Signs of co-existence and reconciliation in PA daily newspaper

From a PMW Bulletin, 11 Oct 2010, by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik:

Last week a fire was set to carpets and copies of the Quran inside a mosque near Bethlehem. In a positive move, the PA official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida gave prominent first page coverage to the solidarity visit of Israeli "settler rabbis" and "dozens of settler-supporters of peace" who came to the mosque to express condemnation of the arson. The PA daily published a picture of the visit and reported that the rabbis brought new copies of the Quran to replace the burned copies.

Rabbi Fruman of Israeli town of Tekoa hands copy of Quran to Palestinian in mosque.

In another positive note, two days later the same PA daily showed a picture of Israeli - Palestinian coexistence by publishing a picture of a Palestinian harvesting his olives to the accompaniment of an Israeli sitting right next to him under the tree playing his guitar.

Settler from Kiryat Arba plays his guitar while a [Palestinian] resident gathers the olive harvest.

The following are texts from two articles in the official PA daily giving prominence to the rabbis' visit:

"Yesterday, a delegation of Jewish religious leaders visited the town of Beit Fajar and examined the destruction caused by the fire two days ago. They emphasized that the Jewish religion is innocent of the perpetrators.... Bethlehem District Governor, Abd Al-Fatah Hamail, received the delegation inside the mosque, and said that the Palestinian side appreciates the visit... The delegation of rabbis emphasized that the aim of their visit to the town of Beit Fajar was to express solidarity with the residents and with the Muslims of Palestine.... They emphasized that they seek peace and justice..."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 6, 2010]

"Six settler rabbis conducted a solidarity visit to the village of Beit Fajar, near Bethlehem, bringing with them copies of the Quran. Dozens of settler-supporters of peace and hundreds of Palestinians, expressing solidarity, gathered to receive them at the entrance of the village. ...Rabbi Menahem Fruman said: 'This land is the land of peace...'" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 6, 2010]