RAMALLAH, Monday, December 9, 2019 (WAFA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned in the strongest terms the visit by a number of anti-Palestinian members of parliament to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied State of Palestine organized by the "Israel Allies Foundation".
“This visit will celebrate and seemingly legitimize the presence of illegal settlers while whitewashing Israel‘s systematic denial of the Palestinian people‘s inalienable right of self- determination,” said a statement issued by the ministry.
“We remind the members of parliament who are participating in this visit on their obligations under international law, including not to render aid to Israel‘s illegal colonial settlement enterprise.”
The program includes a visit to extremist settlers and meetings with Israeli politicians. Furthermore, the anti-Palestinian group plans to visit the illegal winery ‘Psagot‘, situated on land stolen from Palestinians.
“Recently, the European Court of Justice concluded that the wines from Psagot originate from illegal settlements and underlined that these settlements are "characterized by the fact that they give concrete expression to a policy of population transfer conducted by [Israel] outside its territory, in violation of the rules of general international humanitarian law."
This is a visit in support of the Israeli occupation and the most extremist elements within its society, said the statement.
“By taking part in a trip organized by extreme elements of Israeli society these parliamentarians give the appearance of legitimacy to these fundamentalist organizations, which are driving the ongoing theft of Palestinian land and natural resources, as well as attacks against Palestinian civilians.”
Violent settler gangs continue to wreak havoc in acts of terror against Palestinian civilians with impunity. Only last night, gangs of settler militias rampaged through the Palestinian neighborhood of Shuafat in East Jerusalem, slashing dozens of tires and spraying racist slogans on Palestinian property.
T.R.
