PA accuses PMW of incitement for exposing terror incitement of Jibril Rajoub
PA accuses PMW of incitement
for exposing terror incitement of Jibril Rajoub,
head of the PA Olympic Committee
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
In its monthly report on so-called Israeli incitement, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency WAFA accused Palestinian Media Watch of incitement for exposing Jibril Rajoub's incitement to terror and murder.
In its monthly "incitement" report, WAFA extensively quoted an article from the Israeli paper Israel Hayom. That article was an in-depth story on PMW's report The Rajoub File, which documents that:
Jibril Rajoub, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee
- Promotes and glorifies Palestinian terror and incites murder of Israelis
- Uses his title as Olympic committee chairman while glorifying terror
- Prohibits using sports for peacebuilding
- Violates the fundamental Olympic principles
Upon publishing the report, PMW sent it to the International Olympic Committee, calling for the committee to:
- Demand Mr. Rajoub's removal from the position of Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee
- Ban Mr. Rajoub from participating in any activities related to the International Olympic Committee, as well as meetings and events of the national Olympic Committees
- Prohibit Mr. Rajoub from using the title "Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee"
- Demand the appointment of a new Palestinian chairman who rejects terror, upholds Olympic values, and facilitates peacebuilding through sports
The International Olympic Committee has not yet responded to PMW's call or reacted to the contents of the report documenting Rajoub's support for terror and murder.
The following is an excerpt of WAFA's report, accusing PMW of inciting against Rajoub:
Headline: "WAFA monitors racism and incitement in the Israeli media"
"The WAFA [official PA news] agency has monitored incitement and racism against Palestinians and Arabs published in the Israeli media. ...
In report no. 299 of WAFA for the period between Aug. 5 and Aug. 11 2016, the paper Israel Hayom incited on Aug. 5, 2016, in a long article by Nadav Shragai against the Palestinian Olympic delegation and [Palestinian Olympic Committee Chairman] Jibril Rajoub who heads it, and claimed that he is one of 'the most prominent inciters and supporters of terror and murder.' (The article referred to PMW's report The Rajoub File, documenting Rajoub's support for terror -Ed.)
The article, which called to distance the Palestinians from the Olympics, stated: (The following is an extended quote from the Israeli paper's story on PMW:)
'The Israeli-Palestinian conflict managed to worm its way into the most important sporting event in the world, one that is supposed to be free from politics and certainly from terrorism. Jibril Rajoub -- former head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Force and a contender for the leadership of the Palestinian Authority after President Mahmoud Abbas' time is up, an avowed supporter of terrorism who has incited to murder even during this most recent wave of terrorist violence -- was the man chosen by the Palestinians to head their Olympic committee...
The material on Rajoub, some of which held hope for leaders of Israel's security apparatus in the past, is hardly a state secret. The Rajoub File, which researchers from Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) have spent the last few weeks compiling, was recently placed before Israeli decision-makers... Despite the IOC's general disinclination for international intervention, the body has been involved more than once in decisions of a diplomatic nature, when it believes that doing so would truly contribute to Olympic values. Germany and Austria were kept out of the 1920 Olympics because of their responsibility for World War I; Germany and Japan were excluded from the London Games in 1948 because of their responsibility for World War II. The IOC excluded South Africa from the Olympic movement in 1964, an international contribution to the fight against that country's apartheid regime. However, for years, political pressure kept the IOC from recognizing East Germany or Taiwan as separate sporting entities -- and political pressure has, as we know, led it to recognize the Olympic committees of the Palestinians (and also Kosovo) (sic., no parentheses or "also" in original article), without either of them having been recognized as a state by the U.N.
The Rajoub case is a different matter. This isn't a country, but a person who represents a political-national entity, and he is a classic example of how politics can influence sports. In a sporting world free from politics, a supporter of terrorism like Rajoub would have been tossed out the door long ago. But Rajoub has backing. ... Over the past few years, he has... been backing terrorism... The Arab bloc on the IOC, comprising 46 Muslim countries, gives him a political screen. Rajoub, 63, is effectively unimpeachable. His roles as chairman of the Palestinian Olympic Committee and the Palestinian Football Association have raised his status with the Palestinian public. In the past, he threatened to keep Israel out of the Olympics... Rajoub, who also serves as deputy secretary for the Fatah Central Committee, marked his path in the latest terrorism wave very clearly on the day Israel released the bodies of 17 Palestinian terrorists for burial.'"
The Rajoub case is a different matter. This isn't a country, but a person who represents a political-national entity, and he is a classic example of how politics can influence sports. In a sporting world free from politics, a supporter of terrorism like Rajoub would have been tossed out the door long ago. But Rajoub has backing. ... Over the past few years, he has... been backing terrorism... The Arab bloc on the IOC, comprising 46 Muslim countries, gives him a political screen. Rajoub, 63, is effectively unimpeachable. His roles as chairman of the Palestinian Olympic Committee and the Palestinian Football Association have raised his status with the Palestinian public. In the past, he threatened to keep Israel out of the Olympics... Rajoub, who also serves as deputy secretary for the Fatah Central Committee, marked his path in the latest terrorism wave very clearly on the day Israel released the bodies of 17 Palestinian terrorists for burial.'"
[WAFA, the official PA news agency, Aug. 18, 2016]