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Palestinian Authority Indoctrinates Children: Israel Shouldn’t Exist, Balfour Declaration Was ‘Satan’s Promise’
The opening of a hall that the Palestinian Authority named for a terrorist who killed 125 people. Photo: Palestinian Media Watch.
Marking the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration — which declared that the British government “views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” — the Palestinian Authority (PA) stressed its belief that Israel has no right to exist in any borders.
The PA presents the establishment of Israel as “theft” and the Balfour Declaration, the letter from British Foreign Secretary Balfour to Baron Rothschild, as “the ominous promise,” through which “one who has no ownership” — i.e., Britain — “gave a promise to one who has no right” — i.e., the Jews.
This message is taught to Palestinian schoolchildren throughout the year, and the PA Ministry of Education makes sure to particularly emphasize it on the November 2 anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
During a school event commemorating “the ominous promise,” young school children held signs and Palestinian flags. One sign read “Satan’s promise”:
Text on yellow sign: “Satan’s Promise
Nov. 2, 1917”
Text on pink sign: “Lod [i.e., an Israeli city]”[PA Ministry of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
The anniversary of the Balfour Declaration also serves as the perfect opportunity to emphasize the PA’s antisemitic ideology.
The Palestinian antisemitic explanation for the Balfour’s Declaration is that Britain led the initiative to create a state for the Jews so they could “get rid of them,” because the Jews “tried to take control of the economy … in most of the European states”:
Palestinian Writers’ Union General Secretariat member Talal Abu Afifa: “These Jews, ever since they arrived in Britain in the 18th century… at the start of the 20th century, they began to constitute a problem for Britain. Especially because the Jews, wherever they settle, they try to take control of the country’s economy and wealth. When the Zionists in Britain began to do this, bitterness and complaints began from the civilians, economists, and statesmen, that the Jews are attempting to take control of Britain. They did this not just in Britain, but in most of the European states…”
Official PA TV host: “Indeed, wherever they arrived destruction followed.”
Talal Abu Afifa:: Therefore, Britain thought about how it would get rid of the Jews [and issued the Balfour Declaration].” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, In Memory, Nov. 2, 2024]
A retired PA Security Forces Maj. Gen. repeated another part of the PA’s narrative regarding the establishment of Israel in general: That it was, and still is, part of a “colonialist project”:
PA Security Forces Maj. Gen. (ret.) and national security expert Ahmed Issa: “Israel is the only state that was not established by its people on its land. It was established through theft, and it is a product of a large colonialist project led by the colonialist states under the leadership of Britain.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Israel in the News, Oct. 28, 2024]
Along with the colonialist conspiracy theory, the PA sees the Balfour Declaration as marking the West’s submission to “the desires of global Zionism”:
The Balfour Declaration’ was tantamount to the West’s first step on the path to establishing an entity for the Jews on the land of Palestine, while acceding to the desires of global Zionism at the expense of a people that has been planted in this land for thousands of years … The Jews succeeded in exploiting this piece of paper of [then British Foreign Secretary] Arthur Balfour … to realize their dream, and on May 15, 1948, Israel was established. [emphasis added]
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Nov. 2, 2024]
As mentioned above, the PA actively reinforces the message to children in PA schools — that Israel has no right to exist in any borders — and uses the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration to reinforce it.
The PA Ministry of Education posted additional photos from school events, “rejecting and condemning the ominous promise”:
Posted text: “The adults will die and the young will not forget.
As a sign of rejecting the ominous Balfour Promise and an expression of the importance of preserving the national memory and affiliation among our students, activities were held condemning this ominous promise on the radio this morning [Nov. 3, 2024].
#The_Balfour_Promise”
Children kneel to form the PA map of “Palestine” that presents all of Israel together with the PA areas as “Palestine” with their bodies.
They are wearing red, black, white, and green shirts and form the Palestinian flag, indicating Palestinian sovereignty over the entire Israel, thereby presenting a world without Israel.
Text on sign: “The Balfour Promise was given by one with no ownership to one with no right”
Text on sign in center: “The Balfour Promise is null and will be nullified”
Text on paper: “The ominous Balfour Promise”
[PA Ministry of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
In a video posted by the South Hebron Directorate of Education — a branch of the PA Ministry of Education — a schoolgirl appears with the PA map of “Palestine” that includes all of Israel in the colors of the Palestinian flag painted on her face.
The text posted by the Directorate of Education stresses that the activity was connected to “the ominous Balfour Promise”:
Posted text: “The participation of female student Sham Lafi Al-Haroub from the Beit Shean Elementary School for Girls in the South Hebron Directorate of Education (i.e., branch of the PA Ministry of Education) in commemorating the anniversary of the ominous Balfour Promise”
[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
School events marking the anniversary of “the ominous Balfour Promise” were held in PA schools:
Posted text: “Pictures from the schools of the South Hebron Directorate of Education during school radio activities, which were dedicated today, Sunday, [Nov. 3, 2024,] to talking about the anniversary of the ominous Balfour Declaration (see note below -Ed.).
#The_Balfour_Promise (i.e., Declaration)”Text on girl’s sign: “We will not forget the ominous promise
The Balfour Promise
Which was given by one who has no ownership to one who has no right
Nov. 2, 1917”[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
Text on sign: “The [Balfour] Promise is null and the [Palestinian refugees’] right of return is what is legal”
Text on sign: “The Balfour Promise to steal a homeland”
Text on sweatshirt: “All of Palestine is my homeland
(The following is in English -Ed.) Free Palestine”[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
Fatah’s magazine for children, Waed, stated in their November 2024 issue that the Palestinians issued their declaration of independence in 1988 in Algeria as a response to the Balfour Declaration to “nullify everything that resulted from the Balfour Declaration.” In other words, elimination of Israel:
“The PLO — the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people — declared the establishment of the State of Palestine on Nov. 15, 1986 (sic., 1988) in Algeria. This declaration came 70 (sic., 71) years after the Balfour Declaration to emphasize the Palestinian people’s determination to liberate Palestine and nullify all that has happened as a result of the Balfour Declaration.” [emphasis added]
[Waed Magazine, Issue 45, November 2024]
Palestinian Media Watch has exposed many other problematic and dangerous messages taught to children by Fatah through its youth magazine Waed in the report Teaching Terror to Tots, and documented decades of PA’s rejection of Israel’s right to exist, which peaks on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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