Abbas to Israelis: “We want to make peace with the entire Israeli people… For more than ten years we have been acting to spread the culture of peace”
Headline: “The president: We do not sentence people based on political affiliation or ethnicity, but rather on their standpoint in regard to the peace process”
“[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas received an American delegation and a delegation of mayors of Israeli towns yesterday [May 31, 2016] at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah…
When he received the mayors of the Israeli towns, the president said: ‘We are acting to make peace with the Israeli people, who you represent. The meeting between us is taking place as part of this.’ He added: The attempt at coexistence in the villages in the Galilee conclusively shows that Palestinians and Israelis can live in two neighboring states in security and peace’… The president said: ‘We do not sentence someone based on his political affiliation or ethnicity, but rather according to their standpoint regarding the peace process. We know that since the period of [Israeli Prime Minister Menachem] Begin, it is the right [wing] that is able to make peace, but we want every Israeli – right or left, Ashkenazi or Sephardi, or anything else – to believe in peace with the Palestinian people. We welcome all groups of the Israeli people and its ethnicities, as we want to make peace with the entire Israeli people.’ He added: ‘As Eastern Jews, you have historical experience in living with Arabs, and therefore we wish you to serve as bridges to peace. We welcome everyone, as we want to live with you. We are human beings and we have a right to establish our independent state, but why are we criticized regarding this right?’ The President continued: ‘For more than ten years we have been acting to spread the culture of peace, and our doors are open before the entire Israeli people, as we want peace and to live in freedom like the rest of the peoples of the world.’”
“[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas received an American delegation and a delegation of mayors of Israeli towns yesterday [May 31, 2016] at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah…
When he received the mayors of the Israeli towns, the president said: ‘We are acting to make peace with the Israeli people, who you represent. The meeting between us is taking place as part of this.’ He added: The attempt at coexistence in the villages in the Galilee conclusively shows that Palestinians and Israelis can live in two neighboring states in security and peace’… The president said: ‘We do not sentence someone based on his political affiliation or ethnicity, but rather according to their standpoint regarding the peace process. We know that since the period of [Israeli Prime Minister Menachem] Begin, it is the right [wing] that is able to make peace, but we want every Israeli – right or left, Ashkenazi or Sephardi, or anything else – to believe in peace with the Palestinian people. We welcome all groups of the Israeli people and its ethnicities, as we want to make peace with the entire Israeli people.’ He added: ‘As Eastern Jews, you have historical experience in living with Arabs, and therefore we wish you to serve as bridges to peace. We welcome everyone, as we want to live with you. We are human beings and we have a right to establish our independent state, but why are we criticized regarding this right?’ The President continued: ‘For more than ten years we have been acting to spread the culture of peace, and our doors are open before the entire Israeli people, as we want peace and to live in freedom like the rest of the peoples of the world.’”