Amid resurgent US peacemaking efforts and the arrival of two top Washington envoys to the region, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Monday of lying that he wants peace and “poisoning” the minds of young Palestinians.
“Palestinian President Abbas tells the world that he educates Palestinian children for peace. That’s a lie,” Netanyahu tweeted.
His ire came as the PA named a new square in Jenin after “martyr” Khaled Nazzal, who the premier noted was “a Palestinian terrorist chief who planned the 1974 Maalot massacre in which Palestinian terrorists murdered 22 school children and 4 adults.”
Palestinian Media Watch reported on the naming of the square Monday, noting that Nazzal, a member of the Democratic Front for Liberation of Palestine, also planned a 1974 abduction in Beit She’an which ended in the killing of four hostages, and a 1984 shooting attack in Jerusalem in which one person was killed and 47 wounded.
Palestinian President Abbas tells the world that he educates Palestinian children for peace. That’s a lie. pic.twitter.com/uxF3pd0oan
“Naming yet another public square for a mass murderer teaches Palestinian youngsters to murder Israelis,” Netanyahu said in further tweets. “That’s the very opposite of peace.
“President Abbas: stop poisoning the minds of Palestinian youth. Educate for peace, not terror,” he wrote.
Netanyahu’s tweets also asserted that Abbas’s Fatah party had “claimed responsibility” for Friday’s terror attack in Jerusalem in which a Border Police woman was killed, noting that the party had decorated “one of the killers’ houses” with its flags.
The controversy comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump redoubles its efforts to renew peace talks between the sides.
Jason Greenblatt, Special Representative for International Negotiations, arrived in Jerusalem on Monday for meetings to try and advance the diplomatic process. On Wednesday, he will be joined by top Trump adviser, Jared Kushner.
Hezbollah and Palestine supporters staging a sit-down protest brought part of central London to a standstill on Sunday afternoon.
A few hundred people marched down Regent Street, behind the Palestinian and Hezbollah terror flag, before sitting down at the junction with Oxford Street shortly after 4.30pm on Sunday.
Many carried banners with messages including “Boycott Israel”, “Freedom for Palestine” and “Zionism = racism”.
The demonstration wound its way through the capital’s retail heart, which was busy with shoppers.
One speaker then blamed the devastating In Grenfell Tower fire, which has left at least 58 people dead, on Israel supporters. Addressing the crowd at Grosvenor Square, he said: “Many innocents were murdered by Theresa May’s cronies – many of which are supporters of Zionist ideologies. Some of the biggest corporations who are supporting the Conservative Party are Zionists. They are responsible for the murder in Grenfell. The Zionist supporters of the Tory Party.”
A counter protest, organised by Jewish groups including the Zionist Federation, was also held nearby, featuring speakers from the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, Zionist Federation, and other communal groups.
Speaking to Jewish News after addressing the counter-demonstration in Grosvenor Square, Matthew Offord MP condemned the flying of Hezbollah flags in Central London.
No comments:
Post a Comment