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PA Minister and Israeli Arab MP use terminology of non-recognition: Israel is “Palestine occupied in 1948” and “the Interior”

"Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake met yesterday with Ibrahim Sarsour, a Member of the Israeli Parliament, representing the United Arab List, along with a delegation from the Interior and released prisoners… During the meeting, Sarsour thanked the Palestinian leadership – the President [Abbas] and the government – on behalf of the Arab population in the Interior (i.e., Israeli Arabs) for their efforts over the years on behalf of the prisoners from the West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza, and from inside the Green Line. He said that the Palestinian prisoners in the Interior have a special status within the framework of all [prisoner] exchange deals concluded between Israel and the various Palestinian factions: the Jibril deal in 1985 was the last one which included prisoners from the Interior; after that the [successive] Israeli governments have refused to release them within any framework – whether as part of a prisoner exchange or through political agreements – claiming that [their imprisonment] was an internal Israeli issue. Sarsour said that this turned the lives of the prisoners of the Interior into a hell, since they are not Israelis when it comes to prisoners' rights according to Israeli laws and amendments, and they are not Palestinians when it comes to [prisoner] exchange deals or the release of prisoners in political agreements. Thus, these prisoners become hostages with no justification… During the meeting Karake emphasized his demand to release the Palestinian prisoners from Palestine occupied in 1948 (i.e., Israeli Arabs)… he said that the prisoners from occupied Palestine are a fundamental and authentic part of our nation, part of our national prisoners' movement, and freedom fighters who have sacrificed and fought for the sake of the freedom, independence and honor of Palestine."

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