PA celebrates Hezbollah attacks

Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin - Aug. 9, 2006

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PA celebrates Hezbollah attacks By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

Palestinian Authority TV this week started to openly celebrate Israeli civilian casualties, and broadcast a video clip entitled, "Where will you run?" The clip shows Hezbollah terrorists launching rockets towards Israeli cities, followed by images of the Israeli civilian and military destruction and casualties.

One line in the Palestinian video is, "We are all South (Lebanon). We are all revolutionaries!"

This celebrating of attacks on Israeli civilians by the PA corresponds to a poll released yesterday, which found that "97% of Palestinians support Hezbollah's position towards Israel." [Near East Consulting, Ramallah]
To see the Palestinian video "Where will you run", click here.

This figure of 97% support for Hezbollah attacks is even higher than the approximately 70% of Palestinians who consistently supported suicide terror against Israeli civilians during the four-year terror war. (This year, Palestinian support for suicide terror has stood around 55%.)

The higher support for Hezbollah attacks on civilians than for PA suicide terror may seem surprising, but there is a simple explanation. Those Palestinians who opposed suicide terror argued that it was "damaging to the Palestinians," not that it was wrong. Even such so-called moderates as Mahmoud Abbas, Hanan Ashrawi and Sari Nusseibah called for a halt in PA suicide terror because of the damage to the Palestinian people, not because it was morally wrong.

This professed opposition to terror for tactical reasons meant that the actual proportion of Palestinians who considered Israeli civilians legitimate targets was always higher than the 70% mark. In this case, since Hezbollah attacks are not damaging the "Palestinian people," 97% of Palestinians support these attacks.

With this video clip, Palestinian TV follows Hezbollah TV station Al Manar, which has been celebrating civilian casualties daily in their clips.

To see the Al Manar video, click here.

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