It has emerged this week that a Palestinian Authority sports tournament for children has been named after two terrorists who attempted to murder Israelis in October.
According to a Palestinian Media Watch report, official PA school, the Al-Rashideen High School for Boys, held a tennis tournament named after terrorists Basel and Farouq Sidr, and several teams in the tournament were also named after Palestinians who either murdered or attempted to murder Israelis in the last two months.
Basel Sidr, 19, attempted to stab an Israeli border policeman near Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on the 14th October 2015 and was shot and killed by police while trying to escape. Farouq Sidr planned to stab Israeli soldiers in Hebron on 29th October 2015, and soldiers saw him approaching with a knife in hand and shot and killed him.
Last week, Palestinian Media Watch reported that another Palestinian school honoured another terrorist, by naming a football tournament after him. The person in question was Ahmad Manasrah, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who stabbed two Israelis along with his cousin Hassan Manasrah. The Palestinian Authority (PA) national daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, reported on 23 November that a Palestinian school had named the tournament: ‘The Ahmad Manasrah Football Tournament’.
Ahmad was shot and injured by Israeli police as he tried to escape after stabbing two young Israelis in Jerusalem. PA President Mahmoud Abbas wrongly claimed that Ahmad was killed by Israeli police, referring to “the summary execution of our children in cold blood, as [Israel] did with the child Ahmad Manasra and other children in Jerusalem and other places” in a televised address last month. He received widespread criticism for this as Manasrah was in fact being treated for his injuries at Israel’s Hadassah Medical Centre.
The PA has named at least 25 schools and dozens of sporting events after terrorists, glorifying killers and presenting them in a positive light. In October, a Palestinian Authority street was named after a Palestinian terrorist responsible for killing two Israelis.
In October, CFI’s Parliamentary Chairman, Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles MP, and CFI’s Parliamentary Officers, wrote a letter that was published in The Times calling on the British Government to tackle Palestinian incitement. The letter stated: “The attacks have been encouraged by continuing incitement by senior Palestinian officials. For years, Conservative parliamentarians and Conservative Friends of Israel have called on the British Government to tackle this Palestinian incitement. Enough is enough. Inaction and silence has led us to this dark place”.
