Today, Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the B’nai B’rith Ant-Defamation Commission (ADC), issued the following statement in response to U.S Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech on Israel and Middle East peace:
“Following the wrong-headed and counterproductive UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and the disappointing US abstention, comes this misguided and unfair speech by United States Secretary of State John Kerry which promotes the false notion that settlements are the key obstacle to peace, and puts much of the blame on Israel for the deadlock in peace talks. At the same time, the speech ignores the continuous rejection by the Palestinian leadership of any compromise, and its use of terrorism and incitement to violence. Kerry also presented a mistaken view of Jewish communities in the West Bank while failing to recognise the extraordinary and difficult past concessions— including a settlement freeze, painful withdrawals and offers— made by Israel. Also absent in this address was any reference to Hamas’s brutal control of Gaza, its terror tunnels, genocidal calls to destroy Israel, and the more than 15,000 rockets it has launched at Israeli cities. We are greatly disappointed that while acknowledging that any final status compromise will include Israel as a Jewish state, Kerry did not demand that the Palestinian leadership make such a recognition. This speech provides no incentive for the intransigent Palestinian Authority to return to the negotiating table so as to craft a lasting resolution to this conflict. It is our hope that the current administration, in its final days, does not pursue any additional measures, in particular during the upcoming Paris Peace Conference, that will further undermine the prospect of peace and add to an already anti-Israel atmosphere of demonization and defamation in the international arena.”
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading civil rights organization fighting racism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677.