The Palestinian Authority (PA) is making inroads into Israel by signing an exchange pact with Nazareth, an Israeli Arab city in the Galilee.

The official PA website WAFA calls the pact “an important cooperation agreement [which] will strengthen the bonds of love and social ties between the cities of Ramallah and Nazareth.”

WAFA’s report reveals a thinly disguised tactic to execute PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ grand strategy to build a case that all of Israel is “Palestine,” a word that actually was in common use and was adopted by Jewish leaders and institutions under the British Mandate to define Israel before its re-establishment as a country in 1948.

Maps of Israel, covered with the PA symbol and the name ”Palestine,” are used in official PA documents and in the school system.

In addition, the PA has been conducting a campaign to convince people that ancient Jewish holy sites actually have a Muslim heritage, even though Islam is only 1,500 years old.

Nazareth Mayor Ramiz Jaraisy said that the “special” relationship between Ramallah and Nazareth dates back many years and will develop “despite the obstacles of the occupation.”

The agreement states the desire of Ramallah and Nazareth to stimulate tourism activities and cultural events and social relations between the two cities. The mayor of Ramallah hosted his Israeli counterpart with a tour that included a visit to the grave of Yasser Arafat and a visit to the offices of Abbas.

The Palestinian Authority added that it intends to sign “similar agreements with other municipalities within the Green Line, the common phrase for the temporary 1949 Armistice Lines.

The mayor of Nazareth previously has charged that Israel “has chosen force over peace” by “invading” southern Lebanon in the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

He also has stated that there was widespread Israeli Arab pride in the ability of Hizbullah to damage Israel in the war.  Jaraisy alleged that although Hizbullah instigated the war by kidnapping and killing two soldiers, Israel had planned the war and was waiting for an excuse to attack.