Arab states condemn Israeli minister’s ‘no Palestinians’ remark

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By Webdesk


The Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Jordan have condemned as “racist” the comments of an inflammatory Israeli minister who denies the existence of the Palestinian people, with Amman summoning the Israeli ambassador for a rebuke.

Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich is part of former leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government that took office in December.

Smotrich already faced international rebuke in early March after calling for the “wiping out” of a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank after settlers rampaged through, killing a Palestinian and setting cars and houses on fire.

“There are no Palestinians, because there are no Palestinian people,” he said in Paris on Sunday, quoting French-Israeli Zionist activist Jacques Kupfer at an event in his memory, according to a video circulating on social media.

A Jordanian official told Reuters news agency on Tuesday that Israel had reassured the kingdom that Smotrich’s behavior, which included standing on a podium decorated with a map of an Israeli flag that also included Jordan and the Palestinian territories, did not represent his position.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Monday that Israel’s national security adviser had told him that Israel respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbour.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said before a cabinet meeting on Monday that Smotrich’s “incendiary statements” provided “convincing evidence of the extremist, racist Zionist ideology … of the current Israeli government.”

Citing biblical “prophecies” that are “beginning to come true,” Smotrich said, “After 2,000 years…God gathers His people. The people of Israel are returning home.”

“There are Arabs who don’t like it, so what do they do? They make up a fictitious people and claim fictitious rights to the land of Israel just to fight the Zionist movement,” he said.

“It’s the historical truth, it’s the biblical truth.”

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, called the minister’s remarks “completely unhelpful” and stressed that the Palestinian people “obviously” exist.

“We continue to support their rights and push for a two-state solution,” Haq said.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief also criticized Smotrich’s statement.

“I must regret these unacceptable comments from Secretary Smotrich,” said Joseph Borrell. “It’s wrong, it’s disrespectful, it’s dangerous, it’s counterproductive to say things like this in an already tense situation.”

Jordanian rebuke

Smotrich, who did not meet any French government officials during his trip, spoke from a lectern that held a map of the so-called Greater Israel, including the occupied West Bank, the Golan Heights, the blockaded Gaza Strip and Jordan — the neighboring Arab country that signed a peace treaty with Israel. in 1994.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War, when it also captured East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.

Smotrich’s comments came as Israeli and Palestinian representatives met in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, along with Egyptian, Jordanian and US officials for “expanded discussions on ways to de-escalate tensions,” according to a joint statement.

“Apparently” false

Smotrich, who lives in an illegal settlement in the West Bank, had called in early March for the “wiped out” Palestinian town of Huwara after two Israelis were shot dead there by an alleged Hamas fighter.

Hundreds of enraged Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian homes and cars in Huwara after the shooting, and a Palestinian man was killed in a nearby village.

Violence in the West Bank has escalated in recent months, with fears of further escalation during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which begins this week.

Israel’s defense ministry, which is responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, on Monday eased a series of tight restrictions aimed at allowing more Palestinians to worship during Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque, the country’s third largest mosque. second holiest place in Islam.

It said women of all ages and men aged 55 and over from the West Bank will be allowed free entry into Jerusalem for Friday prayers at the compound.

Earlier on Monday, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, another far-right figure in the cabinet, ordered the closure of an East Jerusalem office of the West Bank-based public broadcaster Palestine.

He charged it with “incitement and support of terror” and said it was not licensed to operate from the annexed territory.

Ahmad Assaf, head of Palestinian broadcasting, condemned the move, calling it a “crime against journalism”.

Since the beginning of the year, Israelis have killed 86 Palestinian adults and children, including combatants and civilians.

Fourteen Israeli adults and children, including members of the security forces and civilians, and one Ukrainian civilian were killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period.





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