PLO slams Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s "racist, extremist" policies
A senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s "racist and extremist” policies towards Palestinians.
Saeb Erekat, from the PLO executive committee, made the remarks after a meeting with the European Union foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, when the two sides discussed developments in the occupied territories, especially Netanyahu’s policies on the construction of settler units.
"It is clear through Netanyahu's actions, comments, and remarks that Israel has paved a new wave of racist and extremist policies and is not a partner for peace," Erekat said.
During his electoral campaign in March, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with settlement construction in the occupied territories.
“We will continue to build in Jerusalem (al-Quds), we will add thousands of housing units… in the face of all the pressure,” Netanyahu stated at the time.
Israel also approved the construction of 90 new illegal settlement units in the Jabal Abu Ghneim (Har Homa) neighborhood in the south of East al-Quds on Thursday in defiance of international calls to stop its expansionist policies in the occupied Palestinian lands.
"The move was in direct contravention of international law and Israel's obligations under previous agreements, as well as a slight to the international community's commitment to facilitate peace," Erekat added.
The PLO official went on to say that "Palestinian lives, history and culture don't matter" to Israel, calling on the international community to take constructive steps to counter the illegal Israeli measures in the occupied territories.
Earlier this month, the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee approved the construction of 900 of 1,800 settlement units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of East al-Quds.
Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds over the past decades by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.
IA/MHB/SS
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