The Palestinian Authority now demands that journalists refer to all Palestinians killed in the Arab-Israeli conflict as shaheed—“martyrs.” (Hat tip: C.S.)

Yussef al-Qazzaz, a senior official with the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, lashed out at Palestinian journalists for not placing the interests of their people above everything else, and dubbed some of them “primitive.”

Qazzaz’s attack was directed mostly at Palestinian correspondents who work for the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya 24-hour news channel, who have been using the term “dead” instead of “martyred” when referring to Palestinians killed in the ongoing violence.

PA officials have accused the journalists of displaying “insensitivity” by not referring to the victims as martyrs. A spate of suicide bombings in Riyadh and other parts of Saudi Arabia has prompted Al-Arabiya to start referring to these attacks as terrorist actions.

The officials claim the station has also instructed its correspondents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to stop describing Palestinians killed in the confrontation with Israel or in suicide bombings as martyrs. The move, they say, is designed to avoid glorification of gunmen and suicide bombers who attack Saudi interests.

“Most of the correspondents of the Arab TV and radio stations need to be educated politically and culturally about the internal [Palestinian] situation,” said Qazzaz. “The task of educating these journalists should be the responsibility of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, although some of its heads also need to be educated.

“The Ministry of Information should also be entrusted with educating these correspondents by telling them which phrases are used in our political life. We don’t understand why some Arab satellite stations are no longer using the term martyrs.”

Qazzaz said he cannot understand how some Palestinian journalists make harmful remarks to their people at a time when even foreign journalists are careful not to alienate the PA.

Of course they’re careful; because, in the time-honored Palestinian fashion, if journalists don’t follow the PA’s line things like this happen:

Last week, Al-Arabiya’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Seif al-Din Shahin, was attacked and wounded as he was driving his car in the center of Gaza City. He said the attackers identified themselves as members of Fatah.

Shahin, 35, said five gunmen fired warning shots into the air, intercepted his car, dragged him out, and beat him with the butts of their rifles for nearly 10 minutes. The attackers told Shahin they were unhappy with his coverage of paramilitary celebrations in the Gaza Strip marking the 39th anniversary of the founding of Fatah.