PLO ambassador says Palestinian state should be free of Jews

[Sofiyya 1,687]

He posted a thread about how awesome it would be to run over Muslims with a truck. It was deleted by moderation within minutes.

Dayum! I'm missing too much of the best stuff!

Didn't he also once post about machine-gunning Mexican border-crossers while drinking beer?

Those are some pretty creepy attitudes, even in 'jest'.

Haters tend to be creepy.

[^_^ 5,021]

Didn't he also once post about machine-gunning Mexican border-crossers while drinking beer?

Yup. He's certifiable.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

This article is biased and inflammatory.

WASHINGTON – The Palestine Liberation Organization's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that any future Palestinian state it seeks with help from the United Nations and the United States should be free of Jews.

"After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," Maen Areikat, the PLO ambassador, said during a meeting with reporters sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor. He was responding to a question about the rights of minorities in a Palestine of the future.

Such a state would be the first to officially prohibit Jews or any other faith since Nazi Germany, which sought a country that was judenrein, or cleansed of Jews, said Elliott Abrams, a former U.S. National Security Council official.

Israel has 1.3 million Muslims who are Israeli citizens. Jews have lived in "Judea and Samaria," the biblical name for the West Bank, for thousands of years. Areikat said the PLO seeks a secular state, but that Palestinians need separation to work on their own national identity.

...

Israel has often complained of anti-Semitic views in Palestinian discourse. Palestinian media frequently publishes and broadcasts anti-Semitic sermons by Islamic religious leaders, while the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV shows programming for preschoolers that extolls hatred of Jews and suicide bombings, according to a 2009 State Department human rights report.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-09-13/palestinian-israeli-jews-future-state-israel-PLO/50394882/1

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

This article is biased and inflammatory.

How's that?

[^_^ 5,021]

How's that?

Wanting a Jew-free country is pretty biased.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Wanting a Jew-free country is pretty biased.

He was stupid for saying that in public, but at least it's out in the open so nobody has any doubts in regards to how the PLO thinks.

[mawilson 2,133]

WASHINGTON – The Palestine Liberation Organization's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that any future Palestinian state it seeks with help from the United Nations and the United States should be free of Jews.

Lovely.

[Pooky 3,786]

This article is biased and inflammatory.

Why? Because he said what he said to the L.Ronners?

[Sofiyya 1,687]

In case you missed it, another ME issue thread was closed last night for being "biased" and "inflammatory". I was being sarcastic about this one.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

He never said "free of Jews." He's talking about illegal Israeli settlers. Of course they will have to leave the Palestinian state. Duh.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

He never said "free of Jews." He's talking about illegal Israeli settlers. Of course they will have to leave the Palestinian state. Duh.

I was raised in an English speaking country and I do believe my comprehension of the English language is solid if anything. Now would you please post here as to where he mentioned illegal Israeli settlers in that interview. He was blunt and to the point, and unless any of us had a recent lobotomy I do believe he said a "Jew Free State".

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

I was raised in an English speaking country and I do believe my comprehension of the English language is solid if anything. Now would you please post here as to where he mentioned illegal Israeli settlers in that interview. He was blunt and to the point, and unless any of us had a recent lobotomy I do believe he said a "Jew Free State".

Post the quote where Areikat said "free of Jews."

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Post the quote where Areikat said "free of Jews."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-09-13/palestinian-israeli-jews-future-state-israel-PLO/50394882/1

"After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," Maen Areikat, the PLO ambassador, said during a meeting with reporters sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor. He was responding to a question about the rights of minorities in a Palestine of the future.

[MyLittlePony 340]

Sound like Hitler is back from the dead.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

"After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," Maen Areikat, the PLO ambassador, said during a meeting with reporters sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor. He was responding to a question about the rights of minorities in a Palestine of the future.

There is nothing stating "free of Jews" in his statement - it's a blatant distortion. In fact, he was not talking about "Jews in Palestine," but whether the illegal settlers could remain in the settlements. The quote was taken completely out of context of the discussion.

The whole thing is up at the Christian Science Monitor site - it's in English and you can listen for yourself.

Huffpo already got him on the phone early this morning (Palestine time - it's now 6:30am there) and got his response to the article in USA Today:

But in an interview with The Huffington Post, Areikat rejected USA Today's characterization of his remarks, saying that he would never want to ban Jews from a Palestinian state.

"Under no circumstances was I saying that no Jews can be in Palestine," Areikat said by phone. "What a statement that would be for me to make! I never said that, and I never meant to say such a thing. This is not a religious conflict, and we want to establish a secular state."

A tape recording of Areikat's remarks from the on-the-record breakfast Wednesday morning, sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, shows that his words were more nuanced than first reported: He described the terms as his "personal" view, and specified that this situation would apply "at first," not in perpetuity.

His full quote, in response to a question about a Jewish minority remaining in Palestine, is below:

Well, you know, I think - I still believe, I personally still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated, and we can contemplate these issues in the future. But after the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction I think it would be in the best interests of the two peoples to be separated at first.

In the interview with HuffPost, Areikat reiterated that Israeli soldiers and settlers -- "persons who are amid an occupation, who are in my land illegally" -- would be rejected from the new Palestinian state.

But he added that he would not like to see any restrictions on access to religious or holy sites for any person of any faith or nationality.

"When it comes to religious freedom and the right of all to visit respective sites in Israel and Palestine, of course all cities should be open to all religions," he said.

"Jerusalem right now is restricted -- Palestinian Muslims and Christians cannot visit it. Christians, Muslims and Jews must be able to visit their respective sites in both countries. This wasn't even on my mind when we asked the question -- I thought he was talking about settlers staying in Palestine."

Areikat said he was particularly upset that the USA Today account compared Areikat's point of view to Nazi Germany, and suggested that he had called for a new country that would be cleansed of all Jews.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/14/report-palestinian-state-free-of-jews_n_962906.html