PA: Israel spreads drugs to destroy Palestinian society

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7037

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

One day after Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi was condemned internationally for saying that Jews and their Talmud are responsible for international drug trafficking, no less than five articles in the official PA daily cited different Palestinian Authority officials accusing Israel of having a policy to disseminate drugs among Palestinian youth.

The Governor of Jericho said that Israel "is encouraging and turning a blind eye to [drug] dealers and their efforts to distribute drugs, through a systematic policy to destroy Palestinian society, targeting the youth."

The District Governor of Jenin said Israel "seeks to harm the Palestinian people and to destroy it and its national enterprise [through drugs] as a continuation of its Zionist enterprise."

The District Governor of Ramallah spoke about the drug problem, mentioning Israel's "efforts to humiliate our youth, to break their willpower, and to distance them from their [Palestinian] cause and their principles, by spreading drugs among them" and emphasized that "the occupation does not hesitate to exercise all forms of control over our youth, using dirty and inhuman methods."

This is not the first time that Israel has been accused by the PA of intentionally spreading drugs. Advisor to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has claimed that Israel "spreads prostitution and drugs" among Arab residents of Jerusalem. [PA TV (Fatah), June 23, 2010]

The PA has also accused Israel of spreading AIDS among Palestinians:

Similarly, at a seminar about drugs organized by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the head of the Palestinian Authority's drug fighting agency said:

"This plague [AIDS] is a political problem which is nurtured by Israel."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 24, 2010]

The official PA daily reported that a Health Ministry official blamed Israel for the spread of AIDS among Palestinians:

"Director of Public Health in the Health Ministry, Dr. Assad Ramlawi... [said that] 'the reason for the spread [of AIDS] is the growth in the phenomenon of drug use, considered one of the principle ways of passing on this disease...' He noted that the occupation (i.e., Israel) is an influential factor in the spread of these diseases."

 [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 9, 2011]

 

Palestinian Media Watch has reported repeatedly that the Palestinian Authority has a policy of disseminating libels and lies to accuse Israel of scheming to destroy Palestinian society and its holy places.

Other ongoing PA libels include:

Israel murdered Arafat

Israel seeks to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israel steals organs from Palestinians

Israel carries out Nazi-like experiments on prisoners

Israel seeks to rid Jerusalem of non-Jews

Israel murders and poisons

Israel imitates Holocaust crimes

The following are the five Palestinian statements that falsely accuse Israel of spreading drug abuse among Palestinian youth:

"District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh, Laila Ghannam... noted that her meeting with [Giampaolo Cantini, the Italian] General Consul, is taking place on the International Day against Drug Abuse, which requires that we remind the world and call its attention to the occupation's (i.e., Israel's) efforts to humiliate our youth, to break their willpower, and to distance them from their [Palestinian] cause and their principles, by spreading drugs among them... She emphasized that the occupation does not hesitate to exercise all forms of control over our youth, using dirty and inhuman methods."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012]

"Social worker Sonia Diba held the Israeli occupation responsible for the fact that residents of Jerusalem are falling 'victim to drugs, because [Israel] distributes huge quantities of them, in addition to the increasing unemployment and the lack of centers and institutions in Jerusalem to absorb the children and adolescent youth, causing them to turn to drugs, which are distributed with the aid of the occupation and its branches."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012]

"A seminar was held yesterday... under the slogan, "Pay attention! Say 'no' to drugs"... Governor of Jericho and the [Jordan] Valley district, Majed Al-Fatiani, said in the opening address that the Israeli occupation is encouraging and turning a blind eye to [drug] dealers and their efforts to distribute drugs, through a systematic policy to destroy Palestinian society, targeting the youth."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012]

"Ramallah and El-Bireh district governor, Laila Ghannam, said that the spread of the plague of drugs is a deliberate act by the Israeli occupation, which is trying to harm the younger generation of Palestinians, upon whom we are relying to achieve our legitimate aim - the establishment of a Palestinian state."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012]

"The Jenin district held a seminar yesterday, sponsored by the district governor, Talal Dweikat... to mark the opening of the International Week against Drug Abuse, under the slogan, 'Yes to life, no to drugs.' Dweikat emphasized that it is important to unify the efforts of the official and popular institutions in order to deal with this plague, which is dangerous for our society, especially since the Israeli occupation is not satisfied with occupation of Palestinian land, but also seeks to harm the Palestinian people and to destroy it and its national enterprise, as a continuation of its Zionist enterprise."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 27, 2012]