PA official praises singer who motions to slit someone’s throat: “If you cross [the border], we’ll put an end to your existence”

Waving a gun and making a motion to slit someone’s throat is part of Gazan singer Abdallah Saaideh’s repertoire in a violent song and music video released in October. Stating that “the machine gun is ready,” Saaideh calls for “a fierce war” -  presumably against Israel - warning that anyone who “crosses the border” will be killed:

Target Identified by Abdallah Saaideh:
“Target identified and the machine gun is ready
Prepare the shrouds, bring them to the funerals
And ask the battlefield about the people of miracles.
The time has come for a fierce war
When we enter it, we will teach them a lesson…
Declare readiness with the sound of rifles
The armies are arranged in lines and waving the flags…
The smell of gunpowder is more pleasant than perfume…
O my people of the tents, in war they are a troop of soldiers…
Whoever fights them endangers his life
Don’t get yourself in trouble, ask your ancestors.
Shut up and don’t cross the border
If you cross it, we’ll put an end to your existence.”

[YouTube channel of singer Abdallah Saaideh, accessed Dec. 17, 2020]

Palestinian Media Watch has exposed numerous violent Palestinian songs calling for war against Israelis, but this one, Target Identified, and the performer Abdallah Saaideh were specifically singled out and praised by PA official Laila Ghannam, who is the Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor. Ghannam invited Saaideh to meet with her while he was in the West Bank for medical reasons. In a post on Ghannam’s official Facebook page, both singer and song were mentioned in connection with “the Palestinian popular artistic heritage”:

Posted text on Facebook page: “During [Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor] Dr. Laila [Ghannam’s] meeting with the Palestinian artist who sings the popular song ‘Target Identified,’ Abdallah Saaideh, Dr. Ghannam praised the Palestinian popular artistic heritage and all the efforts whose goal is to preserve it, pass it on to the coming generations, and instill knowledge about it here and abroad.”

[Facebook page of Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam, Dec. 10, 2020]

The song was uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 12, 2020, and as of Dec. 16, 2020, two months later, it had more than 20 million views.