Israeli "prisons are ugly copies of Auschwitz and Bastille” says senior Fatah official
Video posted on the Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub
Video:
The video shows an interview of Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub on Fatah-run Awdah TV.
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The legitimate institutions of the UN issued two birth certificates in 1947: A birth certificate for Israel and a birth certificate for Palestine (refers to UN partition plan; see note below -Ed.). Israel took control of what was allocated for it, and this is not just, and it took control of half of what was allocated as part of the Palestinian state (sic., Israel took control of territory in a war of defense after being attacked by Arab neighbor states in the 1948 War of Independence). And Jerusalem, of course, was under international auspices (sic., the UN partition plan to have Jerusalem under international control was not implemented due to the war)…
[PA President Mahmoud Abbas] also spoke about the issue of the refugees [in his UN speech]. He spoke about [UN Resolution] 194 (see note below -Ed.), okay? The essence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the issue of the refugees. You have 7 million Palestinians who are outside of Palestine. You have 40% of the Palestinians in the 1967 territories (i.e., the West Bank and Gaza Strip) who are refugees from 1948. On this basis, he put the ball in the court of the international community…
The topic that we think is important to all of us is the way in which [Abbas] presented the issue of the prisoners and Martyrs. Regarding this matter, you are speaking about victims. And instead of speaking about victims, they went ahead and defined who the criminal is. A discourse with this kind of language about the topic of the bodies? This has not happened in history. These prisons are ugly copies of Auschwitz and the Bastille. I think that this matter also reflected the opinion of the officials and high ranking members of all the Palestinians. We will not bow, and let no one think that he has us under his thumb when he says that he will prevent money from us if we give [it to the prisoners]… this is a right that we have gained nationally (refers to Israel’s Anti “Pay-for-Slay” Law to deduct PA terror salaries; see note below -Ed.). For us, this is an inherent cause that is not up for debate.”