Fatah summer camp named after female terrorist Mughrabi, who led killing of 37 in bus hijacking

Governor of Jericho:

Mughrabi must be a "beacon" for young Palestinians

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7156

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Fatah has named a summer camp for youth "Sisters of Dalal Mughrabi," after female terrorist Dalal Mughrabi. In 1978, Mughrabi led the most lethal terror attack in Israel's history, in which 37 civilians were killed, 12 of them children. The Governor of the Jericho district said to participants in the summer camp that Mughrabi and others who "sacrificed" "should be a beacon for us in our activities."

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is also head of Fatah.

The camp was cosponsored by the Women's Association of Qalqilya and the Farmer's Association.

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA glorifies Mughrabi by naming events and places after her. Summer camps and tournaments have been named after her, as have teams and groups in camps. One such summer camp with a Dalal Mughrabi group was sponsored by PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad last year. Music videos honoring her and her terror attack have been broadcast on official PA TV. PA leaders and institutions often present her as a role model for Palestinians and particularly for Palestinian youth.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has likewise glorified Dalal Mughrabi. In 2009, he provided funding for a computer center named after her. In 2010, he sponsored a "birthday party" on what would have been Mughrabi's 50th birthday. Also in 2010, the PA announced its intention to name a square in Ramallah after Mughrabi. Following a PMW report, the international community strongly condemned this, but despite the criticism, Fatah went ahead and named the square after Mughrabi. Abbas' advisor Sabri Saidam defended their right to name a square after her, saying that, "Every one of us has tried in his own way to express his pride in this Shahida [Dalal Mughrabi]."

This past March, Fatah's official Facebook page featured a poem dedicated to Mughrabi:

"This is Dalal, my eternal love...

Dalal, my mysterious young woman

My revolutionary Jihadi inspiration"

[Fatah's official Facebook page, March 22, 2012]

For more examples of the PA honoring terrorist Mughrabi, see PMW's bulletin.

 The following is the excerpt of the article in the PA daily announcing the "Sisters of Dalal" summer camp:

"The Governor of the Jericho district Majed Al-Fatiani said that it is our national obligation to be faithful to those before us who gave and sacrificed for Palestine, and they should be a beacon for us in our activities and in guarding the achievements and capabilities of our people. This was said during a meeting at the Jericho district headquarters with the young women participating in the "Sisters of Dalal Mughrabi" summer camp from the Qalqilya district... The director of the summer camp, Lana Nazzal, stated that the summer camp is organized by the Fatah movement, with the cooperation of the Women's Association of Qalqilya and the Farmer's Association, and that the camp is meant for youth between the ages of 16-30."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 16, 2012]