Israel must learn to speak ‘Palestinese’

​For 27 years the names of the terrorists filling up our jails keep changing, but the few puppeteers pulling their strings remain untouched by justice, traveling through Israel with VIP cards. If Israelis and world leaders want to know what the PA is planning, who is behind the terror, and who must be punished, it’s about time they mastered Palestinese.

Israeli officials and media are reporting that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has declared itself against terror in response to Israel’s expected application of Israeli law in parts of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley. However, Palestinian Media Watch has been reporting that the PA messages to its people are openly promoting a terror campaign. Which of these two contradictory PA messages represents the current PA strategy?

The answer is that there is only one PA message and the problem is that Israeli leaders, the media and the international community have not mastered the Palestinian language  – “Palestinese.”

First, the signs and messages that the PA wants Palestinian terror to accompany the Israeli announcement are sent daily and in key places. The controlled official PA TV stations are broadcasting extreme terror promotion since the Israeli coalition agreement on April 20, promising annexation. The videos and language resemble the PA TV terror promotion during the PA terror campaign 2000 to 2005, in which over 1000 Israelis were murdered.

There have been calls for suicide bombings: “Strap on the explosive belt, Detonate the first in Haifa and the second in Atlit (both Israeli cities) … Strap on the belt, O daughter of my land, and detonate it in front of the enemies. How sweet is the taste of Martyrdom, I have found none like it.” This was broadcast on a PA TV station 4 times in the 2 weeks following the coalition agreement.

Other repeating messages on the PA TV stations make it clear that terror is exactly what the PA wants:

“… This great people fights with daggers, knives and cannon shells… ”

“Where is the Arab blood?… Allah is with us. He is stronger and greater than the Children of Zion… My red blood waters the greenery… We are the victors… My chest is a machine gun’s magazine.”

“By Allah, I will redeem Jerusalem with my children.”

“O Arabs, Al-Aqsa has a request, light the fire of rage, this obligation is necessary… The Zionists have become arrogant… The Sons of Zion are in my land violating my honor today. O people of Allah, respond!… O Al-Aqsa, our blood is your torch… ”

“Al-Aqsa has called, and its call is precious, for its sake, life is insignificant… God, grant us Martyrdom there.” These words were followed by pictures of Wafa Idris – the first female suicide bomber– and Ayyat Al-Akhras – the youngest female suicide bomber – a 17-year-old girl.

One recurring song is particularly significant: “The oppressors have gone too far, therefore Jihad is necessary.” These words were broadcast by the PA immediately as it launched its terror campaign in 2000, and now the PA is broadcasting the exact same song again, at least 7 times in June.

The statements by the PA Foreign Minister are another terror indicator. Twice recently, Al-Malki repeated the libel that Israel plans “to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged Temple,” in its place. This lie has proven to be the most potent libel that the PA has used to incite lethal Palestinian terror waves. There is no reason for a PA leader to twice express that lie again right now – unless the PA is interested in creating the kind of fear and religious anger that sparks individual Palestinians to terror.

So how can we explain the contradiction between the terror promotion the PA is feeding its people and the insistence by some Israelis leaders and media that the PA does not want terror?

Ironically, in announcing it wants a “peaceful popular uprising” now, the PA is telling its own people that it wants them to murder Israelis.

The answer is that unfortunately many Israelis don’t understand the Palestinian language. Senior Fatah leader Jibril Rajoub last week announced exactly what the PA was planning: “Today we are calling a ‘peaceful popular uprising’… This is the unanimous decision of the Fatah Central Committee.”

Rajoub said a “peaceful popular uprising” is coming. This sounds wonderful. To those who don’t understand Palestinese it sounds like Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi calling for nonviolent civil disobedience. However, in their internal Palestinese-speak language, Rajoub was explicitly calling for terror.

