Is this why the Palestinians 'deserve' a state, Mr Biden?

BY: Melanie Philips at The Spectator

Friday, 12th March 2010

The New York Times reports that the Palestinian Authority and Fatah have dedicated a public square to the memory of a woman who in 1978 helped carry out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history:

The woman being honored, Dalal Mughrabi, was the 19-year-old leader of a Palestinian squad that sailed from Lebanon and landed on a beach between Haifa and Tel Aviv. They killed an American photojournalist, hijacked a bus and commandeered another, embarking on a bloody rampage that left 38 Israeli civilians dead, 13 of them children, according to official Israeli figures. Ms. Mughrabi and several other attackers were killed.

To Israelis, hailing Ms. Mughrabi as a heroine and a martyr is an act that glorifies terrorism. But, underscoring the chasm between Israeli and Palestinian perceptions, the Fatah representatives described Ms. Mughrabi as a courageous fighter who held a proud place in Palestinian history. Defiant, they insisted that they would not let Israel dictate the names of Palestinian streets and squares.
‘We are all Dalal Mughrabi,’ declared Tawfiq Tirawi, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, the party’s main decision-making body, who came to join the students. ‘For us she is not a terrorist’, he said, but rather ‘a fighter who fought for the liberation of her own land.’

Note in particular the last three words. This man is talking about Israel: not the West Bank, not Gaza, but Israel. It was, of course, not her land and never was, not at any time throughout history; nor were the West Bank or Gaza. The only people for whom this ever constituted their national homeland were the Jews. But it is that land, Israel, a state that was actually established by international agreement, that Fatah wants. In other words, it wants Israel destroyed: and that is the one and only cause of this conflict. This is not a boundary dispute. Fatah wants Israel destroyed – as its leaders have said over and over again down the years.

Fatah is led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian ‘President ‘and head of the Palestinian Authority. The PA stood on the sidelines at this disgusting ceremony, tattempting to minimise both their involvement and the significance of this commemoration. A PA security official who was there, General Adnan Damiri, tried to distance himself from Mughrabi's aims by claiming that

the Palestinians were ‘seeking peace’ based on a state in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.

Of course this is not true. Were it really the case, they could have had a state of their own on the numerous occasions it has been offered to them over the past seven decades. What they really want is reflected rather more accurately in the words of Tawfiq Tirawi. The brutal reality is that the PA, led by Abbas, treats as a heroine a terrorist who murdered 38 Israeli civilians and thirteen children along with an American to further the aim of the destruction of Israel. No wonder the PA put off this ceremony until Joe Biden had gone back to the US.

Even though Biden's blushes were spared, however,the fact remains that the US and the west, which waxed apoplectic over Israel’s building new homes in east Jerusalem -- even though this was in fact expressly acknowledged as acceptable in previous agreements – believe that Abbas and Fatah are ‘moderates’ who ‘deserve’ a state of their own which they intend to force Israel to give them. But in naming this square after their ‘martyr’ and ‘heroine’ Dalal Mughrabi, the ‘moderate’ Palestinian leadership have demonstrated once again both their own true murderous character -- and the gullibility or worse of America and western nations, which are remorselessly bullying Israel into offering its throat to such enemies.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PA TV interviews terrorist's sister
on anniversary of terror attack

http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=1764

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

March 11, 1978 is the date of the worst terror attack in Israel's history, when 37 people were murdered in a bus hijacking known as the "Coastal Road Massacre". Palestinian Authority TV opened its broadcasting last week on the 32nd anniversary of the terror attack praising it as:

"A glorious chapter in the history of the Palestinian people... [near Tel Aviv] in the heart of the occupation state. The operation shocked the occupation entity."

PA TV's praise of the attack was part of the introduction to an interview with Rashida Mughrabi, sister of terrorist Dalal Mughrabi who commanded the attack. She also praised the attack and called for further terror against Israel, who she referred to as "the Zionist enemy":

"This is a day of glory and pride for our Palestinian people and a blow to the Zionists... we must unite, and our rifles must unite, against the enemy who steals our land."

The following is from the PA TV interview with Rashida Mughrabi:

Host: "Now, dear viewers, we move on to a glorious chapter in the history of the Palestinian people. On this day in 1978, the Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi prepared to meet her God by carrying out a self-sacrifice operation of Martyrdom-seeking [near Tel Aviv] in the heart of the occupation state. The operation shocked the occupation entity at the time and has left its mark until today and for years to come. Dalal Mughrabi, the Palestinian Shahida (Martyr), has become a symbol and model of resistance, sacrifice, and Martyrdom-seeking; a model of giving and of redemption of the homeland."

Rashida Mughrabi, sister of terrorist Dalal Mughrabi: "This is a day of glory and pride for our Palestinian people and a blow to the Zionists, who view it as a day of blood for them. It is a day of pride for us, just as the day which they see as [Israeli] Independence Day , is our day of catastrophe...

Before she set out for the operation and fell as a Shahida, Dalal left a message for our father, a will to all of our brother fighters, to point the rifles - all the rifles - at the Zionist enemy... And if people have not taken note of her will, let them now take note that we must unite, and our rifles must unite, against the enemy who steals our land, and not against one another...

Of course, the Fatah movement - or most of the Fatah members, who believe in [its] line, have kept her will; they have not turned their weapons against Palestinians, and the rifles have remained [pointed] at the Zionist enemy... Whoever is not aware of this issue should take note: we are in danger; our issue is in danger, and the rifles - all the rifles - must be pointed at the Zionist enemy, as Dalal willed it thirty years ago... [Responding to the pressure to cancel the inauguration of the public square named after her sister:]

I believe that it is our right, that many of our people view [the anniversary of the attack] as a day of pride for the Palestinian people and for the Palestinian woman, who has carried out battles throughout history. Dalal is a source of pride for the Palestinian woman. It is our right to honor her. There is an Israeli demand not to celebrate in honor of Dalal. There are high school students and members of the Shabiba [Fatah] youth movement who are adamant about their right to honor Dalal today. They want to assemble at 1:00 in the afternoon around the square, which will be named after Dalal this afternoon, and, Allah willing, we will see you there, so that we can all show our pride in our fighters, in the Palestinian woman - in Dalal Mughrabi."