PLO official calls US support Israel “blind bias,” repeats anti-Israel libels
Headline: "Khaled: The statements of the American vice president-elect are banal and provocative"
“PLO Executive Committee member [and member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s (DFLP) Political Bureau] Tayseer Khaled described the statements made by Mike Pence, the vice [president] of American President-elect Donald Trump, regarding the relations between his country and Israel, as banal and unworthy of a superpower such as the US.
In the statements of Trump's vice [president] it was said that he and his president, Trump, 'understand that Israel is not hated by our enemies for her mistakes, but rather for what it is doing right, as it is defending itself with an army of citizens who defend their nation in battles in a decent and humane manner. Israel's struggle is the struggle of the US, and the US stands by Israel's side and supports its just cause. Israel's fate is also the fate of the US, and the support of Israel and standing by its side constitute a great honor; and occupied Jerusalem is the eternal homeland of the Jewish people,' according to him. (This quote is actually a paraphrase of parts of Pence's statement, and some of the paraphrase, such as describing Jerusalem as "occupied," is incorrect. See note below for Pence's actual statement. –Ed.)
Khaled added that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the rest of the leaders of his right-wing coalition in Israel needed to assess the relations between the US and Israel, they would not reach the banality reached by the American vice president-elect, and it is possible that they would be more careful in describing these relations. This is so as not to offend the sensibilities of the American citizens and of the American public opinion, as some of its circles believe that due to its criminal acts, its daily violations of the rights of the Palestinian citizen under the occupation, and its aggressive policy of settlement and expansion, Israel at the moment constitutes a burden to the US, which differs from all the countries of the world in its blind bias in favor of the State of Israel, and treats it as an unusual state that is above the law.
Khaled called on the Palestinian leadership not to be silent and to submit an official protest against statements and positions of this kind so that the banal and despicable flattery of the State of Israel and its leaders, whose hands are stained with the blood of the Palestinian people, will not become policy carried out by senior officials in the American administration. This [would be] at the expense of the rights and interests of the Palestinian people, and at the expense of its daily suffering from the crimes of the occupation and its policies that are based on aggression, colonialist settlement, violations of human rights, Judaization, transfer (i.e., of Palestinians out of Israel), ethnic cleansing, and racism.
Likewise, he demanded that the Arab states stand alongside the Palestinian people and express solidarity with it in light of these positions, which express an unprecedented denial of international law and the principles of human justice, and a blunt bias in favor of the policy of aggression, the law of the jungle, racism, and apartheid in their most criminal forms, according to Khaled."
US Vice President-elect Mike Pence's statement to Israel on Oct. 26, 2016:
"Shalom, Israel Republicans. I'm Governor Pence. It's a great honor for Donald Trump and I to stand together with you tonight in support of Israel, and I am deeply humbled to be speaking to you at this historic time with all of you there in that special holy place of Jerusalem, the eternal home of the Jewish people. Over the course of this campaign many people have asked me why our ticket stands so strongly with Israel. Donald Trump and I stand with Israel because Israel's fight is our fight, because Israel's cause is our cause. We stand with Israel for the same reasons good people everywhere stand with Israel. We stand with Israel because her cause is just, because her values are our values, and because her fate is our fate. Israel is not just our strongest ally in the region. As I've said for so many years, Israel is our most cherished ally in the world. Currently Israel lives under the ominous shadow of a threatening neighbor who seeks to wipe her off the face of the earth. Yet Donald Trump and I understand that Israel is not hated by her enemies for what she does wrong, but rather for what she does right. Like the United States, Israel is hated by terrorists and the failed states that support them. She is hated by too many progressives because she is successful and her people are free. There's one more thing that Donald Trump and I understand and will never shrink from proclaiming. Like the United States, Israel defends herself with an army of citizen soldiers, who fight their nation's battles with decency, humanity, and restraint. As Israel shows the world how to turn scarcity into plenty, sickness into health, poverty into wealth, as Israel takes the curses, the slanders, and the lies of the world and turns them into blessings, the real question is how could any good person not stand with Israel. Let the word go forth from Jerusalem, the eternal undivided capital of the Jewish people and the Jewish state, that Donald Trump and I are proud to stand with Israel. The American people are proud to stand with Israel. And should Donald Trump and I have the privilege of serving this great nation, if the world knows nothing else, the world will know this: America stands with Israel. Together let us all pray that God continues to bless Israel. and all her citizens, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian, with life, hope, and peace. May God bless you all. May God bless Israel and may God continue to bless the Unites States of America."
