Four current PA TV songs misrepresent Jaffa, Haifa and 20 other Israeli cities and regions

as parts of "Palestine"

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik



"Oh bird, take me to [my] homeland

Color my eyelids with the soil of Palestine. Send greetings to Acre and to the Upper Galilee... Haifa... Jerusalem... Jaffa... Lod... Be'er Sheva... Tiberias... Beit Shean... Nazareth... Safed."

[PA TV (Fatah), March 6, 14, and 20, 2012]



"[Oh bird,] turn to Safed, and then to Tiberias, and send regards to the sea of Acre and Haifa. Don't forget Nazareth - the Arab fortress, and tell Beit Shean about its people's return...

My country Palestine is beautiful."

[PA TV (Fatah), June 24, July 13, Nov. 13,

Dec. 14, 24, 2011, and Feb. 11, 2012]



"Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours... Ramle, Lod and Sakhnin are Palestinian... From Safed to Al-Badhan (near Nablus) is Palestinian; Tiberias and Ashkelon are Palestinian."

[PA TV (Fatah), May 13, and June 24,

July 14, 15, Sept. 2, 2011 Jan. 5, 8,

Feb. 25, March 19, 2012]



"Even if our path has grown long, one day we will return:To Jerusalem, to Gaza, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord. To Jerusalem, to Ramle, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord... I wish I could enter my country with no borders."

[PA TV (Fatah), Jan. 30, Feb. 9, 29,

March 14, 15 (twice), 2012]

"Oh bird, take me to [my] homeland

Color my eyelids with the soil of Palestine

Send greetings to Acre and to the Upper Galilee

To Bir Zeit, Haifa, Tira and Ayn Ghazal (Moshav Ofer)

To Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza and Jabalya

To Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin

To Khan Yunis, Rafah and Qalqilya

To Lod, Tubas and Hebron

To Be'er Sheva - every [Bedouin] tribe

To Tulkarem, Sila and Burqin

To Tiberias, Umm Al-Fahm and Beit Shean

To Tzippori, Lubya (Kibbutz Lavi) and Tur'an

To Nazareth and Safed of [Mount] Canaan

To Al-Shajara (Moshav Ilaniya), El-Bira and Hittin (Moshav Arbel)

Oh bird, take me to [my] homeland

Color my eyelids with the soil of Palestine"

[PA TV (Fatah), March 6, 14, and 20, 2012]

The Palestinian Authority continues to use culture and song to misrepresent Israeli cities and regions as if they are Palestinian or in "Palestine." Palestinian Media Watch has documented this ongoing PA policy of depicting a world in which "Palestine" exists and replaces Israel A new song exemplifying this denial of Israel's existence has been broadcast recently on PA TV:Palestinian Authority TV is controlled directly by Abbas' office.This song joins another being broadcast now on PA TV that also uses the image of a bird flying over all of Israel, while misrepresenting Israeli cities as "Palestine ":Also this week, PA TV rebroadcast a song identifying cities all over Israel as "Palestinian ." The music video displays scenes from places in Israel and a repeating image of a boy carrying a Palestinian flag:Last month, PMW reported on a song that describes the Israeli cities of Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, Jerusalem, Ramle and Nazareth as part of " my country," Palestine . The song, which was rebroadcast 3 times last week, also expresses a desire for all these cities to be accessible "with no borders," meaning Israel would not exist.The fact that the Palestinian Authority chooses to broadcast the message of a world without Israel in numerous cultural expressions is one of the indicators of its centrality to the Palestinian Authority.Note: The following cities and sites mentioned in the song are located in Israel.In Northern Israel: Acre, Upper Galilee, Haifa, Tira, Moshav Ofer, TIberias, Beit Shean, Tzippori, Umm Al-Fahm, Kibbutz Lavi, Tur'an, Nazareth, Safed, Moshav Ilaniya, and Moshav Arbel.In Central Israel: Jerusalem, Jaffa, Ramle, and Lod.In Southern Israel: Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva.