The Palestinian Authority’s education ministry marked the anniversary of the Coastal Road Massacre by once again glorifying Dalal Mughrabi, the female terrorist who led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history in which 37 Israelis were murdered, among them 12 children. P.A. officials participating in the event stated that “Palestinian children are determined to continue on the path, with the same certain steps, towards the realization of the national rights.”
PMW can reveal that this year, the P.A. ministry of education arranged the “Dalal Mughrabi Sports Festival” at the Beitunia Upper Elementary School for Girls in South Ramallah, and participating girls wore shirts featuring the image of the murderer and the text “Dalal Mughrabi Festival.”
She also praised Palestinian women for having “brought children into the world, fought and built glory that will not be erased,” indicating that murderer Mughrabi had created lasting “glory.”
This is not the first sports event glorifying murderer Mughrabi at a P.A. school. Palestinian Media Watch documented that a basketball game for high school girls was named after Dalal Mughrabi in 2016.
Another Palestinian move is the preparation of a square named after her in the Ramallah district, which has been under way since 2010, when PMW first reported on it. Currently, the murderer’s sister is working with Abbas’s Fatah movement to have the square officially inaugurated.
Nan Jacques Zilberdik, senior analyst at PMW is unsurprised by this latest P.A. event. She comments: “This is just one more example of how far the P.A. is prepared to go to indoctrinate and abuse their own children. The P.A. has turned Dalal Mughrabi, the most notorious female Palestinian terrorist in their history, into a celebrated hero and role model, with schools, summer camps and sports tournaments named after her.”
She continued, saying, “When teenage girls parade at a sporting event named after a murderer wearing shirts showing the face of the murderer, who was only a little older than they are when she killed 37 Israelis, what conclusion will these girls be able to reach other than to aspire to be like her? Rather than participating in dialog and peace-building initiatives that teach mutual respect and understanding, Palestinian kids are taught to hate and kill, and ultimately, to follow Dalal Mughrabi’s ‘path’ and die as ‘martyrs.’
“When the P.A. chooses to glorify terrorist murderers in this way, what hope is there for peace?”