Alameda County Supervisors Proclaim Palestinian Cultural day.

Alameda County Residents should be interested to learn that their County Supervisors are proclaiming June 5 Palestinian Cultural Day

The Text of the Proclamation follows:

WHEREAS, Palestinians trace their roots back to the historic land of Palestine and primarily speak Arabic and profess either a Christian, Jewish or Muslim faith; and

WHEREAS, Palestinian culture is presented through books, poetry, music, dance, oral history, folktales, proverbs, and handicrafts made with cross-stitch embroidery patterns that often display ethnic or regionaI identity and honor a rich cultural legacy from centuries past that are important symbols of Palestinian culture; and

WHEREAS, Palestinians have embraced for over 2,000 years core values such as love of family, commitment to education, hospitality, and reverence for land, community empowernent, strong sense ofjustice and they now share these values with the residents of Alameda County; and

WHEREAS, Palestinian residents of Alameda County now number approximately 20,000 and continue to make major contributions to the County in the fields of arts and culture, community organizing, student activism, law and medicine, and are valued members of the community as small business owners; and

WHEREAS, Palestinians living in Alameda County will hold the first annual Palestinian Cultural Day thal honors the local Palestinian community and its contributions to the County's civic life as well as the historical and cultural contributions of Palestinians throughout the world.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED that this Board of Supervisors, Counly of Alameda, Does hereby proclaim June 5, 2012 as "Palestinian Culural Day" and recognizes the contribrutions of the local Palestinian population of Alameda County residents and communities.

NATE MILEY, President
Supervisor, Fourth District

KEITH CARSON, Vice-President
Supervisor, Fifth District

SCOTT HAGGERTY
Supervisor, First District

WILMA CHAN
Supervisor, Third District

Do you have any concern about the factual elements of the proclamation? Go to the Board of Supervisors Homepage, find your county Supervisor and let them know what you think.

And in the meanwhile, when our Supervisors write about Palestinian core values, such as "love of family", lets try and avoid thinking about Reem al Rayashi

“Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”

The children of murderer Reem al Riyashi attend her funeral

In an effort to jump-start the stalled peace process, Israel returned the remains of 91 Palestinians. Most of them had been killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis. Hamas militants honored the remains with a 21-gun salute as hundreds of Palestinians waited by the roadside. The remains of Reem Al Riyashi were among those returned.



Reem al Riyashi, a Hamas operative from a wealthy family was only 22 when she approached a checkpoint in Jerusalem. Feigning illness to get through the checkpoint, she detonated her explosives, killing 4 Israelis and injured 10. She left behind two children: one 18 months, and one 3 1/2.

In her martyrdom video Reem al-Riyashi explained why she became a suicide bomber: “It was always my wish to turn my body into deadly shrapnel against the Zionists and to knock on the doors of heaven with the skulls of Zionists,”she stated. "How often I dreamed, how often I desired to carry out a Shahada-seeking [suicide] operation inside Israel, and by perseverance, and with Allah's grace, my wish was fulfilled as I wanted."

In a special broadcast of a Hamas TV children's program, Reem's two young children were invited to the TV studio to watch a video re-enactment of their mother's suicide bombing in 2004. [Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 3, 2009]. The glorification of homicide and the incitement of genocidal hatred in young Palestinian children remains deeply disturbing

From Palestinian Media Watch:



How can there ever be peace in when violence is glorified and martyrdom cherished? Once again, the words of Golda Meir ring true. “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”