AJC Calls on UN Population Fund to Dissociate From TV Campaign Glorifying Terrorist

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Feb 10, 2011, 12:24 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC called on the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to immediately dissociate itself from a television campaign on Arab television stations which glorifies a female Palestinian terrorist. In 1978, Dalal Mughrabi hijacked two buses on the road between Haifa and Tel Aviv, resulting in the murder of 38 Israelis, including 13 children.

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Mughrabi, who was killed in the attack, is one of several "model women" in the campaign, which has been broadcast on more than 50 Arab television stations, including the official channel of the Palestinian Authority. According to Palestinian Media Watch, a watchdog agency that has been monitoring the campaign, Mughrabi "was venerated in the clip as a role model for 'martyrdom' and 'victory over enmity.'"

The television campaign, billed as the "White Hands Campaign" to address women's issues, has been produced by the Arab Producers Union for TV, in cooperation with UNFPA.

"It is disgraceful, in a region scarred by systematic discrimination against women, that a terrorist like Mughrabi should be held up as a role model for women," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "The UN Population Fund has done a lot to empower women, and thus should immediately disassociate itself from this TV campaign glorifying terrorism."

In March 2010, after the Palestinian Authority named a Ramallah Square after Mughrabi, AJC called on the Obama Administration to condemn the action, which occurred while Vice President Biden was visiting the region.

"As long as a terrorist like Mughrabi occupies a place in the pantheon of Arab heroes, a genuine peace in the region, based on trust and mutual respect, cannot be achieved," Harris said.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee