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British MP
demands immediate Palestinian cessation of
"incitement surrounding Temple Mount,"
following PMW reports
- In letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May, MP Joan Ryan asks
that Britain demand the PA "halt all incitement, particularly that surrounding
the Temple Mount"
- PA "failure" to comply "should be met with deep and meaningful cuts
in British aid to the PA, with the money instead redirected to coexistence
projects and health and education projects in Palestine run by trusted
NGOs"
- MP Ryan quotes PMW reports that document PA leaders' call for
"escalation" and "rage," warnings of "explosion of the situation" and "religious
war," and repetition of the PA libel that Israel is "targeting the Al-Aqsa
Mosque," which needs "Allah [to] guard [it] from evil"
-
MP Ryan's letter include additional findings by PMW that illustrate
the PA's policy of educating children and youth to see terrorist murderers as
"role models": j
"... as research by Palestinian Media
Watch has shown, children attending schools named after so-called martyrs are
well-aware that they are being encouraged to view them as 'models' and, in the
words of one, to 'follow [their] path'."
[Letter from MP Joan
Ryan to Prime Minister Theresa May, July 25, 2017]
Nan Jacques Zilberdik and
Leon Schneider
British Member of Parliament Joan Ryan (Labor) has called upon Prime
Minister Theresa May to demand the PA "halt all incitement, particularly that
surrounding the Temple Mount" in response to Palestinian leadership's
encouragement of Palestinians to escalate riots. This encouragement followed the
Israeli decision to place metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount
after a terror attack there in which 2 Israeli police officers were murdered
earlier this month.
MP Ryan's request came after she read reports
from Palestinian Media
Watch, which she quoted in her letter to British PM Theresa May. PMW's
reports documented statements by several Palestinian leaders who called for
"escalation," urged Palestinians to "rage" and glorified the terrorists who murdered the two Israeli policemen -
the attack which prompted the stricter Israeli security measures. PMW's reports
also documented that PA and Fatah leaders blame Israel for the unrest, repeating
the libel that Israel is "targeting" the Al-Aqsa Mosque and attempting to change
the status quo of the area. One PA official even called upon Allah to protect
the mosque "from evil." The following are some of the inflammatory statements of
high ranking PA leaders documented by PMW, and cited by MP Ryan in her letter to
British PM Theresa May:
PA Prime Minister Rami
Hamdallah: "What is happening constitutes blatant aggression and an
Israeli plan that is targeting the identity, heritage, and faith of the
Palestinians in Jerusalem, and their presence in the occupied holy city -
something that is only liable to intensify the tensions in Jerusalem in
particular and in the region in general, to lead to an explosion of the
situation, and to ignite a religious war for whose disastrous consequences the
government of Israel will be fully responsible."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida, July 19, 2017]
PA official Abbas Zaki "called
on the Palestinian and Arab masses to participate as widely as possible in the
day of rage tomorrow [Friday], in order to support the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque."
[WAFA, official PA news agency, July
20, 2017]
PA official Laila Ghannam: "Let us all sound a sincere call for the Al-Aqsa
Mosque
O Allah, Master of the Universe, we ask of You to
guard Jerusalem and the Al- Aqsa Mosque from evil. O Allah, protect Jerusalem,
its [Arab] residents, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the plot of Your enemies, the
enemies of the religion. O Allah, be with [the residents of Jerusalem],
strengthen them, and give them victory over their enemies. O Allah, grant us the
prayer of the conquerors, or Martyrdom-death (Shahada) at its
threshold.
It is in Your hand, and You can bring
it
O Allah, have mercy on the Martyrs
(Shahids) of Palestine and on the Martyrs of the Islamic
nation
O Allah, Amen
July 21, 2017"
[Facebook page of Ramallah and
El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam, July 21,
2017]
MP Joan Ryan concluded her letter to PM Theresa May with a 5 point
recommendation of action for the British Government to take with regards to the
PA's continued incitement.
The following are additional PMW reports
detailing PA and Fatah leaders' recent incitement to continued Palestinian
riots:
The following is the full text of
British MP Joan Ryan's letter to Theresa May (links added to PMW's
reports):
Dear Prime Minister,
I am writing to you to express my deep concern
over the current violence in Israel and the West Bank, including the horrific
murder of three members of an Israeli family in a stabbing attack in their home
at Halamish on Friday.
