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Two-Faced
PA:
Different
messages for different audiences
For Newsweek Jibril Rajoub
recognizes Israel;
For Palestinians, Rajoub turns all of
Israel into "Palestine"
Rajoub's map of
Palestine:
Text on map: "Know Your
Homeland - 2017"
[Facebook page of the PLO Supreme Council for
Sport and Youth Affairs, March 17, 2017]
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Jibril Rajoub, top Palestinian official
who may be the next leader after Mahmoud Abbas, recently penned an article in Newsweek magazine in which he
presented himself as a seeker of peace, claiming to support the two-state
solution:
"We in the
Palestinian leadership are determined to seize this opportunity to achieve the long overdue two-state
vision."
[Rajoub in Newsweek, May 1,
2017]
Later Rajoub wrote: "We will accept no
solution but a two-state one."
In numerous contexts, Rajoub has
handed out plaques of honor decorated with the PA's map of "Palestine," which
erases Israel's existence. Instead, all of the State of Israel is included in
"Palestine" in addition to the PA areas.
Jibril Rajoub heads the PLO's Supreme
Council for Sport and Youth Affairs and when the council held a youth camp named
"Know Your Homeland," it chose the PA map that includes all of Israel as the
decoration for the camp shirts. To make sure that the participants do not
see this as a historical map of the past, the map was painted in the colors of
the PA flag, symbolizing future Palestinian political jurisdiction over the
entire area. Rajoub's Higher Council posted a picture of the drawing of the PA
map on its Facebook page.
Text on
shirt: "Know Your Homeland
2017"
[Facebook page of the PLO Supreme
Council for Sport and Youth Affairs, March 17, 2017]
This message to Palestinian youth from
Rajoub's organization is telling them that their "homeland" includes all of
Israel and that they should expect to live in a world where all of Israel has
become Palestine.
When Rajoub visited the "olympic
village" at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, he presented a Turkish
representative with a plaque of honor in the shape of the PA map of
"Palestine."
[Facebook page of
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, May 13, 2017]
President Jingnan Xu of the Chinese
sports company Peak also received a map precluding a two-state solution from
Rajoub in his capacity as chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee. The
Chinese company "is sponsoring the Palestinian national teams and the
associations that are members of the Palestine Olympic Committee" [Facebook page
of Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, May 20, 2017]
PMW has already reported on Rajoub's use of the map, but as this shows
his practice continues.
See additional examples below of Rajoub
using the PA map.
Rajoub further stated in his op-ed that
the 1967 borders are to be the basis of his desired two-state
solution:
"This agreement must
fulfill Palestinian national aspirations by including the following elements:
the contiguous territory of sovereign, independent Palestine comprising the West
Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital; the border based on the 1967
line with equal swaps; and the solution to the long suffering of stateless
Palestinian refugees that is just and agreed."
[Rajoub
in Newsweek, May 1, 2017]
In Newsweek, Rajoub also
pretended he is in favor of "mutual recognition":
"The Palestinian
leadership believes that a peace agreement, based on mutual recognition between
Palestine and Israel, will mark the end of the conflict and finality of
claims."
Unfortunately, Rajoub's words in Newsweek far from
reflect his own behavior in reality.
Additional recent examples of
Rajoub appearing with the PA map, or institutions he heads making use of the PA
map:
The International Federation for
Equestrian Sports President Ingmar De Vos received an honorary plaque featuring
the PA map of "Palestine" from Rajoub at the Palestine Olympic Committee
headquarters. [Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub,
May 15, 2017]
As head of the Supreme Council for
Sport and Youth Affairs Rajoub received a delegation from the American Michigan
University and Arab American University in Palestine in his office at the
council headquarters and gifted them with a map of "Palestine." [Official PA
daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 5, 2017]
As chairman of the Palestinian Football
Association Rajoub handed the map of "Palestine" to the President of the
Football Association of the Maldives Bassam Adeel Jaleel. [PSN, sports network
of the PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sport Affairs, March 29, 2017]
Chairman of the Lebanese Football
Association Hashem Haidar has also been given a plaque of honor featuring the PA
map of "Palestine" by Rajoub.
[Facebook page of Jibril Rajoub,
March 6, 2017]
When Rajoub briefed the Lebanese
Minister of Youth and Sports Muhammad Fneish, they had their photo taken holding
a map of "Palestine." [Facebook page of Jibril Rajoub, March 6, 2017]
Jibril Rajoub posing with an
unidentified man and the map. [Facebook page of the PLO Supreme Council for
Sport and Youth Affairs, April 15, 2017]
Jibril Rajoub holds the following
positions: Secretary of the Fatah Central Committe, Head of the
Supreme Council for Sport and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Palestinian
Football Association, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, and Chairman
of the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA).
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