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April 30, 2014

Where's the Coverage? Fatah Leader Calls for Israel's Eradication

By now you have certainly heard about Secretary of State John Kerry’s troubling remarks warning that if Israel does not agree to a his idea of a peace agreement, it could become “an apartheid state with second-class citizens.�? You have also doubtless heard that Secretary Kerry has tried to walk back that remark stating, “if I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word to describe my firm belief that the only way in the long term to have a Jewish state and two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two state solution.�?

What the media has been pretty quiet about is the fact that Israel is not the party standing in the way of a “two state solution.�? Despite numerous offers of statehood, prisoner releases, construction freezes, relaxation of security measures and numerous other concessions from Israel, it is the Palestinian leadership that refuses to entertain a two state solution because it will not relinquish the aim of eradicating the one and only Jewish State.

Just days ago, Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi said, as reported by Palestinian Media Watch:

Our people, people of Gaza, Gaza of resolve, of nobleness and struggle: Your freedom is near. Our prisoners' freedom and your freedom are also near, Allah willing. You will return to the bosom of legitimacy, to the bosom of the homeland, which is represented by [the] Gaza [Strip] and the [West] Bank, by Palestine -- all of Palestine, from its [Jordan] River to its [Mediterranean] Sea. This is our goal; this is the lantern that lights our way; these are our principles in the Fatah Movement: Palestine -- [the] Gaza [Strip] is part of it; the [West] Bank is part of it; and it is Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, and it is all of Palestine, which will be an independent state for us, Allah willing.

Haifa, Jaffa and Acre are, of course, cities in Israel that are not the subject of any negotiations. How then does Tirawi propose to make them part of Palestine? Well, he has previously said, “We in this movement have not cast down the rifle and have not let go of the rifle. The rifle is here!�?

Only Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin has reported on Tirawi’s goal to eliminate Israel, framing the issue:

President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry never tire of telling Israel all the ills that will befall it if it doesn’t make peace with the Palestinians. However, they studiously ignore the Palestinians’ refusal to embrace a two-state solution. We’re not talking about Hamas; the Palestinian Authority refuses to relinquish the one-state solution. Moreover, Palestinian Authority officials’ repeated comments amount to calls for genocide.

Kudos to Rubin. And, to the rest of the news media… Where’s the coverage?

Watch the video of Tawfiq Tirawi’s remarks here: