by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
The Palestinian Authority’s leading Fatah faction, heading by Mahmoud Abbas, posted the below cartoon on Facebook, depicting British Prime Minister Theresa May with a pig’s snout and carrying a Star of David, in response to her statement in British Parliament defending the Balfour Declaration.
Prime Minister May said that Britain is “proud of the role that we played in the creation of the State of Israel, and we will certainly mark the centenary with pride.”
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that PA educators, religious leaders and even children’s programs have referred to Jews as “apes and pigs.” Drawing British PM May as a pig holding the Star of David may be the PA’s way of saying that by defending the Balfour Declaration, and thereby expressing support for a Jewish State, May herself becomes like a Jew.
Text in capital letters in English: “CHILD KILLERS”.
Text in Arabic: “Theresa May: ‘We are proud of our role in the establishment of Israel.'”
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Nov. 2, 2017]
The official PA daily printed a cartoon showing PM May drinking a glass of Arab blood.
Text: “Theresa May celebrates our blood”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 1, 2017]
Fatah’s post presenting British PM May as a pig included a letter written by “the children of Palestine,” demanding that “British Prime Minister Theresa Mary May apologize to all of the Palestinians throughout the world.”
Another Fatah cartoon showed Orthodox Jews carrying Israeli flags together with armed Israeli soldiers walking from “Europe” to “Palestine” through a tunnel formed by a rolled parchment marked with “the Balfour Declaration,” the number “100,” and the British flag. The ultra-Orthodox Jews and Israeli soldiers, including an Israeli soldier in a tank with the Israeli flag, exit the tunnel into “Palestine,” shooting at fleeing Arabs, among whom several are seen lying dead in pools of blood. Posted text: “#Balfour100” [Official Fatah Facebook page, Nov. 2, 2017]
Palestinian Media Watch documented numerous of statements by PA and Fatah leaders on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, such as the “ominous promise” being “the greatest crime in the history of mankind.”
Fatah also posted a black flag with the text “Dawn (sic., down) With Balfour Declaration” written on it in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. In Arabic, “Promise” is written instead of “Declaration.” Posted text: “#Balfour” [Official Fatah Facebook page, Nov. 1, 2017]
The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty’s government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate “responsible for putting into effect the declaration,” which led to the UN vote in 1947 and the establishment of the State of Israel.
The following is the text accompanying Fatah’s cartoon depicting British PM May as a pig:
“52 words for Theresa
‘To Theresa May, we as the children of Palestine strongly reject the issuing of the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration), your renewed commitment, the fact that you are proud of the role you fulfilled in the establishment of the State of Israel, and your intention to celebrate this 100th anniversary. Therefore, we demand that British Prime Minister Theresa Mary May apologize to all of the Palestinians throughout the world.’
These are the words that the children of Palestine wrote in English in a letter that one of the female students read [aloud] on the grounds of the al-Fathimiyah Girls High School in Nablus while wearing the Palestinian [national] garment and a keffiyeh (i.e., Arab headdress).”
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Nov. 2, 2017]