The Palestinian Authority (PA) has, since the 1993 Oslo Agreement with
Israel (in which the Palestinians agreed to refrain from incitement against
Israel), purposefully and repeatedly made demonstrably false allegations
about the Jewish state in order to encourage and justify violence against
its soldiers and civilians. The propaganda (much of which has been reported
-- almost exclusively -- on Arutz Sheva) would be funny for its complete
absurdity if it did not result in so much violence.
Some examples:
Recently, at a summit of Arab Information Ministers in Cairo, Yasser Arafat
reported that Israel intended to destroy the Dome of the Rock and the
Al-Aksa compound in order to rebuild the Temple. Arafat's assertion - made,
of course, without support or evidence - was made for no reason other than to incite Arab nations to launch military attacks on Israel. In reality,
the Israeli authorities have safeguarded the Temple Mount compound for the last 34 years, preventing all attempts to damage or destroy it. Ironically,
it has been the Palestinian Wakf (Islamic Trust), responsible for the day
to day oversight of the Temple Mount, which has destroyed countless ancient Jewish artifacts found on the Mount in order to discredit Israeli claims to the site.
Just last month, on August 14, 2001, the official PA daily reported that
the Israelis were using a half-naked lady perched atop a tank to lure
unsuspecting Palestinians to their deaths. According to official PA media,
when the boys approached, she drew a pistol from her underwear and shot
them, killing two and wounding many others. This allegation was so
preposterous, Israeli sources initially refused to respond.
On August 9, in the immediate aftermath of the Palestinian terrorist attack
at a Jerusalem pizza restaurant in which 15 civilians were murdered and
hundreds were injured, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat reported to CNN that
Israel was taking revenge by "bombarding" Gaza City and Tulkarem in the
West Bank. In fact, Israel's response, in which several PA buildings were
either destroyed or captured (and which took place hours after Erekat's CNN appearance), resulted in no deaths. No "bombardment" of Gaza or Tulkarem took place. In fact, when one of the bombs dropped by Israel on a PA terrorist base failed to explode, Israeli authorities contacted the PA so
that no one would be injured by the unexploded ordinance.
The Palestinians have frequently alleged that Israel was firing depleted
uranium shells at them. Occasionally, the PA elaborates on this assertion
by adding that Israel has used "poison gas" against its population and that
many people have died or developed cancer as a result. The most famous
example of this canard was the incident in which Suha Arafat, Yasser
Arafat's wife, repeated it in front of Hillary Clinton during a 1999 visit
to the region.
Two years earlier, in March of 1997, the Palestinian observer at the U.N.
reported to that body that Israel had intentionally injected 300
Palestinian children with the AIDS virus. No evidence was offered, of
course. The United States and Israel complained, but no retraction was ever
offered. That libel stands on the public record, uncorrected by the
Palestinian dictatorship that made it.
Just two months later, in May of 1997, the PA claimed that Israel was
exporting aphrodisiac-laced chewing gum to the Palestinian territories. PA
officials reported that several wholesalers had been arrested for importing
the tainted Israeli products. It was widely suggested at the time that
lacing the chewing gum was a "Zionist attempt" to corrupt Palestinian
youth. According to the PA, the gum introduced was capable of "completely
destroying the genetic system of young boys." The Washington Post
commissioned a study of the gum and found no truth to the accusation.
In 1996, Israel opened an additional exit to a tunnel in Jerusalem's old
city. The tunnel, a tourist attraction and archeological site, has been
part of Jerusalem since at least the second century B.C. The tunnel was not
expanded, weakened or diverted. Of course, the tunnel exit had and has
nothing to do with the continued existence and well being of Al-Aksa
Mosque. Despite the Palestinian leadership's knowledge of this
indisputable fact of geography and engineering, Yasser Arafat himself
proclaimed at the time that the mosque was in "imminent danger" and could collapse from the tunnel opening. Chairman Arafat called for "mass
confrontations in all cities and villages to counter the Israeli aggression
against Al-Aksa Mosque," and promptly ordered his "police force" into
battle against the Israeli army. In the gunfights that ensued, at least 15
Israelis and 58 Palestinians were killed. Hundreds were wounded, mostly on
the Palestinian side.
