'Positive Developments' Prompt Renewal of Israeli-Palestinian Contacts (abridged)
… Israel insists on a halt to Palestinian incitement – not just a cessation of violence and terrorism – if progress is to be made in the diplomatic process, Sharon’s spokesman Dr. Ra’anan Gissin said.
For years, Israel has accused the PA of promoting hatred of Israel and anti-Semitism through school textbooks, television programs and other means.
Israeli cabinet minister Natan Sharansky, who coordinates the government’s efforts against anti-Semitism, on Tuesday unveiled a new report alleging rampant anti-Semitism in the PA.
The report (entitled “Kill a Jew - Go to Heaven”) was produced by the independent Israeli watchdog group Palestinian Media Watch. It charges that the PA teaches “an ideology of virulent hatred of Jews and Israel that mandates the killing of Jews solely because they are Jews.”
“Even as the Palestinian Authority works to prevent a few hundred terrorists from attacking Jews and Israelis, it prepares hundreds of thousands more,” Sharansky said.
Sharansky compared the “culture of hatred” in Palestinian society – found in textbooks, crossword puzzles, day camps and TV music videos – to that found in Nazi Germany.
While there have been demands made of various countries in the international community and organizations to combat anti-Semitism, the same demand has not been made of the PA, Sharansky said.
“However successful the tactical steps by Mahmoud Abbas and the PA leadership to fight Palestinian terrorists may be, the strategic direction of the leadership can be seen in the messages it relays to the Palestinian people and especially the younger generation,” he said.
According to Sharansky, the official PA media has continued to broadcast “the most virulent forms of anti-Semitism in the world” even after Arafat’s death and the election of Abbas.
The report is based on analysis of official PA television and newspapers over the last eight years.
It examines how the PA has “built a case” in the PA-controlled print and broadcast media using the religious, political and academic elite in Palestinian society against the existence of the Jewish people, showing how they are an “existential danger” to all the world and promoting the elimination of that “threat.”
According to Sharansky, Palestinian society must first be “detoxified” if Israel and the Palestinians are ever going to live together peacefully.
“The PA should pursue a policy of zero-tolerance of any and all displays of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Palestinian media, to promote a ‘detoxification’ of Palestinian society and enable a public acceptance of our two nations living side-by-side,” he said.
For years, Israel has accused the PA of promoting hatred of Israel and anti-Semitism through school textbooks, television programs and other means.
Israeli cabinet minister Natan Sharansky, who coordinates the government’s efforts against anti-Semitism, on Tuesday unveiled a new report alleging rampant anti-Semitism in the PA.
The report (entitled “Kill a Jew - Go to Heaven”) was produced by the independent Israeli watchdog group Palestinian Media Watch. It charges that the PA teaches “an ideology of virulent hatred of Jews and Israel that mandates the killing of Jews solely because they are Jews.”
“Even as the Palestinian Authority works to prevent a few hundred terrorists from attacking Jews and Israelis, it prepares hundreds of thousands more,” Sharansky said.
Sharansky compared the “culture of hatred” in Palestinian society – found in textbooks, crossword puzzles, day camps and TV music videos – to that found in Nazi Germany.
While there have been demands made of various countries in the international community and organizations to combat anti-Semitism, the same demand has not been made of the PA, Sharansky said.
“However successful the tactical steps by Mahmoud Abbas and the PA leadership to fight Palestinian terrorists may be, the strategic direction of the leadership can be seen in the messages it relays to the Palestinian people and especially the younger generation,” he said.
According to Sharansky, the official PA media has continued to broadcast “the most virulent forms of anti-Semitism in the world” even after Arafat’s death and the election of Abbas.
The report is based on analysis of official PA television and newspapers over the last eight years.
It examines how the PA has “built a case” in the PA-controlled print and broadcast media using the religious, political and academic elite in Palestinian society against the existence of the Jewish people, showing how they are an “existential danger” to all the world and promoting the elimination of that “threat.”
According to Sharansky, Palestinian society must first be “detoxified” if Israel and the Palestinians are ever going to live together peacefully.
“The PA should pursue a policy of zero-tolerance of any and all displays of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Palestinian media, to promote a ‘detoxification’ of Palestinian society and enable a public acceptance of our two nations living side-by-side,” he said.