A new poetry video called "You and Us," which has been broadcast on official PA TV almost every day in recent weeks, has been translated by Palestinian Media Watch.
As images of Israelis appear on the screen, a poem is read aloud, beginning with the words: "You are phantoms in my land." The juxtaposition of text and visuals portrays Israelis as conquerors. The poem then states that the land that is now Israel has been the Palestinian homeland for "a million years," since "the dawn of man's creation," and that no one occupied the land before the Palestinians' arrival. Scenes of Yasser Arafat accompany the repeated phrase, "This is the beginning," and the poem's final line refers to "revolution" as the PA flag appears on the screen.
The following is the text of the poem, with a description of the accompanying images:
"You are phantoms on my land [visuals of Israelis]
And our roots in her are deep [scenes of land]
For a million years it is our homeland
May the conquerors exploit as they will [war scenes]
We came - the dawn of man's creation in the world
And our arrival - the beginning and time
Before us no foot had strode through her [scenes of land]
And calls were not heard
Ours are the caves of her mountains
Ours are her rivers
Ours are her plants, vineyards, the fields
And a waterway there is, faced with fields
And the bones of our fathers that lived on the ground
And under it they died...
This is the beginning [scenes of Yasser Arafat]
This is the beginning
And every beginning is followed by an end [scenes of Al-Aqsa Mosque]
The days are long [war scenes]
The days have always been long
And the course of history - revolution [PA flag flying] ."
"A steady trend of denying Israel's right to exist by claiming the Jews have no historical roots in Israel is a backbone of PA cultural education," says PMW Director Itamar Marcus, "as is the attempt to reinforce Palestinian claims to the land by creating an ancient Palestinian history in Israel."