Pretending The Killers Aren't Heroes

Here's a great piece from the Jerusalem Post by Palestinian Media Watch's Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook about the duplicity employed by the Palestinian Authority to create the image in mainstream media outlets that they are opposed to terror against Israelis. The trick is to offer specious assurances in English, while expressing the truth in Arabic. Arafat was a master of this ruse. We even see how PA politicos condemn the timing of this terror attack, but not the act itself.

So much for Arafat 2's promise to end the incitement and commendation of terror on PA television. (salute to Bruce T.)

While the foreign media accept at face value the PA's official condemnation of Friday's suicide bombing, the PA-controlled media are glorifying the bomber as a shahid (martyr who died for Allah) – the highest level of human achievement for a Muslim. By granting shahid status to the murderer, the PA media are portraying bombing as a positive religious act.

Within this context the official condemnations need to be understood not as deploring the act, but its consequences &mdash damaging the Palestinian cause.

Sunday's front-page coverage of the story in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda features a giant color photo of the terrorist at the top of the page, with the caption: "The executor of the Tel Aviv operation, the shahid Abdullah Badran." Another photograph shows his mother holding a picture of her son, and is captioned: "The mother of the Shahid."

It is also admitted that this nonexistent cease-fire is only a hudna (tactical cessation of armed conflict—see C&R Lexicon for definition).

The Palestinian Authority—same as it ever was.
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originally posted at Clarity & Resolve

Posted by Patrick at March 4, 2005 06:06 AM