Israeli president is a mass-murderer for visiting Hebron, says PA: "Herzog is in the same boat with the extremists and the fascists"
Excerpt of a column by Bassem Barhoum, regular columnist for the official PA daily
Headline: “Herzog is in the same boat with the extremists and the fascists”
“We and the world had the impression that Israeli President [Isaac] Herzog belonged to the moderate and peace supporting movement in Israel, and we all hoped for the best when he was appointed president. This impression continued when he held warm phone conversations with senior Arab officials and with [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas upon taking his position in July [2021]. Two days ago [Nov. 28, 2021] Herzog disappointed everyone when he broke into the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., the Cave of the Patriarchs) in the center of occupied Hebron together with the most extremist and fascist leaders of the settlement enterprise (refers to Herzog lighting a Hanukkah menorah at the site -Ed.)…
When the Palestinian side and the Israeli side signed the Oslo Accords in 1993, we – the supporters of peace on both sides – believed that we were leaving behind us the darkest chapters in the history of the conflict.
Even before the ink was dry on the signature, in the spring of 1994, extremist [Baruch] Goldstein committed the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre (see note below -Ed.). It was clear to [then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin and [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat then that Goldstein’s goal was to sabotage peace. The question we will now ask Israeli President Herzog is: Are you Rabin or Goldstein?
Until two days ago we thought that you were Rabin’s heir, as one of his fellow members of the Labor party, but we were surprised that you chose Goldstein and his black-hearted comrades.”
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre - Baruch Goldstein, a member of an Israeli far-right movement, opened fire on Muslims praying inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, known to Muslims as the "Ibrahimi Mosque," murdering 29 and wounding 125 on Feb. 25, 1994. Following the attack, which was widely condemned by Israeli leaders and Jewish communities abroad, the Israeli government took concrete steps to prevent similar attacks from occurring by dividing the area of worship into Muslim and Jewish sections and designating several extremist movements, including Goldstein’s, as illegal terrorist groups.
Yasser Arafat – Founder of Fatah and former chairman of the PLO and PA. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s Arafat was behind numerous terror attacks against Israelis. Although he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 together with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" after signing the Oslo Accords peace agreement, Arafat launched a 5-year terror campaign - the second Intifada (2000-2005) – in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Arafat died of an illness in 2004.