PA daily: US Ambassador to Israel is a war criminal who the Palestinians will bring before the ICC
According to Bassem Barhoum, a regular columnist for the official PA daily, the Palestinians are going to work to bring the US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Calling Ambassador Friedman a “war criminal”, “insolent” and the descendent of “racist fascism”, Barhoum continued saying that the first thing the Palestinians must do is to bring him to trial.
“The Palestinian people has experienced a long list of extremist, racist, and hate-filled Zionists, Jews and non-Jews alike, because the Zionist project is a project of global colonialism. But Ambassador David Friedman is the most insolent, most extreme, and most racist. He is a war criminal, and we will work to bring him before the International Criminal Court (ICC)…
He is the descendent of racist fascism and hatred of the ugliest kind. Therefore, the first step is to bring this fascist before the ICC as a war criminal”[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 7, 2020]
Barhoum finished by adding that “Palestine is from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea. It is the Palestinian people’s historical homeland, and the status of Acre (i.e., an Israeli city) is the status of Nablus, and the status of Jaffa (i.e., an Israeli city) is the status of Hebron.”
Barhoum’s rant came in response to statements made by Ambassador Friedman in an interview with the Israeli paper Israel Hayom, in which he said that the US is ready to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and Israeli towns in the West Bank in the coming weeks if Israel declares its sovereignty there. Discussing the historical importance of places like Beit El and Hebron in the West Bank, Friedman said: "The administration knows that, just as Americans would never relinquish the area on which the Statue of Liberty stands, even though it's a very small area, Israel would never agree to give up these places." [May 6, 2020]
Fatah Revolutionary Council member and Fatah Movement Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi responded to Ambassador Friedman’s statement in a similar manner.
“Friedman’s statements are racist and repulsive, and they express a hate-filled Zionist method and system.”
[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, May 6, 2020]
While the call to work to bring Ambassador Friedman before the ICC lacks any factual or legal basis, and is clearly outrageous, this may not necessarily be an obstacle for Fatou Bensouda, the current ICC prosecutor. As PMW has exposed, Bensouda appears to be actively colluding with both the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinian terrorists groups, has invented the non-existent “State of Palestine”, and has even submitted a sham request to the ICC’s Pre–Trial Chamber, solely to “protect the ICC’s public image,” in order to forward an investigation against Israel.
The following are longer excerpts of the above cited articles:
Headline: “Friedman is a war criminal”
“The Palestinian people has experienced a long list of extremist, racist, and hate-filled Zionists, Jews and non-Jews alike, because the Zionist project is a project of global colonialism. But [US] Ambassador [to Israel] David Friedman is the most insolent, most extreme, and most racist. He is a war criminal, and we will work to bring him before the International Criminal Court (ICC). This settler is speaking as if the Palestinian land is his personal property…
It is impossible to treat this settler as an ambassador of one state in another state, in the traditional diplomatic sense. He is a war criminal who is using his position in order to impose a reality by force. He is the descendent of racist fascism and hatred of the ugliest kind. Therefore, the first step [that needs to be taken] is to bring this fascist before the ICC as a war criminal – not only because he is violating international law, but also because he is threatening international security and peace by destroying all the chances for bringing peace to the region…
The Palestinian people, whose leadership has refused to submit to [US President Donald] Trump, [US Presidential Advisor Jared] Kushner, and Friedman, will continue to stand firm and resist, generation after generation, until it defeats this colonialist Zionist project. We have no one to rely on other than ourselves.
Practically speaking, we must prepare ourselves to disengage from all the agreements and return the conflict to the starting point. Palestine is from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea. It is the Palestinian people’s historical homeland, and the status of Acre (i.e., an Israeli city) is the status of Nablus, and the status of Jaffa (i.e., an Israeli city) is the status of Hebron.”[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 7, 2020]
“[Fatah] Revolutionary Council member and Fatah Movement Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi said in response to the statements of American Ambassador [to Israel David Friedman]: ‘Friedman’s statements are racist and repulsive, and they express a hate-filled Zionist method and system, while he discounts the international consensus that opposes the policy of annexation and colonialism.’
Al-Qawasmi emphasized: ‘The Palestinian people with all its elements will defend its land and its homeland of Palestine. We will not submit to the policy of hegemony and wild behavior, and we will not agree to the policy of determining facts on the ground. Its right to Palestine is historical and eternal. We, the Canaanite Palestinians, are remaining in our homeland of Palestine, while they will leave.’”[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, May 6, 2020]