“PLO Executive Committee member [and member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s (DFLP) Political Bureau] Tayseer Khaled described the statements made by Mike Pence, the vice [president] of American President-elect Donald Trump, regarding the relations between his country and Israel, as banal and unworthy of a superpower such as the US.
In the statements of Trump's vice [president] it was said that he and his president, Trump, 'understand that Israel is not hated by our enemies for her mistakes, but rather for what it is doing right, as it is defending itself with an army of citizens who defend their nation in battles in a decent and humane manner. Israel's struggle is the struggle of the US, and the US stands by Israel's side and supports its just cause. Israel's fate is also the fate of the US, and the support of Israel and standing by its side constitute a great honor; and occupied Jerusalem is the eternal homeland of the Jewish people,' according to him. (This quote is actually a paraphrase of parts of Pence's statement, and some of the paraphrase, such as describing Jerusalem as "occupied," is incorrect. See note below for Pence's actual statement. –Ed.)
Khaled added that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the rest of the leaders of his right-wing coalition in Israel needed to assess the relations between the US and Israel, they would not reach the banality reached by the American vice president-elect, and it is possible that they would be more careful in describing these relations. This is so as not to offend the sensibilities of the American citizens and of the American public opinion, as some of its circles believe that due to its criminal acts, its daily violations of the rights of the Palestinian citizen under the occupation, and its aggressive policy of settlement and expansion, Israel at the moment constitutes a burden to the US, which differs from all the countries of the world in its blind bias in favor of the State of Israel, and treats it as an unusual state that is above the law.
Khaled called on the Palestinian leadership not to be silent and to submit an official protest against statements and positions of this kind so that the banal and despicable flattery of the State of Israel and its leaders, whose hands are stained with the blood of the Palestinian people, will not become policy carried out by senior officials in the American administration. This [would be] at the expense of the rights and interests of the Palestinian people, and at the expense of its daily suffering from the crimes of the occupation and its policies that are based on aggression, colonialist settlement, violations of human rights, Judaization, transfer (i.e., of Palestinians out of Israel), ethnic cleansing, and racism.
Likewise, he demanded that the Arab states stand alongside the Palestinian people and express solidarity with it in light of these positions, which express an unprecedented denial of international law and the principles of human justice, and a blunt bias in favor of the policy of aggression, the law of the jungle, racism, and apartheid in their most criminal forms, according to Khaled."
US Vice President-elect Mike Pence's statement to Israel on Oct. 26, 2016:
"Shalom, Israel Republicans. I'm Governor Pence. It's a great honor for Donald Trump and I to stand together with you tonight in support of Israel, and I am deeply humbled to be speaking to you at this historic time with all of you there in that special holy place of Jerusalem, the eternal home of the Jewish people. Over the course of this campaign many people have asked me why our ticket stands so strongly with Israel. Donald Trump and I stand with Israel because Israel's fight is our fight, because Israel's cause is our cause. We stand with Israel for the same reasons good people everywhere stand with Israel. We stand with Israel because her cause is just, because her values are our values, and because her fate is our fate. Israel is not just our strongest ally in the region. As I've said for so many years, Israel is our most cherished ally in the world. Currently Israel lives under the ominous shadow of a threatening neighbor who seeks to wipe her off the face of the earth. Yet Donald Trump and I understand that Israel is not hated by her enemies for what she does wrong, but rather for what she does right. Like the United States, Israel is hated by terrorists and the failed states that support them. She is hated by too many progressives because she is successful and her people are free. There's one more thing that Donald Trump and I understand and will never shrink from proclaiming. Like the United States, Israel defends herself with an army of citizen soldiers, who fight their nation's battles with decency, humanity, and restraint. As Israel shows the world how to turn scarcity into plenty, sickness into health, poverty into wealth, as Israel takes the curses, the slanders, and the lies of the world and turns them into blessings, the real question is how could any good person not stand with Israel. Let the word go forth from Jerusalem, the eternal undivided capital of the Jewish people and the Jewish state, that Donald Trump and I are proud to stand with Israel. The American people are proud to stand with Israel. And should Donald Trump and I have the privilege of serving this great nation, if the world knows nothing else, the world will know this: America stands with Israel. Together let us all pray that God continues to bless Israel. and all her citizens, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian, with life, hope, and peace. May God bless you all. May God bless Israel and may God continue to bless the Unites States of America."