Oped by PLO official: US Ambassador Friedman is “the most loyal propagandist of the occupation, the settlers, and the criminals” for demanding PA condemn terror attacks
Excerpt of op-ed by Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake
Headline: "The American ambassador in Tel Aviv condemns!"
"American Ambassador in Tel Aviv David Friedman condemned the fact that the PA did not condemn the operations (i.e., terror attacks) against the settlers. He made this condemnation while wearing a settler hat and carrying a gun and hoe, after registering as a member of the price tag and hilltop youth settler organizations, which kidnapped and burned Martyr (Shahid) Muhammad Abu Khdeir and the Dawabsheh family (sic., the attacks referred to were not committed by any organizations; see notes below –Ed.).
The American ambassador is the most loyal propagandist of the occupation, the settlers, and the criminals. He does not think about the Palestinians killed as [in his eyes] our dead are not living creatures. Only the Israelis are good and they have priority among the creations. We are the lowly Arabs. The Israelis' blood is different and their souls are different, and therefore they must be given everything. The land, the promise, and the skies belong to them. They are allowed to kill, commit crimes, occupy another people, and remain alive.
Mr. Ambassador… the aggressor, foreigner, and murderer does not become the victim who is in need of your condemnation and tears…
Mr. Ambassador, condemn what you want. We are a people that will stop whoever steals our land, strips our land, burns our harvests, destroys our homes, and builds settlements on our land. We will stop whoever attempts to murder us, execute us, and expel us from our homes…
Perhaps you do not know that our lives are more precious than the lives of the foreign occupiers who pass through our land by the force of weapons. Perhaps you do not know that Jerusalem is more precious than all the cities of the world… Perhaps you do not know that our prisoners are victims of the occupation’s presence. They defended human justice and the right to self-determination. They did not steal land and did not annihilate a people as you have done in the past. Our prisoners want peace, freedom, life, and dignity…
Mr. Ambassador, we do not love death, but we will uproot death from our land. We do not love death – not for us and not for others – so remove the swords of death from our necks… Do not pull the trigger; do not execute this child and that young woman at a checkpoint or on the sidewalk just because of a suspicion. Stop the arbitrary executions. Stop the mass arrests, remove hundreds of military checkpoints from our roads, and abide by the decisions of the [UN] Security Council and the UN. We want nothing more than this. Stop the racist laws and laws stealing our money (refers to Israeli bill to deducting the amount the PA pays in salaries to terrorists from PA tax money collected by Israel; see note below –Ed.), as the monster will devour you before it devours us…
Our heads are held high. We are not sheep that you will mercilessly slaughter in the night. We do not agree to dictates. Do as you see fit; you will not find anyone among us who will surrender or obey. You have tested us for more than a hundred years. Palestine is ours, and those who came to us over the ocean came due to a false and invalid promise. (i.e., the Balfour Promise.) You have done nothing, and you continue to lie. You consider yourselves the masters of the world. No, Mr. Ambassador, we are the masters of ourselves. We love our land, our children, and our lives, and await the return of our Martyrs' (Shahids') [bodies] and our prisoners soon."
Muhammad Abu Khdeir - Palestinian teen kidnapped and murdered by Israeli extremists in Jerusalem on July 2, 2014, in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel in the West Bank on June 12. Following Abu Khdeir’s murder, Palestinians took to the streets of East Jerusalem in violent and continuous protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers immediately condemned the revenge murder in the strongest terms. Israeli police arrested six Israeli suspects on July 6 of whom three confessed to murdering Khdeir. One of the murderers, Yosef Ben-David, is serving 1 life sentence and an additional 20 years. His two accomplices, both unnamed minors, are serving 1 life sentence and 21 years respectively.
Duma arson attack - On July 31, 2015, two Palestinian houses in the West Bank village of Duma were set afire by Molotov cocktails thrown through their windows. 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh was murdered in this attack, as was his father, Saad Dawabsheh and mother, Reham Dawabsheh, who both died of their injuries later. The only survivor of the attack was the couple’s other son, 4-year-old Ahmad, who suffered burns on 60% of his body and was treated in Israel. Israeli leaders and citizens from all sectors of society condemned this attack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that all Israelis were disgusted by the crime, adding, “We will not countenance terrorism of any kind.” He ordered the security forces "to use all means at their disposal to apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice forthwith." Israeli Police has treated the attack as a nationalistic crime carried out by Jewish extremists in revenge for Palestinian terror attacks. In early December 2015, Israeli police arrested several Jewish extremists who were believed to have been involved in the attack, and in January 2016, Israel indicted 21-year-old Amiram Ben Uliel, a member of the radical Jewish group “Hilltop Youth,” with three counts of murder, attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a nationalistically-motivated crime. Ben Uliel confessed to police that he carried out the attack in revenge for the murder of Malachi Rosenfeld, an Israeli who was shot and murdered in a terror attack in the West Bank. Ben Uliel's defense has claimed that his confession was made under torture and suspicions have been raised that the arson and three other subsequent arson attacks against other Dawabshe family members are part of a family feud. Ben Uliel's trial is still pending. A minor whose name remains under a police gag order was also charged.
Bill to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money - On Feb. 18, 2018, the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill proposed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense that would deduct the amount of money the PA pays imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. The bill would enable the deducted money to be used for infrastructure benefitting all West Bank residents, compensation awarded to terror victims in lawsuits against the PA or individual terrorists, and projects aimed at eliminating terror.
