Bulletin – July 1, 2012 PA: Israel spreads drugs to destroy Palestinian society by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik One day after Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi was condemned internationally for saying that Jews and their Talmud are responsible for international drug trafficking, no less than five articles in the official PA daily cited different Palestinian Authority officials accusing Israel of having a policy to disseminate drugs among Palestinian youth. The Governor of Jericho said that Israel "is encouraging and turning a blind eye to [drug] dealers and their efforts to distribute drugs, through a systematic policy to destroy Palestinian society, targeting the youth." The District Governor of Jenin said Israel "seeks to harm the Palestinian people and to destroy it and its national enterprise [through drugs] as a continuation of its Zionist enterprise." The District Governor of Ramallah spoke about the drug problem, mentioning Israel's "efforts to humiliate our youth, to break their willpower, and to distance them from their [Palestinian] cause and their principles, by spreading drugs among them" and emphasized that "the occupation does not hesitate to exercise all forms of control over our youth, using dirty and inhuman methods." This is not the first time that Israel has been accused by the PA of intentionally spreading drugs. Advisor to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has claimed that Israel "spreads prostitution and drugs" among Arab residents of Jerusalem. [PA TV (Fatah), June 23, 2010] The PA has also accused Israel of spreading AIDS among Palestinians: Similarly, at a seminar about drugs organized by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the head of the Palestinian Authority's drug fighting agency said: "This plague [AIDS] is a political problem which is nurtured by Israel." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 24, 2010] The official PA daily reported that a Health Ministry official blamed Israel for the spread of AIDS among Palestinians: "Director of Public Health in the Health Ministry, Dr. Assad Ramlawi... [said that] 'the reason for the spread [of AIDS] is the growth in the phenomenon of drug use, considered one of the principle ways of passing on this disease...' He noted that the occupation (i.e., Israel) is an influential factor in the spread of these diseases." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 9, 2011] Phone: 972-2-625-4140 • [email protected] • www.palwatch.org • Jerusalem, Israel Palestinian Media Watch has reported repeatedly that the Palestinian Authority has a policy of disseminating libels and lies to accuse Israel of scheming to destroy Palestinian society and its holy places. Other ongoing PA libels include: Israel murdered Arafat Israel seeks to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque Israel steals organs from Palestinians Israel carries out Nazi-like experiments on prisoners Israel seeks to rid Jerusalem of non-Jews Israel murders and poisons Israel imitates Holocaust crimes The following are the five Palestinian statements that falsely accuse Israel of spreading drug abuse among Palestinian youth: "District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh, Laila Ghannam... noted that her meeting with [Giampaolo Cantini, the Italian] General Consul, is taking place on the International Day against Drug Abuse, which requires that we remind the world and call its attention to the occupation's (i.e., Israel's) efforts to humiliate our youth, to break their willpower, and to distance them from their [Palestinian] cause and their principles, by spreading drugs among them... She emphasized that the occupation does not hesitate to exercise all forms of control over our youth, using dirty and inhuman methods." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012] "Social worker Sonia Diba held the Israeli occupation responsible for the fact that residents of Jerusalem are falling 'victim to drugs, because [Israel] distributes huge quantities of them, in addition to the increasing unemployment and the lack of centers and institutions in Jerusalem to absorb the children and adolescent youth, causing them to turn to drugs, which are distributed with the aid of the occupation and its branches." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012] "A seminar was held yesterday... under the slogan, "Pay attention! Say 'no' to drugs"... Governor of Jericho and the [Jordan] Valley district, Majed Al-Fatiani, said in the opening address that the Israeli occupation is encouraging and turning a blind eye to [drug] dealers and their efforts to distribute drugs, through a systematic policy to destroy Palestinian society, targeting the youth." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012] "Ramallah and El-Bireh district governor, Laila Ghannam, said that the spread of the plague of drugs is a deliberate act by the Israeli occupation, which is trying to harm the younger generation of Palestinians, upon whom we are relying to achieve our legitimate aim - the establishment of a Palestinian state." