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P.A. TV host’s libel: Israel ‘murders, imprisons and tortures children’

Walaa Al-Battat explicitly told Palestinian children “not to walk alone,” because Israel “targets children everywhere.”

Official PA TV host Walaa Al-Battat (Credit: PMW)
Official PA TV host Walaa Al-Battat (Credit: PMW)

The host of a program on official P.A. TV taught viewers that Israel “murders, imprisons and tortures” Palestinian children, and accordingly “has built itself on the bodies of children.”

Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake then “confirmed” this, stating that Israel “executes” children:

Official P.A. TV host Walaa Al-Battat: “The occupation government (P.A. euphemism for Israel) which claims it is democratic and has won the support of some of the world’s super powers has built itself on the bodies of children, and it still murders, imprisons and tortures them with the most extreme types of torture.”

Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake: "[Israel] is still going further and further with arrests of the [Palestinian] children—not just arrests, but also execution and murder. Children have been summarily executed. ... This has occurred based on official decisions made by the Israeli government, which has decided that live bullets should be fired at what it calls “the rock-throwers.” [Official P.A. TV, Who is the Judge?, Feb. 9, 2018]

The host of the program, Walaa Al-Battat, is well-known from her hosting of P.A. TV’s children’s program The Best Home. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that Al-Battat has used this program to teach children the libel that Israel targets and murders children. During the Palestinian terror wave in November 2015, when young Palestinian terrorists were attacking Israelis with knives, the host explicitly told Palestinian children “not to walk alone,” because Israel “targets children everywhere ... these are barbarians,” who “try to kill people for no reason”:

Official P.A. TV host: “The occupation [Israel] targets children everywhere. In their schools, near their homes. ... We must be very careful now. We are confronting the occupiers who act in a very barbaric terrorist way. They are trying to kill people everywhere. These are barbarians, my young friends. They try to kill people for no reason, who are just walking on their land. They make various accusations against them. This is called barbarity, my friends. Be very careful all the time. All children under 18, and children under 15, when you go out, your mom or dad, should accompany you, I mean that an adult should accompany you.” [Official P.A. TV, Nov. 13, 2015] Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake habitually accuses Israel of mistreating imprisoned terrorists, referring to them as “freedom fighters” deserving not only of glory and praise, but also of the generous salaries the P.A. pays them.

It should be noted that following the violent events of September 2015 in which Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs at Israeli homes and cars in Jerusalem leading to deaths of Israelis, the use by police of low caliber Ruger .22-caliber rifles was approved by Israel’s General Attorney, Yehuda Weinstein, at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Policemen are instructed to shoot only in life-threatening situations and to aim at the rock throwers’ legs.

Israel imposes very strict supervision on its soldiers to guarantee that all laws are followed and that injuries to Palestinians, adults as well as children, are avoided, even when those Palestinians are involved in violence and terror. Every time Israeli soldiers use live fire to disperse demonstrations, there is an investigation as to the circumstances, even when no Palestinian is injured. When Palestinians are killed, there is always an external investigation as well.

Israeli law imposes up to 10 years imprisonment for throwing rocks at civilian vehicles and up to 20 years when intent to injure is proven. (Penal Code 2015, section 332A, passed in Israeli Parliament, July 21, 2015.) On Sept. 24, 2015, the Israeli Security Cabinet voted for measures against those who throw rocks and firebombs, including a minimum four-year prison sentence for adults, imprisonment for minors aged 14 to 18 and fines for parents of younger minors. The Cabinet also approved the use of live ammunition in life-threatening situations.

The full report can be at PMW website here.

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