RAMALLAH, Tuesday, December 11, 2018 (WAFA) - The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said on Tuesday that it holds the Israeli government responsible for settler calls for the assassination of President Mahmoud Abbas and other manifestations of settler terrorism.
Hanan Ashrawi, member of the PLO Executive Committee, said in a statement:
“We strongly condemn Israeli settler threats and hate language targeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, including the distribution and display of posters calling for the assassination of President Abbas."
She said the PLO regards these threats as credible and grave. "The Israeli government is directly responsible for these open calls for the President’s assassination and any escalation of hate crimes and settler terrorism against Palestinian citizens and their property."
Ashrawi added: "This right-wing extremist government has lent its tacit support and protection to armed settler militias who have terrorized Palestinian civilians and carried out heinous assaults, including fatal arson attacks against defenseless families. In fact, this Israeli government is made up of the most extreme and racist representatives of the settler movement who openly and regularly foment hate speech and incitement against the Palestinian people.
"The calls for the assassination of the President come in the objectionable context of hate and incitement against Palestinians, which is encouraged by the culture of impunity in Israel and the international community’s consistent failure to hold Israel accountable for its violations.
"We call on members of the international community to hold Israel liable for its breach of international law and to respond to these threats with the appropriate indignation and reproach. Coupled with its systematic deconstruction of the prospects of peace, Israel’s reprehensible endorsement of hate speech against the Palestinian people and their leadership threatens to further destabilize the situation on the ground and condemn the region to permanent conflict.”
M.K.
