Posted: 6/21/2018 12:36:00 PM
Author: Arutz 7 Staff
Source: This articl originally appeared on the Arutz 7 website on June 21, 2018.
PA honors murderer of 3 as role model to encourage reading
PA Education Minister uses terrorist who murdered 3 people on Jerusalem bus as symbol for 'national reading day' for children.
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Palestinian Authority has honored a murderer of 3 people as a role model for children to encourage reading, according to a report by Palestinian Media Watch
On Oct. 13, 2015, Palestinian Arab terrorists Baha Alyan and Bilal Ghanem boarded a bus in Jerusalem and attacked passengers with a gun and a knife, murdering 3 people. Alyan was shot and killed by an Israeli security guard while Ghanem was wounded and later imprisoned.
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Before deciding to become a terrorist and murder Israelis, Baha Alyan once organized a "human reading chain" in Jerusalem. Despite Alyan being a murderer, the PA is now using him as a role model to encourage reading.
In the company of Mahmoud Alyan, the father of Baha Alyan, PA Minister of Culture Ehab Bessaiso launched the "National Reading Day events" earlier this year. Referring to terrorist Alyan's reading chain in 2014, the PA minister said that because "Martyrs and prisoners" had been among the initiators of that chain, the PA Ministry of Culture has declared March 16 National Reading Day "out of loyalty to their memory and the Palestinian national struggle, and out of our absolute belief that culture is resistance":
Minister Bessaiso: "They formed the longest human reading chain around the walls of Jerusalem. This happened on March 16, 2014. Among those who initiated this chain were Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners. Therefore, and out of loyalty to their memory and the Palestinian national struggle, and out of our absolute belief that culture is resistance, we in the Ministry of Culture have decided... to declare March 16 each year National Reading Day in all the homeland's districts. This is out of loyalty to the Martyrs and to everyone that believes that culture can remain one of the central pillars of the national resistance."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 17, 2018]
The PA Ministry of Culture had invited murderer Alyan's father to speak at the event, and he also joined the minister for a group photo:
Official PA TV narrator: "In the Qalqilya and Tulkarem districts, the Directorate of Culture, together with the Tamer Institute for Community Education, organized two human chains titled "Baha Is an Idea and the Idea Will Not Die," in honor of Martyr Baha Alyan (i.e., terrorist, murdered 3)."
Director of the Directorate of Culture in the Qalqilya District Anwar Rayyan: "Our gathering today is about a human reading chain. Martyr Baha Alyan led this chain in 2015 (sic., 2014). Our clear, open, and simple message on this day and at all of our educational gatherings is that we are a people that reads, and if you want to be a people or to build a people you must read."
[Official PA TV, News, March 18, 2018]
The Directorate of Culture is a branch of the PA Ministry of Culture.
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that Palestinian universities have honored murderer Alyan with human reading chains as has Nazareth, and the Palestinian Scout Association.
The Palestinian Authority pays families of so-called Martyrs lifetime monthly grants. The base grant is 1400 shekels per month with an additional 300 for Jerusalem residents. The family of terrorist Alyan have received 1700 shekel per month since their son carried out the murder on a Jerusalem bus in October 2015, which amounts to 54,400 shekels ($15,688).
His accomplice, terrorist Ghanem, is serving 3 life sentences. By PA law, Ghanem is receiving a salary while in prison, starting at 1,700 shekels/month (1,400 in base salary, 300 supplement for Jerusalem citizens) that will reach as high as 12,300 shekels/month. Since his arrest and through May 2018, the PA has already paid him 54,400 shekels ($15,688).
The following is a longer excerpt of the article describing the event honoring murderer Alyan arranged by the PA Ministry of Culture:
Headline: "The [PA] Ministry of Culture launches the National Reading Day events"
"On behalf of the [PA] Ministry of Culture, [PA] Minister [of Culture] Ehab Bessaiso yesterday [March 16, 2018] launched the National Reading Day events at Nelson Mandela Square in Ramallah...
In his speech, Bessaiso spoke about the story of National Reading Day and it being established on March 16 each year, and said: 'Four years ago in the capital, Jerusalem, an initiative of young people began - the longest human reading chain around the walls of Jerusalem. It had many meanings and was meant to emphasize the significance of culture on the one hand, and the Arab identity of the capital in the face of the occupation's policy on the other hand. Despite all of the limitations that the occupation attempted to impose in order to prevent arriving at the walls of Jerusalem, the human chain succeeded.'
He added: 'There were children, young men, young women, men, and elderly who succeeded in arriving, and they formed the longest human reading chain around the walls of Jerusalem. This happened on March 16, 2014. Among those who initiated this chain were Martyrs (Shahids) and prisoners. Therefore, and out of loyalty to their memory and the Palestinian national struggle, and out of our absolute belief that culture is resistance, we in the Ministry of Culture have decided... to declare March 16 each year National Reading Day in all the homeland's districts. This is out of loyalty to the Martyrs and to everyone that believes that culture can remain one of the central pillars of the national resistance.' ...
Muhammad Alyan, the father of Martyr Baha Alyan - one of the most prominent of the initiators of the longest human reading chain around the walls of Jerusalem - said: 'Martyr Baha came to me. If he was here for a moment, perhaps he would be happy and smile, but he would say that Palestine is reading, and when Palestine reads, victory is certainly near. This is Baha's message and the message of the Martyrs.' He thanked the Ministry [of Culture], the [Ramallah] Municipality, and everyone that contributed to the establishment and perpetuation of the initiative, which his son the Martyr and his comrade Martyrs and prisoners launched."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 17, 2018]
