Abbas to Israelis: Safed is an Israeli city; Abbas’ TV to Palestinians: Safed is a Palestinian city
Abbas to Israelis: Safed is an Israeli city
Abbas' TV to Palestinians:
Safed is a Palestinian city
and so are Ashkelon, Haifa, Acre,
Tiberias, Beit Shean, Jaffa,
Nazareth, Ramle, and Lod
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Israeli TV last week that Palestine's borders will be on the 1967 borders, and although he wishes to visit Safed, his place of birth, he does not wish to live there because that city is part of Israel. In contrast to this statement, Abbas' official PA TV continues to present a world without Israel in which all of Israel is defined as "Palestine." Dozens of times, PA TV broadcasts programs and music videos in which Israeli places and cities like Ashkelon, Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, Beit Shean, Jaffa, Nazareth, Ramle, Lod, Safed, Mt Carmel, the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights are described as "Palestinian," "ours" or as part of "my country Palestine."
The following are texts and links to four videos that were broadcast as recently as last week on official PA TV:
Song broadcast on PA TV in various contexts, most recently at The Summer Nights Festival in Jerusalem, under the auspices of PA PM Salam Fayyad:
Sign: "Under the auspices of Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad: The 3rd Summer Nights Festival in Jerusalem"
Song: "Oh flying bird, circling around,
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.
Oh flying bird, circling around,
by Allah, oh traveling [bird], I burn with envy.
My country Palestine is beautiful.
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."
Song: "Oh flying bird, circling around,
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.
Oh flying bird, circling around,
by Allah, oh traveling [bird], I burn with envy.
My country Palestine is beautiful.
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."
[PA TV (Fatah), Oct. 24 and Oct. 29, 2012]
Click to viewA different version of the same song has been broadcast numerous times on PA TV.
Documentary film about the geography of "Palestine":
"The West Bank and Gaza have another section in Palestine which is the Palestinian coast that spreads along the [Mediterranean] sea, from... Ashkelon in the south, until Haifa, in the Carmel Mountains. Haifa is a well-known Palestinian port. [Haifa] enjoyed a high status among Arabs and Palestinians especially before it fell to the occupation [Israel] in 1948. To its north, we find Acre. East of Acre, we reach a city with history and importance, the city of Tiberias, near a famous lake, the Sea of Galilee. Jaffa, an ancient coastal city, is the bride of the sea, and Palestine's gateway to the world."
[PA TV (Fatah), broadcast dozens of times, most recently on Oct. 30, 2012]
Click to view
Song broadcast numerous times on PA TV:
"Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours.
[ I ], Muhammad, sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth are ours.
[ I ], Kabha, sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
From Bethlehem to Jenin is Palestinian,
Ramle, Lod and Sakhnin are Palestinian.
Nowhere is more beautiful than Jerusalem;
no matter how much we travel
From Safed to Al-Badhan (near Nablus) is Palestinian;
Tiberias and Ashkelon are Palestinian."
[ I ], Muhammad, sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth are ours.
[ I ], Kabha, sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
From Bethlehem to Jenin is Palestinian,
Ramle, Lod and Sakhnin are Palestinian.
Nowhere is more beautiful than Jerusalem;
no matter how much we travel
From Safed to Al-Badhan (near Nablus) is Palestinian;
Tiberias and Ashkelon are Palestinian."
[PA TV (Fatah), broadcast dozens of times, most recently on Nov. 2, 2012]
Click to view
Song on PA TV expressing a longing for a world without Israel:
"I wish I could enter my country with no borders...
I will go about in Bethlehem and in Al-Aqsa [Mosque], which is held captive
I will eat lunch in Nazareth and eat dinner in Beit Sahour...
I do not forget Jenin nor Nablus, and the Galilee
I do not forget you, Jaffa, your long sea [shore]
I will never forget the olives of the Galilee
Even if our path has grown long, one day we will return:
To Jerusalem, to Gaza, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord.
To Jerusalem, to Ramle, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord...
I wish I could enter my country with no borders."
I will go about in Bethlehem and in Al-Aqsa [Mosque], which is held captive
I will eat lunch in Nazareth and eat dinner in Beit Sahour...
I do not forget Jenin nor Nablus, and the Galilee
I do not forget you, Jaffa, your long sea [shore]
I will never forget the olives of the Galilee
Even if our path has grown long, one day we will return:
To Jerusalem, to Gaza, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord.
To Jerusalem, to Ramle, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord...
I wish I could enter my country with no borders."
[PA TV (Fatah), broadcast dozens of times, most recently on Oct. 30, 2012]
Click to view