Palestinian School Names Basketball Game after Terrorist—With EU Funding

A Palestinian Authority (PA) school has hosted a basketball game named for a terrorist and mass murderer.

According to Palestinian Media Watch, a non-profit organization that translates Arab media in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), the Gaza Strip and eastern Jerusalem, the Al-Awael School for Girls hosted a “Dalal Mughrabi Cup” basketball game.

Mughrabi was a Palestinian Arab terrorist responsible for the 1978 Coastal Road massacre, in which 38 civilians (including 13 children and an American photographer) were murdered and 71 wounded. She was killed by Israeli security forces while conducting the attack.

The Al-Awael School for Girls is overseen by the PA Ministry of Education. The Al-Razi Cultural and Social Association, a Palestinian non-governmental organization (NGO), co-organized the “Dalal Mughrabi Cup.” PMW notes that “this NGO is a member of the Networks program under the Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF).” ALF is “‘an inter-governmental institution’ established under EUROMED, an organization consisting of the 28 EU [European Union] member states and 15 Southern Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern countries.”

Mughrabi has been glorified in Palestinian Arab society for the Coastal Road massacre. As CAMERA has noted, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has praised Mughrabi (“Where’s the Coverage? Abbas is No Angel,” May 20, 2015).

PMW pointed out that in October 2013, the PA named a table tennis tournament after Mughrabi. That decision was made under Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of the Fatah Central Committee and head of the PA Olympic Committee. Rajoub himself—called “moderate” by some in the press—has described Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israelis, including women and children, “acts of bravery (“‘Moderate’ Palestinian Leaders Encourage Shedding Tears for Terrorists,” CAMERA, Dec. 2, 2015).”

PMW reports that 25 Palestinian schools have been named after terrorists.

A fellow terrorist who helped Mughrabi organize the Coastal Road massacre, Khalil al-Wazir (aka Abu Jihad), also has been honored by Palestinian officials and society. As a CAMERA Op-Ed noted, Al Quds University in Jerusalem hosts the Abu Jihad Museum (“Omissions that distort the truth,” The Hill, May 28, 2015). Like ALF, Al-Quds University receives EU funding, in addition to support from the United Nations and a partnership with an American university, Bard College in New York.

PMW’s report on the “Dalal Mughrabi Cup” can be found here. A listing of the use of sports by Palestinian officials to commemorate terrorists can be found here.