PA TV children's quiz: Teaching about a world without Israel
A children's quiz broadcast this week on Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority television shows how thoroughly Palestinian children have absorbed this message.
Children on the TV program routinely identified every Israeli city and landmark as part of the State of "Palestine." Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat are described as Palestinian ports, the Sea of Galilee is said to be a Palestinian lake, and the area of the Palestinian state is said to be 27,000 square kilometers. In fact, the total area of Gaza and the West Bank totals 6,200 square kilometers, so the only way to come up with the larger measurement is to include undisputed Israeli territory in the calculation. The "State of Palestine" is said to border Lebanon and the Red Sea; in fact, these are Israel's borders.
In an unsettling reminder of the 2007 Hamas children's TV program that used a Mickey Mouse character to preach hatred and world Islamic domination, the child host of this week's PATV (Fatah) program is sitting in front of a photo of Mickey Mouse.
Following is the clip from the program:
"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]
Following is the text of the quiz:
Host:List three Palestinian ports.
(On phone) Adham: Haifa, Ashdod and Gaza.
Host:Your answer was correct...I'll add a few. Dear friends, we have the Haifa port, Jaffa, Ashkelon, Eilat, Ashdod & Gaza.
[Note: All are Israeli cities except Gaza.]
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.]
Host: Bravo!
Host: Name three countries bordering Palestine.
Boy:That's easy.
(On phone) Muhammad: Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt.
[Note: Only Israel borders Lebanon.]
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.]
Host: Congratulations, your answer is correct.
Host: What's the name of the only sweet-water lake in Palestine?
(On phone)Ayyam: The Tiberias Sea [the Sea of Galilee or the Kinneret].
[Note: The Sea of Galilee is in Israel.]
Host: Your answer is correct.