Abbas on incitement: “We incite, and also you incite”; Calls for establishing incitement committee to gauge both Palestinian and Israeli incitement
Official PA TV, direct broadcast of speech by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at Summit of Arab foreign ministers
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “There is an additional issue that the Israelis bring up, and that is the matter of incitement, in other words [they say] that the Palestinians incite day and night in the media, in school books, in statements, and in other manners. We say: ‘We incite, and you also incite.’ What is the solution? We found the solution in 1998, together with [Israeli Prime Minister] Mr. [Benjamin] Netanyahu personally and in an official agreement: A three sided committee will be established, Palestinian, Israeli, American, this committee will sit and discuss all the types of incitement from the two sides, and we are willing to accept the American decision. If they [the Americans] say we need to do something then we will accept that. However, in exchange for that, if [the Americans] say that Israel is inciting in one instance or another, Israel must accept that. But if Israel just piles on words, and says ‘the Palestinians are inciting against us and that is the end of the matter,’ [we will not agree to that], there are many unbelievably stupid, offensive words of incitement from the Israeli side, and they are [published] in different places, and if we want to talk about incitement we need to talk about incitement from both sides, and the arbitrator is the US, which is not our friend but their friend and patron, and ruler over them, and we will receive it as arbitrator. Therefore, if this issue comes up, we wish to bring attention to this.”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “There is an additional issue that the Israelis bring up, and that is the matter of incitement, in other words [they say] that the Palestinians incite day and night in the media, in school books, in statements, and in other manners. We say: ‘We incite, and you also incite.’ What is the solution? We found the solution in 1998, together with [Israeli Prime Minister] Mr. [Benjamin] Netanyahu personally and in an official agreement: A three sided committee will be established, Palestinian, Israeli, American, this committee will sit and discuss all the types of incitement from the two sides, and we are willing to accept the American decision. If they [the Americans] say we need to do something then we will accept that. However, in exchange for that, if [the Americans] say that Israel is inciting in one instance or another, Israel must accept that. But if Israel just piles on words, and says ‘the Palestinians are inciting against us and that is the end of the matter,’ [we will not agree to that], there are many unbelievably stupid, offensive words of incitement from the Israeli side, and they are [published] in different places, and if we want to talk about incitement we need to talk about incitement from both sides, and the arbitrator is the US, which is not our friend but their friend and patron, and ruler over them, and we will receive it as arbitrator. Therefore, if this issue comes up, we wish to bring attention to this.”