This comprehensive PMW report documents that Jibril Rajoub has consistently supported terror and even incited to murder. The report includes documentation of Rajoub's support for attacks
during the recent terror wave (2015-2016); his use of his title as Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee when glorifying terror; and his prohibiting Palestinians from participating in peacebuilding sports activities with Israelis.
As an overt supporter of Palestinian terrorism, Rajoub represents the antithesis of Olympic values. At a time when terror is being fought throughout the world, permitting Rajoub to participate in Olympic Committee activities and events disgraces the International Olympic Committee and the entire Olympics community.
The following is the introduction and conclusion to PMW's report:
July 27, 2016
PMW Special Report
The Jibril Rajoub File
Jibril Rajoub, Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee
- Promotes and glorifies Palestinian terror and incites murder of Israelis
- Uses his title as Olympic committee chairman while glorifying terror
- Prohibits using sports for peacebuilding
- Violates the fundamental Olympic principles
PMW is calling on the International Olympic Committee to:
- Demand Mr. Rajoub's removal from the position of Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee
- Ban Mr. Rajoub from participating in any activities related to the International Olympic Committee, as well as meetings and events of the national Olympic Committees
- Prohibit Mr. Rajoub from using the title "Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee"
- Demand the appointment of a new Palestinian chairman who rejects terror, upholds Olympic values, and facilitates peacebuilding through sports
by Itamar Marcus and PMW staff
Contents:
Introduction
Part 1: Rajoub promoted Palestinian terror and incited to murder during the 2015-2016 terror wave
Part 2: Rajoub uses his title as Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee when promoting terror
Part 3: Rajoub has consistently promoted terror
Part 4: Rajoub and the Palestine Olympic Committee prohibit using sports as a bridge for peace between Palestinians and Israelis
Part 5: Palestinian Media Watch's letter to Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of the International Olympic Committee, Mrs. Pâquerette Girard Zappelli calling for disciplinary actions Rajoub
Conclusion
IntroductionOn October 3, 2015, Palestinian terrorist Muhannad Halabi attacked an Israeli family on their way to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Halabi first stabbed the father to death and then stabbed and killed another Israeli man who tried to help the family. Halabi then stabbed and injured the mother and the two-year-old baby before he was shot and killed by police.
Just a month later, Jibril Rajoub, in his capacity of Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, decided to honor Halabi's act of murder by naming a sporting event after him. The text on the banner of the event, which also showed two pictures of the murderer Halabi, displayed Rajoub's decision to endorse the brutal killing:
"Under patronage of the leader Jibril Rajoub,
head of the Palestine Olympic Committee.
Palestine Cup - Martyr Muhannad Halabi Table Tennis Tournament 2015"
Rajoub's decision to honor this terrorist murderer was not an exception but is typical of Rajoub, who is an outspoken terror supporter, even while using his title as Palestine Olympic Committee Chairman. During the wave of Palestinian terror attacks in 2015-2016, which was characterized by hundreds of terrorist stabbings, shootings and car rammings, Rajoub was a leading supporter of the terror, publicly "blessing" terrorist murderers on TV and "encouraging" them to kill more Israelis.Rajoub's incitement to murder was calculated and precise, defining some targets while rejecting others, leaving Palestinians no room to question the sincerity of his call to murder Israelis. For example, he rejected suicide bombings on busses in Tel Aviv because: "The international community does not agree to a bus exploding in Tel Aviv," and stated that "we want to fight in a way that the world and the international community will remain by our side." [Official PA TV, Oct. 17, 2015] Kill Israelis in a politically acceptable fashion, so the "international community will remain by our side," was Rajoub's explicit call to murder.
In addition to his role as chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee, Rajoub holds the titles of Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee (headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas), Chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, and Head of the Supreme Council for Sport and Youth. In these roles, Rajoub not only supports terror and murder of civilians, he actively counters the spirit of Olympic sports by prohibiting peacebuilding sports activities between Palestinians and Israelis. Following the 2014 Gaza War, Rajoub condemned a successful peacebuilding event between Israeli and Palestinian youth sponsored by the Peres Center for Peace as a "crime against humanity."
This report documents Rajoub's support for and glorification of terror with examples over a period of several years. It exemplifies that his terror promotion and incitement to murder during the 2015-2016 Palestinian terror wave was not an exception, but reflects his fundamental ideology as a terror supporter and opponent of peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
Rajoub's statements and activities are diametrically opposed to the positive values that the Olympic Games stand for, among them "to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace."
As the 2016 Olympic Games approach, it is unthinkable that a person who glorifies and encourages murder of civilians should disgrace the Olympics by serving as a recognized Olympic official.
Palestinian Media Watch calls on the International Olympic Committee to
- Demand Mr. Rajoub's removal from the position of Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee
- Ban Mr. Rajoub from participating in any activities related to the International Olympic Committee, as well as meetings and events of the national Olympic Committees
- Prohibit Mr. Rajoub from using the title "Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee"
- Demand the appointment of a new Palestinian chairman who rejects terror, upholds Olympic values, and facilitates peacebuilding through sports
Taking these steps would show that the International Olympic Committee rejects Rajoub's glorification of Palestinian terror, and reaffirm its commitment to the fundamental Olympic goal to use sports as a bridge to peace. Permitting Rajoub to participate in activities related to the Olympic Committee, when he cheers Palestinian terrorists for murdering innocent Israeli civilians, brings disgrace on the International Olympic Committee, its members, and the 2016 Olympic Games.
Conclusion
The Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of the International Olympic Committee, Pâquerette Girard Zappelli, wrote in a response to a complaint over Jibril Rajoub's terror glorification that Rajoub is acceptable to the International Olympic Committee because the complaint was based on documentation that was two years old or more, and because Rajoub had not used his title as Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee when glorifying terror. Further it was stated, that the International Olympic Committee "understood" that the Palestine Olympic Committee, headed by Rajoub, is working to "improve relations between the two countries [PA and Israel] through sport."
This PMW report shows that the International Olympic Committee is completely misinformed and that there is no justification for not taking disciplinary measures against Rajoub. This PMW report documents unequivocally that Jibril Rajoub, today and in the past, promotes terror and incites murder, and that he does so using his title as Chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee. In addition, Rajoub absolutely rejects building peace through sports activities with Israelis.
Allowing overt terror supporter Jibril Rajoub to remain in any position connected to the Olympics and to use the title as chairman of an Olympic committee dishonors the Olympic Games and makes a mockery of the Olympic principles.
