Al-Quds Open University Holds Ceremony Commemorating Yasser Arafat: Tell Them With Bullets, Not Words: Jerusalem Is Arab Alone!

On November 19, 2022, Awda TV (Palestinian Authority) aired a ceremony held by Al-Quds Open University in the West Bank city of Ramallah commemorating the 18th anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death. At the ceremony, an emcee praised Fatah and all its related Palestinian factions throughout history, and he said: "Oh brigades of Abu Ammar [i.e. Yasser Arafat]! Tell them with bullets, not words, that Jerusalem is Arab alone!" Hussein Hamayel, a Fatah spokesman who also serves as the director of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh branch of Al-Quds Open University, also spoke at the ceremony, and he praised the Palestinian "martyrs" and prisoners.

Emcee: "Oh brigades of honor and glory! Oh brigades of truth! Oh loyal and proud brigades of Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat]! Oh sheath of the dagger, oh love of the gun! Oh brigades of Abu Ammar! Tell them with bullets, not words, that Jerusalem is Arab and Arab alone!"

Female Speaker: "Fatah is our youth, to whom the righteous and honorable people look to."

Male Speaker: "From among them emerged the fedayeen groups, starting with the Al-'Asifah forces, and including the Black Panthers, and the Masked Lion [i.e. jailed terrorist Nasar Abu Hmeid],

Male and Female Speaker: "And culminating with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and its fighting cells, the panthers of the [Al-Aqsa Martyrs'] Brigades, the knights of the night."

Hussein Hamayel: "When we commemorate this anniversary — these children, youths, and the elderly - you can rest assured that this idea has endured and will endure. Today, Fatah in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip is conducting these astounding rallies in order to convey a message: We do not 'remember' our martyrs.

"Rather, they are always with us. We are sending a message — first and foremost to the enemy, but also to those who neglect this tremendous [Palestinian] cause. After more than 74 years, we keep going. How could we not do that? They killed us, but we turned [our dead] into martyrs who receive sustenance from their Lord, not merely dead people, as the occupation would like them to be. We turned our prisoners into ideological schools.

"In the previous graduation ceremony, [jailed terrorist Naser Abu Hmeid] graduated, that bold hero who - for as long as he lives — and we ask Allah to make his life long,  and even after he becomes a martyr - will remain a curse — for all those neglect [the Palestinian cause]. The heroic fight Naser Abu Hmeid - to whom we send our admiring salute - has graduated."