Palestinian propaganda: PA video portrays terrorists as innocent victims
Video makes no mention Palestinian attackers shown have murdered or tried to murder Israelis, and chooses to instead display a one-sided version of events.
Palestinian propaganda has played a central role in the ongoing wave of violence and terror attacks, with the Palestinians working to portray themselves as the victims of Israel's actions.
In many of the cases, the propaganda that comes out of the Palestinian Authority fails to show the full picture, like in a video released by the Palestinian Ministry Of Information on Monday, which presents terrorists who committed some of the recent stabbing attacks, as well as rioters wounded in clashes, as innocent victims shot by Israeli security forces.
The PA-sanctioned video makes no mention of the fact the Palestinians shown have murdered or tried to murder Israelis, and the only images shown are of these terrorists after they were neutralized, lying on the ground with Israeli police or soldiers standing over them.
The video shows a Jew branded as a settler, with the text "Israeli settler militants execute Palestinian children on the streets."
Often the Palestinian propaganda machine uses video filmed by Israeli passersby at the scene of the attack.
One of these videos was of a passerby who documented teen terrorist Ahmed Manasra who, along with his 15-year-old cousin, committed the stabbing attack in Pisgat Ze'ev, seriously wounding a 13-year-old and a 21-year-old.
The video shows Manasra lying bleeding on the ground, with Israelis gathered around him, cursing at him and wishing him death. The video provides subtitles in several languages, making sure the speaker of any language in the world could understand it and the message it's trying to convey.
The Palestinian propaganda machine also makes use of social media, like Facebook and Twitter, to convey its messages through Palestinian officials and other public figures. Every Palestinian attacker that is killed is presented as a person who was executed by Israel, with no mention of his or her actions. The same applies for official Palestinian media, including public television and radio, both run by the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
'Charity organizations fuel terror groups'
Israel places the blame on the Palestinian Authority, but also on the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, led by Sheikh Raed Salah.
“We are seeing the merger of radical Islam and the internet, its Bin Laden meets Facebook,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. “The incitement on social media is motivating terrorists to carry out attacks. We can see very clearly that the incitement is targeted, and comes from a variety of sources including Hamas, the Islamic Movement, and the Palestinian Authority.”
The Israeli government continues discussing the outlawing the Islamic Movement and organizations affiliated with it.
Speaking to the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, a Shin Bet official provided a detailed review of the cooperation between terror groups and charity organizations, which raise great sums of money all over the world.
These charity organizations, he said, were "terror-supporting shell organizations."
"At first, only the parent organizations were classified as the main terror organizations, like Fatah and Hamas. During the second stage, which began at the end of the 90s when it became clear the secondary organizations were working as shell organizations for Hamas and the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, dozens of organizations supporting Hamas and the Islamic Movement, which transferred money to the field, were declared illegal."
"The third stage is handling networks run on the internet. For example, the Salafia Jihadia, an umbrella organization for groups spread in dozens of countries all over the world who communicate online," he said.
The Shin Bet official added that the terror organizations have their own religious and welfare institutions who work to increase support in the parent organization, build the military infrastructure, and educate the next generation.
An example of one such organization is Bani Na'im - a charity organization operating in Hebron. The Shin Bet official said that "even if the building doesn't say 'Hamas' on it, those who come there know very well where it is they are going and who is the boss."
The Palestinian Return Center, which operates in London, is also run by Hamas, and leads de-legitimization efforts against Israel, like the BDS Movement. Hamas also has a foundation in London that provides it with financial support.
"The idea is for these shell organizations to fund expensive education that starts at kindergarten and graduates to murderous militant activity," the Shin Bet official said. "The lion's share of terror organizations' resources comes from these shell organizations."
