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The "Good" Palestinian Rejects Israel By: Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
Palestinian Media Watch | Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, addressing the Palestinian Youth Parliament last week, rejected Israel's identity as a Jewish state, mocking the idea. Bringing the audience to smiles and cheers, Abbas said with a grin that as far as he is concerned Israel can call itself "the Zionist Republic, the Hebrew, the National, [or] the Socialist [Republic]."

(Note: PMW released part of Abbas' statement last week, without the video.)

To view Abbas' statement, click here

The following is the transcript:

"The 'Jewish state.' What is a 'Jewish state?' We call it, the 'State of Israel'. You can call yourselves whatever you want. But I will not accept it. And I say this on a live broadcast... It's not my job to define it, to provide a definition for the state and what it contains. You can call yourselves the Zionist Republic, the Hebrew, the National, the Socialist [Republic] call it whatever you like. I don't care."

[PA TV, Apr. 27, 2009]

Itamar Marcus is the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch. He was appointed by the Israeli government to be the Israeli representative (communication specialist) to the Trilateral (Israeli-American-Palestinian) Anti-Incitement Committee established under the Wye Accords. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Marcus served as research director of the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, writing reports on PA, Syrian, and Jordanian schoolbooks. He holds a BA in political science from City College of New York and an MA in Hebrew culture from New York University. Barbara Crook is associate director and North American representative of Palestinian Media Watch. She teaches at the School of Journalism and Communications at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She holds an Honors BA in English literature from Queen's University, an MA in journalism from the University of Western Ontario, and is a Southam Fellow at the University of Toronto.

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