Children are easy victims of misinformation and bias – a fact that has become more than obvious at a library event that, as of this writing, has been temporarily postponed.
The event to be held in Highland Park, NJ was to feature author Golbarg Bashi and her book titled “P is for Palestine.” Set for this past Sunday at the Highland Park Public Library, it was shut down due to a torrent of complaints.
The self-published 2017 book offers a virtual vocabulary of Palestinian words aimed at disparaging Israel and Jews, according to NJ.com. A Library Board of Trustee meeting in June will decide whether or not to go forward with the reading.
For instance, children at the event would have heard that “I is for Intifada.” Bashi, an Iranian-American and one-time professor at Rutgers University professor, says “Intifada” is a peaceful term, which is not true. “The word’s literal definition is “tremor,” “shuddering” or “shaking off.” Intifada also is the word for the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and ensuing acts of violence between Palestinians and Israelis since 1987. Thousands have died,” reported mycentraljersey.com.
The illustration that accompanies that entry shows a young girl being hugged by her dad near a barbed wire fence. “Their arms are raised in the “V for victory” stance. The “M” page also raised eyebrows as the women and children drawn on the page are flying kites. Often, Palestinians have flown “kite bombs” into Israel,” the web site pointed out.
The author said during an interview with ABC7NY that her book is “about children who basically have no books written about them in English in this country.”
Using children as propaganda tools or worse is not new. Only this month, horrifying video footage of Muslim kids saying they would sacrifice themselves and kill for the “army of Allah” surfaced from an Islamic center in Philadelphia.
“The Muslim American Society (MAS) Islamic Center in Philadelphia posted the video to its Facebook page celebrating “Ummah Day” in which young children wearing Palestinian scarves sang and read poetry about killing for Allah and the mosque in Jerusalem,” Fox News reported.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) said in a statement that “These are not isolated incidents; they are happening in major centers of the country – including in Pennsylvania,” MEMRI said in a statement.
In the video, which was translated into English by MEMRI, children can be heard singing: “The land of the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey is calling us. Our Palestine must return to us.”