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012] Phone: 972-2-625-4140 • [email protected] • www.palwatch.org • Jerusalem, Israel "The Jenin district held a seminar yesterday, sponsored by the district governor, Talal Dweikat... to mark the opening of the International Week against Drug Abuse, under the slogan, 'Yes to life, no to drugs.' Dweikat emphasized that it is important to unify the efforts of the official and popular institutions in order to deal with this plague, which is dangerous for our society, especially since the Israeli occupation is not satisfied with occupation of Palestinian land, but also seeks to harm the Palestinian people and to destroy it and its national enterprise, as a continuation of its Zionist enterprise." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012] Bulletin – July 2, 2012 "Brave" Palestinian prisoner responsible for suicide bombings sentenced by Israel to 54 life sentences by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik Yesterday Ibrahim Hamed who orchestrated suicide bombings in which more than 45 Israelis were murdered, was sentenced by Israel to 54 life sentences in prison. Recently Palestinian Media Watch reported that PA TV broadcast a video dedicated to Hamed and other terrorists serving multiple life sentences for murders, calling them "brave prisoners" and flashing their pictures on the screen. The video was broadcast over 10 times in the last two months. Hamed, who planned and organized numerous suicide bombings including the ones at Hebrew University (9 killed), Cafe Moment (12 killed), and Cafe Hillel (7 killed), was among the terrorists specifically mentioned by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, when he publicly wished for their release. Speaking at a PA ceremony celebrating the release of Palestinian terrorist prisoners by Israel in exchange for Hamas-captured soldier Gilad Shalit, Abbas said: "We now see some of the most prominent among them [released] and the rest, Allah willing, will be [freed] soon, very soon. Allah willing, soon we will see here brother Marwan Barghouti, brother Ahmad Sa'adat, Ibrahim Hamed, and Abbas Al-Sayid." Abbas Al-Sayid who was also specified by Abbas is serving 35 life sentences for planning two suicide bombings including the Passover Seder bombing that murdered 30. The PLO's Ambassador to India, Adli Sadeq, has referred to Hamed as one of the "fighters who carried out quality operations." PMW has documented how the PA has a policy of glorifying terrorists as heroes. Phone: 972-2-625-4140 • [email protected] • www.palwatch.org • Jerusalem, Israel Bulletin – July 5, 2012 Did Arafat die of AIDS, poisoning, or something else? by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik Al-Jazeera reported this week that a Swiss lab hired to examine the clothes of Yasser Arafat found high levels of radioactive polonium. According to Al-Jazeera, while the findings are not conclusive, it could indicate that Arafat may have been poisoned. [http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/whatkilledarafat/2012/07/20127413371805105.html] Yasser Arafat died in November 2004 in a hospital in Paris after being treated for an unnamed illness. The French hospital never publicly disclosed the cause of death and the Palestinian Authority never released the medical records it received from the hospital. In 2007, Ahmad Jibril, head of the PFLP-GC (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command) told Al-Manar TV (Hezbollah) that at a meeting with PA Chairman Abbas, he was told by one of the delegation that the French medical report concluded that Arafat died of AIDS: "When [PA Chairman] Mahmoud Abbas came to Damascus, I asked: "What was found in the [medical] inquiry of the death of brother Arafat?" One [of the delegation] said: "Frankly, the French gave us the medical report, and the cause of Arafat's death was AIDS." [Al-Manar (Hezbollah TV), July 5, 2007] Click to view This statement was never reported to the Palestinian public. According to the new Al-Jazeera report, the doctors who treated Arafat when he was sick, still today refuse to release any information, some saying the information related to his death is a "military secret": "The Swiss doctors had hoped to study the blood and urine samples taken from Arafat while he was at Percy Military Hospital in France. But when she [Suha Arafat] requested access, the hospital told his widow that those samples had been destroyed. 'I was not satisfied with that answer,' Ms. Arafat said. 'Usually a very important person, like Yasser, they would keep traces - maybe they don't want to be involved in it?' Several of the doctors who treated Arafat said that they were not allowed to discuss his case - even with Ms. Arafat's permission - because it was considered a 'military secret.' And most of his onetime doctors in Cairo and Tunis refused requests for interviews as well." [http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/ whatkilledarafat/2012/07/20127413371805105.html] Phone: 972-2-625-4140 • [email protected] • www.palwatch.org • Jerusalem, Israel While refusing to allow access to the medical report that would describe his illness, senior PA sources consistently have blamed Israel for poisoning Arafat.