The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate “responsible for putting into effect the declaration,” which led to the UN vote in 1947 and the establishment of the State of Israel.
Headline: "The American ambassador in Tel Aviv condemns!"
"American Ambassador in Tel Aviv David Friedman condemned the fact that the PA did not condemn the operations (i.e., terror attacks) against the settlers. He made this condemnation while wearing a settler hat and carrying a gun and hoe, after registering as a member of the price tag and hilltop youth settler organizations, which kidnapped and burned Martyr (Shahid) Muhammad Abu Khdeir and the Dawabsheh family (sic., the attacks referred to were not committed by any organizations; see notes below –Ed.).
The American ambassador is the most loyal propagandist of the occupation, the settlers, and the criminals. He does not think about the Palestinians killed as [in his eyes] our dead are not living creatures. Only the Israelis are good and they have priority among the creations. We are the lowly Arabs. The Israelis' blood is different and their souls are different, and therefore they must be given everything. The land, the promise, and the skies belong to them. They are allowed to kill, commit crimes, occupy another people, and remain alive.
Mr. Ambassador… the aggressor, foreigner, and murderer does not become the victim who is in need of your condemnation and tears…
Mr. Ambassador, condemn what you want. We are a people that will stop whoever steals our land, strips our land, burns our harvests, destroys our homes, and builds settlements on our land. We will stop whoever attempts to murder us, execute us, and expel us from our homes…
Perhaps you do not know that our lives are more precious than the lives of the foreign occupiers who pass through our land by the force of weapons. Perhaps you do not know that Jerusalem is more precious than all the cities of the world… Perhaps you do not know that our prisoners are victims of the occupation’s presence. They defended human justice and the right to self-determination. They did not steal land and did not annihilate a people as you have done in the past. Our prisoners want peace, freedom, life, and dignity…
Mr. Ambassador, we do not love death, but we will uproot death from our land. We do not love death – not for us and not for others – so remove the swords of death from our necks… Do not pull the trigger; do not execute this child and that young woman at a checkpoint or on the sidewalk just because of a suspicion. Stop the arbitrary executions. Stop the mass arrests, remove hundreds of military checkpoints from our roads, and abide by the decisions of the [UN] Security Council and the UN. We want nothing more than this. Stop the racist laws and laws stealing our money (refers to Israeli bill to deducting the amount the PA pays in salaries to terrorists from PA tax money collected by Israel; see note below –Ed.), as the monster will devour you before it devours us…
Our heads are held high. We are not sheep that you will mercilessly slaughter in the night. We do not agree to dictates. Do as you see fit; you will not find anyone among us who will surrender or obey. You have tested us for more than a hundred years. Palestine is ours, and those who came to us over the ocean came due to a false and invalid promise. (i.e., the Balfour Promise.) You have done nothing, and you continue to lie. You consider yourselves the masters of the world. No, Mr. Ambassador, we are the masters of ourselves. We love our land, our children, and our lives, and await the return of our Martyrs' (Shahids') [bodies] and our prisoners soon."
Muhammad Abu Khdeir - Palestinian teen kidnapped and murdered by Israeli extremists in Jerusalem on July 2, 2014, in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel in the West Bank on June 12. Following Abu Khdeir’s murder, Palestinians took to the streets of East Jerusalem in violent and continuous protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers immediately condemned the revenge murder in the strongest terms. Israeli police arrested six Israeli suspects on July 6 of whom three confessed to murdering Khdeir. One of the murderers, Yosef Ben-David, is serving 1 life sentence and an additional 20 years. His two accomplices, both unnamed minors, are serving 1 life sentence and 21 years respectively.
Duma arson attack - On July 31, 2015, two Palestinian houses in the West Bank village of Duma were set afire by Molotov cocktails thrown through their windows. 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh was murdered in this attack, as was his father, Saad Dawabsheh and mother, Reham Dawabsheh, who both died of their injuries later. The only survivor of the attack was the couple’s other son, 4-year-old Ahmad, who suffered burns on 60% of his body and was treated in Israel. Israeli leaders and citizens from all sectors of society condemned this attack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that all Israelis were disgusted by the crime, adding, “We will not countenance terrorism of any kind.” He ordered the security forces "to use all means at their disposal to apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice forthwith." Israeli Police has treated the attack as a nationalistic crime carried out by Jewish extremists in revenge for Palestinian terror attacks. In early December 2015, Israeli police arrested several Jewish extremists who were believed to have been involved in the attack, and in January 2016, Israel indicted 21-year-old Amiram Ben Uliel, a member of the radical Jewish group “Hilltop Youth,” with three counts of murder, attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a nationalistically-motivated crime. Ben Uliel confessed to police that he carried out the attack in revenge for the murder of Malachi Rosenfeld, an Israeli who was shot and murdered in a terror attack in the West Bank. Ben Uliel's defense has claimed that his confession was made under torture and suspicions have been raised that the arson and three other subsequent arson attacks against other Dawabshe family members are part of a family feud. Ben Uliel's trial is still pending. A minor whose name remains under a police gag order was also charged.
Bill to deduct terror salaries from PA tax money - On Feb. 18, 2018, the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill proposed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense that would deduct the amount of money the PA pays imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. The bill would enable the deducted money to be used for infrastructure benefitting all West Bank residents, compensation awarded to terror victims in lawsuits against the PA or individual terrorists, and projects aimed at eliminating terror.
The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate “responsible for putting into effect the declaration,” which led to the UN vote in 1947 and the establishment of the State of Israel.