In November 2015, when terrorists during the PA’s “knife intifada” had already murdered 14 Israelis and wounded 167 in 65 stabbings and 8 shootings, Mahmoud Abbas went on PA TV and defined the murderous terror wave as a “peaceful popular uprising,” carried out under PA instructions: “We said to everyone that we want a peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is. That’s what this is.” [Official PA TV, Nov. 16, 2015] Astonishingly, in the Palestinian language, murdering 14 and wounding 167 is a “peaceful” Palestinian interaction with Israelis. Indeed, throughout that extended terror wave in which Palestinians murdered 40 people, the PA repeatedly called it “peaceful and popular” and never admitted that even one murder could be called a terror attack. Ironically, in announcing it wants a “peaceful popular uprising” now, the PA is telling its own people that it wants them to murder Israelis.

It is critical to understand that in Palestinese the difference between an “armed intifada” terror wave and a “peaceful popular” terror wave is not the primary source of the terror – which is always the PA leadership – but rather those who carry out the terror. During the 2000-2005, “armed intifada”– the Palestinian security services systematically attacked and murdered Israelis. Tawfiq Tirawi, who at the time was the head of PA Intelligence Services, admitted: “The PA Security Forces are the ones who led the second Intifada… There are over 300 or 400 Palestinian officers from all the Security Forces in prison. And there are over 200 Martyrs.” [Tawfiq Tirawi’s Facebook page, May 6, 2014]

In a “peaceful popular” terror wave the PA leaders don’t give instructions to the security services or to specific terrorists to murder Israelis. They declare general but clear instructions for all Palestinians to kill Israelis. Libels, lies, hate videos, and hate speech are all used by the PA leaders to enrage Palestinians. In response, tens, hundreds or sometimes thousands of Palestinians will become the “lone wolf” terrorists, rushing out to defend Al-Aqsa, Islam and Palestinian honor. The PA then accompanies the terror by honoring, praising and rewarding the individual murderers as “heroes.” American Taylor Force was murdered during Abbas’s “peaceful popular uprising,” and the murderer was honored on PA TV as “the heroic Martyr” who “ascended to Heaven in Jaffa… He was embraced by his homeland as a Martyr within it.” Jibril Rajoub who is now threatening another “peaceful popular uprising,” sponsored a football tournament named after terrorist Muhannad Halabi, because his “peaceful popular” murder of two Israelis on October 3, 2015, was the trigger of the long terror wave.

THE PA – PLO have led the world in fine-tuning multiple means of terror that target civilians. These include airplane hijackings, suicide bombings, knifings, drive-by shootings, car-rammings and more, and have created an entire lexicon of different words to cover up their being terrorists. Among the PA terms for terror are, “amaliya” = “operation,” “muqawama” = “resistance,” intifada” = “shake up”,  “kifah” = “struggle” and “fidaa” = “self-sacrifice.” And of course “silmiya sha’abiya” = “peaceful popular” murder with “daggers and knives,” which the PA leadership has unanimously agreed upon for now.

This Palestinese, including the hate speech, terror promoting videos, euphemisms, claims of victimhood and more, has proven to be a successful language for PA leaders. They can have their terror wave bringing international attention and increased internal popularity for the leaders, while at the same time can claim innocence to the international community. The PA, as it has done in the past, will then blame Israel for causing the victimized Palestinians to “spontaneously” turn to violence, and many world leaders will dutifully line up to blame Israel for Palestinian terror.

The Palestinian language has many innocent sounding euphemisms to hide its arsenal of terror and mask its strategies. Unless Israeli leaders understand who is behind Palestinian terror and arrest, prosecute and imprison those at the top of the terror pyramid – not only those wielding the knives and guns – the cycles of Palestinian terror will continue.

For 27 years the names of the terrorists filling up our jails keep changing, but the few puppeteers pulling their strings remain untouched by justice, traveling through Israel with VIP cards. If Israelis and world leaders want to know what the PA is planning, who is behind the terror, and who must be punished, it’s about time they mastered Palestinese.