Now, five years later, Al-Aksa still stands on the Temple Mount, in no more
danger of collapse than it was then. No leading Palestinian figure has
since been asked about the stability of the structure and whether it
remains in "imminent danger."
Following the tunnel battles, Arafat journeyed to Caesarea, where he met
with former President Weizmann. It was at that meeting that Arafat
announced that he had issued "permanent orders" to his "police force" not
to open fire at Israeli soldiers. Just three and a half years later, in May
of 2000, Palestinian "police" again fired on Israeli troops, this time in
"outrage" over the establishment of the state of Israel -- an event which
had occurred 52 years earlier. In the battles that followed, 350
Palestinians were wounded, three were killed and six Israelis were injured.
In the violence begun last Rosh Hashana and continuing to this day,
hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed and thousands
injured. Arafat's gunmen engage Israeli troops and fire on civilians on an
almost daily basis.
It is high time the PA be called to account for the false statements which
lead directly to Palestinian violence. Why has Arafat not been asked about
the continued well being of Al-Aksa Mosque? Why isn't the PA's U.N.
observer questioned about how those Palestinian kids purposefully infected
with AIDS by Israel are doing? Is there a continuing effort to prevent the
flow of aphrodisiac laced gum into PA areas? Will CNN question Saeb Erekat,
next time he's on, about his false report of an Israeli "bombardment"?
All of the PA's asinine propaganda, however, pales in comparison to the
most tragic falsehood advanced by the Palestinians since the beginning of
Oslo, the one assertion believed by so many which has led directly to the
calamity unfolding right now in the Middle East: that Yasser Arafat wants
peace with Israel.
The reality is that the PA is simply not to be believed. American aid,
meant to encourage peace and democracy and given to the PA to the tune of over $100,000,000 per year, has apparently failed to do the trick. It is
time the U.S. drew the purse strings closed and rethought relations with
that entity.
------------
Geoffrey Berg, a Houston-based lawyer, is Co-Chairman of AIPAC's Political Leadership Initiative, a member of the United Jewish Communities' National Young Leadership Cabinet and Co-Chairman of the Israel Subcommittee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston's Community Relations Committee.
Israel (in which the Palestinians agreed to refrain from incitement against
Israel), purposefully and repeatedly made demonstrably false allegations
about the Jewish state in order to encourage and justify violence against
its soldiers and civilians. The propaganda (much of which has been reported
-- almost exclusively -- on Arutz Sheva) would be funny for its complete
absurdity if it did not result in so much violence.
Some examples:
Recently, at a summit of Arab Information Ministers in Cairo, Yasser Arafat
reported that Israel intended to destroy the Dome of the Rock and the
Al-Aksa compound in order to rebuild the Temple. Arafat's assertion - made,
of course, without support or evidence - was made for no reason other than to incite Arab nations to launch military attacks on Israel. In reality,
the Israeli authorities have safeguarded the Temple Mount compound for the last 34 years, preventing all attempts to damage or destroy it. Ironically,
it has been the Palestinian Wakf (Islamic Trust), responsible for the day
to day oversight of the Temple Mount, which has destroyed countless ancient Jewish artifacts found on the Mount in order to discredit Israeli claims to the site.
Just last month, on August 14, 2001, the official PA daily reported that
the Israelis were using a half-naked lady perched atop a tank to lure
unsuspecting Palestinians to their deaths. According to official PA media,
when the boys approached, she drew a pistol from her underwear and shot
them, killing two and wounding many others. This allegation was so
preposterous, Israeli sources initially refused to respond.
On August 9, in the immediate aftermath of the Palestinian terrorist attack
at a Jerusalem pizza restaurant in which 15 civilians were murdered and
hundreds were injured, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat reported to CNN that
Israel was taking revenge by "bombarding" Gaza City and Tulkarem in the
West Bank. In fact, Israel's response, in which several PA buildings were
either destroyed or captured (and which took place hours after Erekat's CNN appearance), resulted in no deaths. No "bombardment" of Gaza or Tulkarem took place. In fact, when one of the bombs dropped by Israel on a PA terrorist base failed to explode, Israeli authorities contacted the PA so
that no one would be injured by the unexploded ordinance.
