December 18, 2015
Washington DC, USA, Melbourne, Australia,
B’nai B’rith International and The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) have condemned to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over his recent statement, read on his behalf at a conference concerning the “rights of the Palestinian people.” Ban stated that “the anger we are witnessing is bred from nearly five decades of Israeli occupation.”
ADC Chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich, Dan Mariaschin, Executive Vice President of B’nai B’rith International, and Gary P. Saltzman, President of B’nai B’rith International issued the following statement:
“This statement represents an unacceptable rationalization of terrorism and blaming of the victim. If the U.N. is sincerely interested in calming the situation on the ground, then U.N. officials need to desist from using this kind of rhetoric, which is only seen by Palestinians as global validation of their attacks against Israelis. The cause of the violence, simply, is the incitement by the Palestinian leadership. The Oslo Accords committed the Palestinians to end incitement against Israel. Clearly, they have not done so. In fact, since the signing of the Accords in 1993, the Palestinian Authority has raised an entire generation of young Palestinians on bitter hatred of Israelis and Jews. The Palestinian youth cited in the statement have grown up listening to constant messages of hatred against Israelis and Jews from very young ages from official Palestinian media, in their schools, and now on social media. This particular wave of terror can be traced back to the lie, spread by the highest levels of the Palestinian leadership, that Israel was changing the status quo on the Temple Mount. When Palestinians started rioting in the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas praised “every drop of blood” that was shed by the “martyrs” and said that Israelis had “no right to desecrate the mosque with their dirty feet.” Palestinian media and social media have only inflamed the situation and encouraged continued attacks. Only this week, Abbas claimed that the terrorism we have seen over the last few months is “justified.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government have been working diligently to calm the tensions that Abbas and the Palestinian Authority have provoked, justified and encouraged. The actions of the Israeli security forces to neutralize terrorists who are in the midst of trying to stab or run over Israeli civilians is perfectly in line with what any government would do in a similar situation. We note that the Secretary General has not in the same fashion condemned the French police or the San Bernardino police department for engaging and neutralizing terrorists. Nor has he insinuated that these counter-terrorism actions would somehow lead to an escalation of violence by ISIS because to do so would be laughable and dangerous. Yet, Secretary General’s statement calls on Israel to “calibrate” the responses of the security forces in order to de-escalate the Palestinian violence. If the U.N. is to be a stabilizing force in the region, and is genuinely interested in creating the conditions necessary for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, then the statements coming from officials of the world body must go beyond the same repeated—and often incorrect—talking points. Unless the U.N. makes clear that Palestinian incitement to hate and violence, not Israel, is the cause of Palestinian terrorism against Israelis, we will not see any meaningful progress towards an end to this conflict. The cause of peace would have been better served if the remarks that were delivered in the Secretary’s name had insisted, instead, that the Palestinians return to the negotiating table. Only through a return to face-to-face negotiations can we ever expect any real measure of progress on this issue.”
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677
Join the ADC on Facebook
or visit our website at antidef.org.au