At a ceremony sponsored by Arafat, Othman Abu Gharbiya, head of the Palestinian 'National Guidance Directorate,’ awarded the 'Kan’an prize to poets, novelists and painters and responded to Israel accusations regarding incitement in the PA media:
"They [the Israelis] talk about [our] incitement and want to kill our people's spirit and erase our heritage, our truths, our history, and our people. [But] the spirit of our people lies in those national inciters and in our hate of the invaders and the invasion [of our land.] We shall not sell out the spirit of the people of Palestine. We understand incitement as meaning a call to violence against innocents [only] but not against others [who are not innocent.]"
"We are right to believe," Abu Gharbiya also said, "that the rifle is a means of life and not death..." [1]
Anti-Semitism from Islamic Jihad
An editorial in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad weekly, Al-Istiqlal, described the nature of the Jews: "The nature of the Jews is reflected in their hostile behavior. They were made of treachery and deceit and were marked by perfidy and treason. They rebelled [against God’s orders] in evil and fornication and often unjustly killed prophets [who were sent to them.] They stole people’s fortunes in false [claims.] Their love of life and of money pushed them to collect illegal usury. They were, also, in a constant state of conflict and continuous aggression driven by the evil rooted in the depths of their souls and their pressing desire to accumulate money in order to satisfy their unrestrained passions toward evil and in order to satiate their inclination to destruction."[2]
Islamic Jihad Honors a Suicide Bomber
In a weekly section dedicated to the commemoration of suicide bombers and other 'martyrs’ the Palestinian Islamic Jihad weekly tells the story of "the living martyr" and "the commander of the knives uprising" Khaled Al-J’eidy.[3]
J’eidy's acts of stabbing civilians are praised in great detail and the most heroic style. It is also stressed that he never regretted his deeds and considered them as acts of Martyrdom [Shahada] and Jihad. "When we speak about a jihad warrior such as Khaled Al J’eidy the pen trembles in one’s hand and one feels that as much as he speaks of him, he will not be able to pay him [the jihad warrior] the honor that he deserves…"
The article continues, "Already at the age of 20 ignited the 'revolution of the knives’ in 1985. Belief [in Allah] gushed in his heart and his love of martyrdom in the cause of Allah was the highest of his desires. He knew with certainty that martyrdom is the key to paradise…"
Al-J’eidy came forth with his strong belief, with a calm spirit [with] uncommon bravery, and unshaken belief…and when he saw a group of Jewish settlers [he] pounced like a tiger on one of them and stabbed him several times until he fell, slain on the ground…"
"Khaled Al-J’eidy continues to search for Zionists for five hours…until he came across a car [known by its white license plate to be an Israeli car]. He stood in front of its driver, screamed "Allah Akhbar" [Allah is great] and stabbed him several times and killed him…"
"This is how Khaled Al-J’eidy ignited the 'revolution of knives’ with his belief and courage, in order, to outline for his brothers after him…the path of jihad with the weapon of deep belief and dedicated action."
