“Palestine” erases all of Israel “from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River” in poem recited by Gazan girl on PA TV
Palestinian kids delegitimize Israel's existence, saying Jaffa and Nazareth are “occupied Palestinian” cities
Kids regularly echo what adults are saying, and so too in Palestinian society. Since the establishment of the PA, Palestinians have been told that since “Palestine” stretches “from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River,” Israel has no right to exist in any borders. Therefore, it was only natural that a girl from Gaza recited a poem on official PA TV saying Palestinians are the “owners of the land” “from the sea to the river”:
Hidaya, 12-year-old girl from Gaza: “Even if you destroy our homes above our heads
Victory will come out from under the rubble
They are taller than mountains
Everywhere that they are my friends
Long life [for] free and proud Palestine
No matter how long the Israeli occupation lasts
Palestine will remain for the Palestinians
From the [Mediterranean] Sea [to] the [Jordan] River
They are the owners of the land
They are the owners of the land”
[Official PA TV, Live your dream, Sept. 21, 2021]
As Palestinian Media Watch has exposed, the term “from the sea to the river” is an integral part of PA vocabulary and discourse. During the Fatah/Hamas riot and rocket war earlier this year, a Fatah official repeated this slogan, reiterating that the PA’s ultimate goal is to destroy and erase Israel.
Similar children’s messages to other children on PA TV are that Israeli cities are “occupied” and “Palestinian.” In this episode of the children’s program From My Country, Israel's right to exist is delegitimized and its coastal city of Jaffa is said to be “occupied.” Significantly, Palestinian children have been taught to see all of Israel's existence as “occupation,” and not merely the West Bank as the PA claims in international circles:
Child: “Jaffa (i.e., Israeli coastal city) is a very ancient Palestinian city that was occupied by the Zionist occupation in 1948…”
Official PA TV child host: “Jaffa is a historical Palestinian city that is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It’s one of the most important Palestinian cities… The Israeli occupation took control of it and expelled its residents in the 1948 Nakba.”
[Official PA TV, From My Country, Sept. 22, 2021]
PMW recently exposed another episode of this children’s program in which Palestinian kids were taught and repeated that the Israeli city of Nazareth is “an occupied Palestinian city”:
Child 1: “Nazareth (i.e., an Israeli city) is a Palestinian city that has been occupied since 1948. It is in northern Palestine (i.e., Israel). It has a number of churches including some of the most important churches – the Church of the Annunciation, where it was announced to Mary about our Lord Jesus.”
Child 2: “It is an occupied Palestinian city.”
Child 3: “It has been an occupied city since 1948.”
Child 4: “It is an occupied Palestinian city that has a lot of churches.”
Child 5: “Nazareth is a city in occupied Palestine, and it is in northern Palestine.”
[Official PA TV, From My Country, Aug. 23, Oct. 3, 2021]
A similar indication that Palestinians see all of Israel as “Palestine” was recently delivered by another Fatah official, Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi, who said that the Israeli cities of Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, and Nazareth are “Palestinian” and that the Palestinians have “one goal” – “the establishment of our Palestinian state on our Palestinian land,” i.e., replacing all of Israel:
Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi: “If they think that Beit El, Ma’ale Adumim, and Ofra (i.e., Israeli towns in the West Bank) are Israeli, then we say to everyone: Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, and Nazareth (i.e., Israeli cities) are Palestinian, and they will remain Palestinian… Our enemy is one, and our goal is one, and it is the establishment of our Palestinian state on our Palestinian land, on our Palestinian land, and its capital is Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Jerusalem!”
[Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi, Sept. 5, 2021]
Tawfiq Tirawi also serves as Fatah Commissioner of Popular Organizations.
Nakba - “the catastrophe,” the Palestinian term for the establishment of the State of Israel.