“Palestine will return to being free and Arab,” says PA Ministry of Education official
Official PA TV News
Official PA TV newsreader: “To mark 73 [years] since the Nakba (i.e., “the catastrophe,” the Palestinian term for the establishment of the State of Israel) and 54 [years] since the Naksa (i.e., “the setback,” Palestinian term for Israel’s victory in the Six Day War), the popular committee for refugees in Jenin and the Fatah Movement – Jenin Branch, in participation with Martyr Sami Taha High School in Arraba in the Jenin district, inaugurated the national graffiti activity and olive tree planting to commemorate the two Martyrs Musa Hassouna from Lod and Muhammad Kiwan from Umm Al-Fahm (i.e., both Israeli cities, refers to rioters killed while participating in violent Arab riots; see note below). The activity is sponsored by the PLO.”
Visual:
The newly inaugurated graffiti is shown.
Text on top right of the graffiti: “The popular committee for refugees in the Jenin district, and the national commission to commemorate the Arab Martyrs”
Inthecenterofthegraffitiiswritteninred“TheNakba.”Aboveitiswritten“1948,”andunderneathitistheshapeofakeysymbolizing“therightofreturn”ofthePalestinianrefugees.
Text underneath the key: “Our resolve is the path to our return”
A group of girls is seen carrying pictures of former PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, as well as a sign with text on it in red.
Text on sign: “We want to return to the land of our fathers and grandfathers – the popular committee for refugees Jenin district”
Deputy Director of the Qabatiya Directorate of Education Mazen Jarrar: “As part of a series of activities to mark the Palestinian Nakba, today the Qabatiya Directorate of Education (i.e., under the PA Ministry of Education), through Martyr Sami Taha School, is marking this day with a collection of graffiti paintings. The contents of these graffiti paintings have great meanings, and perhaps the most important of them is that Palestine exists in our souls, in our thoughts, in our minds, and in our hearts, and we always emphasize the right of return and that we are remaining, and Palestine will return to being free and Arab, Allah willing, with noble Jerusalem as its capital.”
[Official PA TV News, June 6, 2021]
Fatah/Hamas Riot and Rocket War 2021 – On April 30, 2021, facing certain electoral defeat, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas cancelled the first PA elections scheduled in 15 years. Hamas, which expected to win the elections, denounced it as a “coup.” In need of a conflict to divert public discontent, Abbas artificially generated a crisis over Jerusalem. His Fatah party called for "raising the level of confrontation,” and Abbas' spokesman told Palestinians "the battle of all battles is here.” Jerusalem Arabs responded by attacking Jews with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Hamas, Abbas' political rival, could not allow Abbas to lead the battle, so on May 10, 2021, Hamas launched rocket barrages targeting Israeli population centers including Jerusalem. Over the next 11 days, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired over 4,300 rockets into southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 9 Israelis and 3 foreign nationals, and wounding hundreds. In response, Israel launched Operation Guardian of the Walls to target Hamas terror leaders and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Already in mid-April, a planned eviction of some Palestinian families illegally living in Jewish-owned buildings in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem had led to clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli police. This dispute provided Palestinians with a pretext for violent rioting. Adding to the crisis, Israeli Arabs started rioting throughout Israel, especially in cities with a mixed Jewish and Arab population. Two Jews were murdered and many were wounded. According to Walla, an independent Israeli news site, 10 synagogues were wholly or partly burned down; fires were set in 112 Jewish homes and 1 Arab home mistaken for a Jewish home; 386 Jewish homes were plundered and 673 were damaged; 849 cars were set ablaze; and there were 5,018 rock-throwing attacks. In response, Jews started attacking Arabs and their properties as well, but on a much smaller scale. No mosques were burned; 13 Arab homes were damaged; 13 Arab-owned cars were burned; and there were 41 rock-throwing attacks by Jews. [Walla, May 16, 2021] The fighting between Israel and Hamas ended with a ceasefire on May 21, 2021.
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.