its people's return."
While Jenin, Tulkarem and Ramallah are all Arab cities under full PA control, Jaffa (Yafo), Ramle, Safed (Tzfat), Tiberias (Tiveria), Acre (Acco), Haifa , Nazareth and Beit Shean are all Israeli cities, and most have a majority-Jewish population.
The final line of the song, in which the children sang of “return,” hints at the PA’s “right of return” doctrine, which argues that all descendants of Arabs who fled pre-state Israel during the War of Independence have the right to “return” to Israel as citizens. The PA applies this doctrine even to the great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of Arabs who fled, including those who lived in the land – then the British Mandate of Palestine – for as little as two years.
The practical effect of the implementation of the “right of return” would be to make Israel a majority-Arab state. PA leaders have recognized this fact, with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas openly admitting that his refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state stems from a refusal to give up the “right of return” demand.
At the same time, Abbas demands that if a PA state is established in Judea, Samaria (Shomron) and Gaza, all Israeli citizens be forced to leave – no matter how long their families have lived in the area.
This is not the first time that official PA events and PA media have denied Israel’s right to exist or lauded terrorism. PMW has recorded several similar such incidents, including a broadcast in August declaring Israel to be “occupied Palestine” and expressing hope that the Jewish state will someday cease to exist.
In a recent interview broadcast on PA state television and translated by PMW, a senior PLO member openly stated that if the PA does sign a peace agreement with Israel, many Arab leaders will view it as a "temporary solution."
PA official Jibril Rajoub recently declared that “the whole of Palestine from the river to the sea is occupied,” and earlier this month, a sports event was held under official PA auspices in honor of a terrorist who murdered more than a dozen Israeli children.
The ongoing incitement led Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to warn that the PA “can not absolve themselves of responsibility” for recent terrorist attacks.