PA Prime Minister calls Israelis foreign “invaders,” saying "We will remain here. As for the them – let them leave"

Headline: “Shtayyeh during the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bethlehem: Many invaders have passed through the Church of the Nativity’s plaza and left, only stones remain in the valley”

“Yesterday evening, Saturday [Dec. 4, 2021], Bethlehem celebrated the Christmas tree lighting in the Church of the Nativity’s plaza in the presence of [PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, the representative of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas.

Shtayyeh said in his speech: ‘The light is one while the darkness is many. Our people hopes for light and fights the darkness, and this year we are experiencing the darkness of the occupation, the Coronavirus, and the [Fatah-Hamas] rift.’

He added: ‘We are dealing with settlement colonialism, which is targeting our land, our trees, our children, our young people, our water, and our resources. It is attempting to break our determination, but thanks to our chests, our resolve, and our people’s determination, it will not harm us and our morale one bit. It is building walls, and we are breaking through them and passing through. It is placing checkpoints to disturb us, and we are continuing on our path and passing through. It is putting our children in prisons, and they are continuing to hold on. It is murdering our children, and the relatives of the Martyrs are marching forward.’

Shtayyeh continued: ‘Many invaders passed through this plaza, which overlooks the opening of the cave where Jesus was born and where we are celebrating the lighting of the tree of light today, and they left. Many empires passed through Jerusalem and left. Only stones remain in the valley [from these empires]. We are the residents of this land and were formed from its material. We will remain here.As for the rest – let them leave.’”