PLO official accuses Israel of deliberately infecting Palestinians with Coronavirus

Excerpt of an article by PLO Executive Committee Secretary Saeb Erekat

“When the occupation forces arrest young residents of Jerusalem on the charge that they disinfected a number of public institutions and facilities in the city (sic., refers to Palestinians arrested for illegal activity including graffiti), and attack and remove the checkpoints that the residents had established in Masafer Yatta in Hebron in order to check and guide the Palestinian laborers coming from Israel; and when the settler gangs go wild, the latest example of which is… the spitting on Palestinian cars and property in order to transfer the Corona disease to them (PMW has found no record of such incidents. This apparently refers to a short video showing one soldier apparently spitting near one car –Ed.); and when they prevent the entry of more than 140 food products, disinfectants, and cleaners for the Palestinian prisoners numbering over 5,000, and this is under these extraordinary circumstances in light of the Coronavirus; and when they refuse to release hundreds of sick prisoners, including elderly, administrative detainees, children, and women – all of these are expressions of the spirit of hate taking root, the spread of the incitement to racism, and the wild desire to get rid of the Palestinian people in any way…

Palestine is between two epidemics today: At a time when our entire people is dealing with the Coronavirus and fighting to get rid of this epidemic in order to save lives… it is dealing with the colonialist occupation epidemic with the same determination.”

Saeb Erekat also serves as Fatah Central Committee member and PLO Chief Negotiator.

Land Day – annual commemoration of the general strike and demonstrations organized by Israeli Arab residents of the Galilee on March 30, 1976 to protest the Israeli government's decision to expropriate land in the Galilee for security and building purposes, which it later implemented. During the protests, demonstrators burnt tires, blocked roads, and threw rocks and firebombs. Six demonstrators were shot and killed by the Israeli army and police. Israeli Arabs and Palestinians consider Land Day a national day.