As you are aware, 10 days ago, a terrorist attack
was perpetrated at the Temple Mount in which two policemen tragically lost their
lives. In response, Israel has introduced enhanced security measures at all
entrances to it (as opposed to simply the one used by non-Muslims, as was
previously the case). Sadly, such measures are now commonly used at religious
sites throughout the world, apparently without protest by those subject to these
checks.
However, both the Waqf authorities, who have
responsibility for the Temple Mount, and the Palestinian Authority have objected
strongly to the installation of metal detectors.
I am deeply concerned that the language being
deployed by both - echoing, as it does in the case of the latter, similarly
intemperate language in the past - is inciting violence and fuelling a false
narrative that Israel is somehow failing to respect a site which is holy to both
Muslims and Jews alike.
In recent statements, the Waqf has, for instance,
repeated the incendiary claim that Israel is threatening to change the
50-year-old status quo at the Temple Mount:
"We confirm our total rejection of the
electronic gates and all new occupation measures that will lead to a change in
the historical and religious status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites,
especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
The Israeli government has underlined in recent
days the categorical assurances it has previously given that it has no intention
of changing the status quo at the Temple Mount.
While President Abbas initially condemned the
terrorist attack on the Temple Mount, the PA and his political party, Fatah,
appear to have subsequently given out decidedly and dangerously mixed
messages.
I would like to bring your attention to the
following examples which have been provided by Palestinian Media
Watch.
1. Immediately following the attacks, Abbas'
Fatah party rebroadcast on Facebook [Official Fatah Facebook page, 15 July 2017]
a speech the President delivered in October 2014 in which he
said:
"We have to prevent them [the Israelis],
in any way whatsoever, from entering the Sanctuary... They have no right to
enter it. They have no right to defile it. We must prevent them. Let us stand
before them with chests bared to protect our holy
places."
2. Fatah posted a picture of the Temple Mount
terrorists on its Facebook page, describing them as "martyrs", as well as
calling for " rage" against the new Israeli security measures [Official Fatah
Facebook page, 14 July 2017].
3. The Palestinian Prime Minister, Rami
Hamdallah, has reportedly stated:
"What is happening constitutes blatant
aggression and an Israeli plan that is targeting the identity, heritage, and
faith of the Palestinians in Jerusalem, and their presence in the occupied holy
city - something that is only liable to intensify the tensions in Jerusalem in
particular and in the region in general, to lead to an explosion of the
situation, and to ignite a religious war for whose disastrous consequences the
government of Israel will be fully responsible."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,
19 July 2017]
4. Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah's Central
Committee, stated that the committee had "discussed... the Israeli attacks on
the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque" and was calling for "escalation". According to the
Donia Al-Watan, an independent Palestinian news agency [20 July
2017]:
"He [Zaki] noted that the movement has
declared this Friday a day of general mobilization to Jerusalem... He also noted
that the [Fatah] Central Committee called on its supporters and members of the
organization to turn this Friday into a day of escalation and refusal of all the Israeli
steps in the holy city [of Jerusalem]."
Zaki also "called on the Palestinian and Arab
masses to participate as widely as possible in the day of rage tomorrow
[Friday], in order to support the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque." [WAFA, official PA
news agency, 20 July 2017]
5. The PA's Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh,
Laila Ghana [sic. Ghannam], asked Allah for "victory over [our] enemies" and that He "guard
the Al-Aqsa Mosque from evil" and "have mercy on the Martyrs of Palestine"
[Facebook page of Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghana, 21 July
2017]
Unfortunately, as the rebroadcast October 2014
speech shows, President Abbas has himself used similarly incendiary language in
the past surrounding the Temple Mount. In September 2015, just before the start
of the wave of terror attacks to which Israel has been subject for nearly two
years, he stated:
[Official PA TV, 16 September 2015 and official
website of PA Chairman Abbas, 16 September 2015]
Abbas then also "bless[ed] every drop of
blood that has been spilled for Jerusalem," stating that "every Martyr will
reach Paradise, and everyone wounded will be rewarded by
Allah."
As you know, Britain is a major donor to the
Palestinian Authority. According to the Memorandum of Understanding signed
between the PA and the Department for International Development, among the
"Partnership Principles" the PA is supposedly committed to respecting is the
principle of non- violence and respect for human rights. Alongside LFI
parliamentary colleagues, I have repeatedly raised with DfiD the numerous
examples of incitement perpetrated by the PA which appear to breach these
principles.
In particular, we are concerned about the fact
that Palestinian children are subject to a barrage of antisemitic incitement by the PA. As I identified in
March, more than 20 schools in the West Bank and Gaza are named after
terrorists - such as Dalal Mughrabi who led the infamous 1978 Coastal Road
massacre in which 38 civilians, 13 of them children, were murdered - who have
carried out horrendous attacks in Israel, both prior to, and subsequent to, the
signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Sports tournaments and youth camps are named after terrorists,
including some of the perpetrators of the ongoing "knife Intifada". Programmes
on official PA TV aimed at very young children serve up a similarly distasteful
diet. Take, for instance, a poem which has been recited by children on a number
of occasions in recent years which refers to Jews as "barbaric monkeys", "wretched pigs" and
"filth".
I have provided DfID with the names of schools
named after terrorists, as well as after Amin Al- Husseini, the Grand Mufti of
Jerusalem during the inter-war period. Al-Husseini was a notorious Nazi
collaborator who spent the war broadcasting pro-Axis, anti-British, and
anti-Jewish propaganda to the Arab world; inciting violence against Jews and the
British authorities in the Middle East; and encouraging young Muslims to join
the German military, the SS and auxiliary units. I am surprised that DfiD was
unable to tell me whether any of the several thousand teachers and other
"essential" education public servants it helps pay the salaries of work in
schools named after terrorists and Nazi collaborators.
Both myself and my colleague, Ian Austin, have
also provided DfID in Parliamentary Questions and letters specific examples of
incitement perpetrated by the PA. On many occasions, we have failed to secure
the reassurance we sought that these examples have been raised with the PA.
Moreover, the letter of the Secretary of State for International Development to
Ian and I on 20 April 2017 explained that the issue of incitement in schools had
been raised by Rory Stewart in March. However, we do not believe that the
apparent assurances provided by the PA match up to the available evidence. I am
now asking you to take the following actions:
First, instruct the Foreign Office and Department
for International Development to inform the PA that it should immediately halt
all incitement, particularly that surrounding the Temple Mount. To underline the
seriousness of Britain's concerns, this message should be delivered by
ministers, not officials, to President Abbas and Prime Minister Hamdallah. I
support funding the PA and agree with the government that funding teachers,
doctors and nurses is a good use of our aid money. But I do not believe that we
can simply ignore and be silent on the question of incitement any longer.
Therefore, failure to carry out this request should be met with deep and
meaningful cuts in British aid to the PA, with the money instead redirected to
coexistence projects and health and education projects in Palestine run by
trusted NGOs.
Second, in March DfiD carried out its annual
review of the PA's compliance with the MOU. Despite previous requests, DfiD has
repeatedly refused to publish these reviews. I would ask those for 2016 and 2017
be immediately published.
Third, last year I wrote to David Cameron
recommending the establishment of an independent cross- party review into how
British aid spending in Palestine can best support a two-state solution. I would
request that you give this request further consideration.
Fourth, Britain has a long and important
friendship with Jordan. Given its important role with regards the Waqf and the
Temple Mount, I would ask that we use our relationship with the government of
Jordan to ask it to do all it can to de-escalate the situation.
Fifth, I would ask that you convey to the Israeli
government the sympathies of the British people to all those who have been
killed and injured in the ongoing violence. Furthermore, I ask that you make
clear our government's support for the entirely reasonable and measured response
of the Israeli authorities in introducing enhanced security measures to protect
this important holy site and those who wish to worship at it. Having suffered a
series of terrorist attacks ourselves in recent months, I am sure you will be
keen to show Britain's solidarity with those in Israel who are also under
attack.
Finally, after recess, both I and a number of my
LFI colleagues would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and discuss
these concerns in further detail. Britain's support for a two-state solution and
a peaceful settlement between Israel and the Palestinians has never been a
partisan issue, and I hope that we can proceed in that spirit.
Yours sincerely,
Rt. Hon Joan Ryan MP
Member of Parliament for Enfield North Chair,
Labour Friends of Israel
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