On Monday, I sat down with Itamar Marcus, the director of
Palestinian Media Watch ““ an Israeli organization dedicated
to the reform of Palestinian media sources. I learned he was
concerned deeply about the impact of anti-Israeli Palestinian media
sources on the ultimate outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. I asked him about the interaction between Israelis and
Palestinians and the media in the Middle East.
Ңbull;Ӣbull;Ӣbull; Itamar Marcus: We have no critique at all
with Islam as a religion, and it’s not something we would
even consider to question. What we have a problem with is when the
Palestinians take ancient Islamic sources and teach them today.
That is, ancient sources that depict Jews in a negative fashion,
call for the killing of Jews ““ and when they teach these
ancient sources today and quote the ancient sources ““ that is
something that is … very, very problematic. Every religion,
(including) Judaism (and) Christianity, has ancient sources that we
wouldn’t necessarily talk about today and might not be
relevant today. I wouldn’t critique any religion for its
ancient sources. But if someone is going to take those ancient
sources and quote them today, then they have relevance, and that
could be a problem. For example “¦ this here is an ancient
Islamic source, and the source goes as follows: “The hour
(which refers to the day of resurrection) will not arise until you
fight the Jews, until the Jew hides behind a rock or a tree the
rock, and the tree will say, “˜Muslim servant of Allah,
there’s a Jew behind me. Come and kill him.'”
This is part of the Islamic ancient tradition. That doesn’t
concern me at all. It’s part of their tradition. What does
concern me is that this summer in July, a leading Palestinian
academic went on Palestinian television presenting this as relevant
today. And (it) wasn’t the first time we’d heard it.
We’ve heard it tens of times on Palestinian television and in
newspapers, and they will say it is a valid source today. Now, if
you’re going to present this as a valid source, you’re
taking the genocide of a people … and saying, “This is
demanded by Islam.” This has tremendous ramifications.
You’re taking a conflict, a border conflict where compromise
is possible, to an existential religious conflict where no such
compromise is possible. That is a terrible danger to peace in the
Middle East.
DB: I’ve seen your Web site critiquing the Palestinian
media ““
IM: We’re not critiquing the Palestinian media. The
Palestinian media is the window to Palestinian society. We want to
understand their society. What the teachers are telling the
children is the way the next generation is going to see Israel
““ either as a neighbor or as an enemy to be fought.
That’s why we study what we do and why we put so much focus
on things like sporting events for children and summer camps for
children. If the kids are growing up with the belief that Allah
wants them to kill Jews, then the border adjustments today and the
peace treaty are not going to hold water when these kids grow
up.
DB: How widespread and systemic is this problem?
IM: We have found … there have been three different polls in
the Palestinian newspapers (that show) between 70 and 80 percent of
Palestinian children “¦ aspire to (death for Allah) as an
ideal. … Part of the tragedy here, I think the real victims here
were the Palestinian children. … When you tell your children that
their role is to die in this conflict, young children, that is
child abuse. Particularly when you understand the political goals
here: to make Israel look bad. You tell your children to get killed
so you can “¦ then say, “Look! The Israelis are killing
our children.”
DB: Who pays for the Palestinian media infrastructure? Is
there any particular source of funding?
IM: The Arab countries and the Europeans. The Europeans put a
lot of money into the infrastructure, and right now, television is
coming from the general budget.
DB: What do you think the United States should do. What do
you think is the significance of U.S. citizens knowing about this
problem?
IM: One of the things that’s important for Americans to
know, particularly after 9/11, is that Americans can be targeted by
not just people who are in the United States. They can be targeted
by people who have been brought up in any country if they’re
brought up to hate the United States. And one of the topics that we
have followed very, very carefully is that the Palestinians
don’t particularize the conflict with Israel; they globalize
it.
Interview conducted by Derek Lazarro, Viewpoint
editor.