Palestinian official: "Israel is a cancer in our body"
Official PA TV broadcast from the studio in Jordan on the occasion of Land Day.
Guest: Chairman of the Political Committee of the Palestinian National Council Khaled Mismar
Chairman of the Political Committee of the Palestinian National Council Khaled Mismar: “[Yisrael] Koenig, who wanted to Judaize the Galilee, said Palestine was a cancer inside Israel. We know, the world knows and the Arabs know that the cancer in our body is Israel – a cancer in Palestine. In other words, if this cancer grows and spreads [beyond] Palestine, it will affect the entire Arab and Islamic world. For this reason, we hope that the Arabs and Muslims will be fully aware of the [dangers] that surround us [the Palestinians], because they will surround them [as well].”
Note: Yisrael Koenig – a former Israeli official best remembered as the author of the Koenig Memorandum, a secret government document written in 1976 that suggested tactical steps to reduce the size and influence of the Israeli Arab population in the Galilee. The Memorandum suggested, among other things, increasing Jewish settlement construction in Arab areas in order to prevent Arab territorial union, replacing unfriendly Israeli Arab leaders with Israel-friendly ones, and taking steps to encourage Arab students to emigrate by limiting their access to higher education and jobs. Although some of Koenig's recommendations, in particular regarding the increase of Jewish settlement construction in Arab areas, were implemented, the memorandum had no lasting impact on Israeli government policy.
Guest: Chairman of the Political Committee of the Palestinian National Council Khaled Mismar
Chairman of the Political Committee of the Palestinian National Council Khaled Mismar: “[Yisrael] Koenig, who wanted to Judaize the Galilee, said Palestine was a cancer inside Israel. We know, the world knows and the Arabs know that the cancer in our body is Israel – a cancer in Palestine. In other words, if this cancer grows and spreads [beyond] Palestine, it will affect the entire Arab and Islamic world. For this reason, we hope that the Arabs and Muslims will be fully aware of the [dangers] that surround us [the Palestinians], because they will surround them [as well].”
Note: Yisrael Koenig – a former Israeli official best remembered as the author of the Koenig Memorandum, a secret government document written in 1976 that suggested tactical steps to reduce the size and influence of the Israeli Arab population in the Galilee. The Memorandum suggested, among other things, increasing Jewish settlement construction in Arab areas in order to prevent Arab territorial union, replacing unfriendly Israeli Arab leaders with Israel-friendly ones, and taking steps to encourage Arab students to emigrate by limiting their access to higher education and jobs. Although some of Koenig's recommendations, in particular regarding the increase of Jewish settlement construction in Arab areas, were implemented, the memorandum had no lasting impact on Israeli government policy.