The Palestinians have frequently alleged that Israel was firing depleted
uranium shells at them. Occasionally, the PA elaborates on this assertion
by adding that Israel has used "poison gas" against its population and that
many people have died or developed cancer as a result. The most famous
example of this canard was the incident in which Suha Arafat, Yasser
Arafat's wife, repeated it in front of Hillary Clinton during a 1999 visit
to the region.
Two years earlier, in March of 1997, the Palestinian observer at the U.N.
reported to that body that Israel had intentionally injected 300
Palestinian children with the AIDS virus. No evidence was offered, of
course. The United States and Israel complained, but no retraction was ever
offered. That libel stands on the public record, uncorrected by the
Palestinian dictatorship that made it.
Just two months later, in May of 1997, the PA claimed that Israel was
exporting aphrodisiac-laced chewing gum to the Palestinian territories. PA
officials reported that several wholesalers had been arrested for importing
the tainted Israeli products. It was widely suggested at the time that
lacing the chewing gum was a "Zionist attempt" to corrupt Palestinian
youth. According to the PA, the gum introduced was capable of "completely
destroying the genetic system of young boys." The Washington Post
commissioned a study of the gum and found no truth to the accusation.
In 1996, Israel opened an additional exit to a tunnel in Jerusalem's old
city. The tunnel, a tourist attraction and archeological site, has been
part of Jerusalem since at least the second century B.C. The tunnel was not
expanded, weakened or diverted. Of course, the tunnel exit had and has
nothing to do with the continued existence and well being of Al-Aksa
Mosque. Despite the Palestinian leadership's knowledge of this
indisputable fact of geography and engineering, Yasser Arafat himself
proclaimed at the time that the mosque was in "imminent danger" and could collapse from the tunnel opening. Chairman Arafat called for "mass
confrontations in all cities and villages to counter the Israeli aggression
against Al-Aksa Mosque," and promptly ordered his "police force" into
battle against the Israeli army. In the gunfights that ensued, at least 15
Israelis and 58 Palestinians were killed. Hundreds were wounded, mostly on
the Palestinian side.
Now, five years later, Al-Aksa still stands on the Temple Mount, in no more
danger of collapse than it was then. No leading Palestinian figure has
since been asked about the stability of the structure and whether it
remains in "imminent danger."
Following the tunnel battles, Arafat journeyed to Caesarea, where he met
with former President Weizmann. It was at that meeting that Arafat
announced that he had issued "permanent orders" to his "police force" not
to open fire at Israeli soldiers. Just three and a half years later, in May
of 2000, Palestinian "police" again fired on Israeli troops, this time in
"outrage" over the establishment of the state of Israel -- an event which
had occurred 52 years earlier. In the battles that followed, 350
Palestinians were wounded, three were killed and six Israelis were injured.
In the violence begun last Rosh Hashana and continuing to this day,
hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed and thousands
injured. Arafat's gunmen engage Israeli troops and fire on civilians on an
almost daily basis.
It is high time the PA be called to account for the false statements which
lead directly to Palestinian violence. Why has Arafat not been asked about
the continued well being of Al-Aksa Mosque? Why isn't the PA's U.N.
observer questioned about how those Palestinian kids purposefully infected
with AIDS by Israel are doing? Is there a continuing effort to prevent the
flow of aphrodisiac laced gum into PA areas? Will CNN question Saeb Erekat,
next time he's on, about his false report of an Israeli "bombardment"?
All of the PA's asinine propaganda, however, pales in comparison to the
most tragic falsehood advanced by the Palestinians since the beginning of
Oslo, the one assertion believed by so many which has led directly to the
calamity unfolding right now in the Middle East: that Yasser Arafat wants
peace with Israel.
The reality is that the PA is simply not to be believed. American aid,
meant to encourage peace and democracy and given to the PA to the tune of over $100,000,000 per year, has apparently failed to do the trick. It is
time the U.S. drew the purse strings closed and rethought relations with
that entity.
------------
Geoffrey Berg, a Houston-based lawyer, is Co-Chairman of AIPAC's Political Leadership Initiative, a member of the United Jewish Communities' National Young Leadership Cabinet and Co-Chairman of the Israel Subcommittee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston's Community Relations Committee.