“The blood of the Martyrs draws the borders of the homeland” - Martyrdom veneration for adults and children alike
“The blood of the Martyrs draws the borders of the homeland” – PA TV host glorifies death
“The Martyr is the night star”
“Martyrdom is our choice” – girl sings for death at Arafat memorial
Opening the Good Morning Jerusalem program on official PA TV, the TV host recited a poem glorifying and romanticizing death for Allah. Exemplifying the PA’s cult-like veneration of dead terrorists – who it calls “Martyrs” – by referring to their “fragrance” that “engulfs the city,” the poem expressed esteem for the “souls of the homeland’s heroes.” The host continued reading the poem, saying that it is “the blood of Martyrs that draws the borders of the homeland”, and then dedicated the entire program to dead and imprisoned terrorists – “our pure Martyrs and our heroic prisoners”:
Official PA TV host: “The homeland bows in honor before the souls of its heroes… The Martyr is the night star that guides those who stray on the path, the words attempt to describe him, but it is impossible – this is the Martyr. I am from a homeland, half of which is Martyrs, half of which is refugees, and the rest are awaiting [Martyrdom]. Fragrance engulfs the city until it is suffocating – the Martyr sits on the shoulders of Heaven and smiles. My homeland taught me that it is the blood of the Martyrs that draws the borders of the homeland. We have lost and the Martyrs have gained… This morning is dedicated to our pure Martyrs and our heroic prisoners. We say to them: Good Morning Jerusalem!”
[Official PA TV, Good Morning Jerusalem, Nov. 19, 2021]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA’s intense effort to promote death for “Palestine” as “Martyrs” while “confronting” Israel in terror attacks – to children and adults alike. The poem itself and the PA TV host’s dedication of the program to terrorists is yet another example of the fact that the PA consciously and adamantly wants to keep terror on the back burner and make sure it always has a Palestinian population that is ready to “die for Allah” for Palestine. This way, when the leadership wills it, another terror wave is just a matter of intensifying the encouragement and the libels that are used as justification for the use of violence and terror against Israelis.
Recently, PMW exposed that Yasser Arafat’s turning a 14-year-old “Martyr” into a role-model for children during the second Intifada - Arafat’s 5-year terror campaign - remains central to Palestinian ideology today.
A fresh example of educational efforts to cement the ideal of “Martyrdom-death” in the minds of the population is this young girl reciting a poem with the pledge: “the path of Martyrdom is our choice”:
Girl: “O my teacher, one who calls on your behalf, O Yasser Arafat
You are the sun of Martyrdom and the promise
And the path of Martyrdom is our choice
Cause a tremor with your voice, crush the ground
You ignited the revolution that shakes the house”[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Nov. 13, 2021]
The girl recited the poem in honor of Arafat during an anniversary celebration in Gaza.
Similarly, official PA TV continuously broadcasts statements of joy by parents whose children have died in terror attacks or in violent confrontations with the Israeli army. One father, for example, recently stated “I’m so happy my son died as a Martyr.”
Yasser Arafat – Founder of Fatah and former chairman of the PLO and PA. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s Arafat was behind numerous terror attacks against Israelis. Although he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 together with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" after signing the Oslo Accords peace agreement, Arafat launched a 5-year terror campaign - the second Intifada (2000-2005) – in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Arafat died of an illness in 2004.