The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) which is headed by Mahmoud Abbas and includes the Palestinian Authority, has released a report of Israel’s “incitement” in an attempt to counter Israeli reports of Palestinian incitement.
Whilst Israel often highlights Palestinian leaders calling for “jihad” and teaching their children to hate Jews as part of their incitement, the PLO could not find such a thing, so instead have claimed that Israel “incites” by calling Jerusalem its capital. They also say that Israel’s attempts to stop fire kites launched from Gaza is also “incitement”.
One primary example of incitement presented by the report is a recent statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. And it will always be the capital of Israel. It’s been the capital of Israel for three thousand years,” Netanyahu said last month.
The report also refers to Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s remarks referring to Prince William’s recent visit to Jerusalem.
“We welcome him. We welcome everyone who visits our capital. Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people, and only of the Jewish people.”
It claims that “derogatory and inflammatory comments and incitement by Israeli government officials and leaders are specifically meant to distort reality and mislead public opinion.”
However, the report intentionally ignores statements made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and senior Palestinian officials to the effect that “Jerusalem is and will remain the eternal capital of Palestine.” In addition, PA media outlets, including the official television and radio stations, refer to Jerusalem as the “occupied capital of Palestine.”
The PLO also points to calls for the IDF to come up with ways to combat incendiary devices – including exploding kites, birthday balloons and latex condoms – as incitement. A June 21 statement made by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is deemed “anti-Palestinian incitement.”
“There is no difference between a burning kite and a Kassam rocket, and we should not tolerate the kites,” Shaked said.
The report is a poor attempt by the PLO to counter the hundreds of articles and documents from Israel and other nations that highlight the Palestinian leaderships glorification of violence and calls to murder Jews and Israelis.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation, or PLO, is an organisation founded in 1964 with the purpose of “liberation of Palestine” through armed struggle, most of which is targeted towards Israeli civilians.