PA PM calls Israeli Arabs “our people in the 1948 territories”; Blasts US, “The Martyrs, prisoners, and their families are the priority, even if we are left with only one penny”
Headline: “Shtayyeh: The families of the Martyrs and the prisoners are the priority, even if we are left with only one penny”
“[PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh received a delegation of the [Israeli Parliament] faction Hadash in his office in Ramallah yesterday [May 22, 2019]. The delegation included [Israeli Parliament Members] faction chairman Ayman Odeh, Aida Touma-Sliman, Yousef Jabareen, and Ofer Cassif. The delegation congratulated the prime minister over him assuming his post, and wished him success in his missions despite all the political and financial challenges and difficulties.
Shtayyeh briefed the [political] party about the developments, challenges, and plots against our cause, and emphasized that ‘Wherever our people are, they are partners and a part of our national enterprise.’ He called on the [Hadash] party and the Israeli Parliament members from among our people in the 1948 territories to cooperate, coordinate positions, and pressure the forces in Israel that oppose the occupation to support our cause and stop the Israeli steps against us…
On another matter, the prime minister said: ‘We promise the families of our Martyrs and our prisoners that we will remain committed to the promise. As we promised Allah and swore that we would remain devoted to Palestine, so too we have sworn that we will remain devoted to the blood of the Martyrs, to the prisoners, and to their families.’ He said this during the mass Ramadan fast-breaking meal in honor of the families of the Martyrs, which the National Association of the Families of the Martyrs [of Palestine] held yesterday [May 22, 2019] in Ramallah…
Shtayyeh [said]: ‘Today a war is being waged against us by the US and its ally Israel, a new kind of war, in addition to the war over the land, the identity, and the people. There is a financial war, a war through which the American administration believes that it can blackmail us for political positions. On behalf of all of you, we say that [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas and we will remain loyal to the blood of the Martyrs and to the prisoners, regardless of the kind of war that will be declared against us.’ …
Shtayyeh concluded by saying: ‘We ask Allah to wrap our Martyrs in His mercies… and pray that our wounded will heal. We will know no rest as long as prisoners are in prison. The Martyrs, prisoners, and their families are the priority, even if we are left with only one penny.’”