Fatah official: PA recognition of Israel as a Jewish state will “never happen under any circumstances”
“Fatah Central Committee Member and [PA] Commissioner of International Relations Nabil Shaath said that the Israeli government’s demand that the State of Palestine recognize Israel as [a] Jewish [state] is the ideological and historical explanation [it] needs to justify the theft of Palestine. He said: ‘They want us to admit that they did not steal our land, since by recognizing the state [of Israel] as Jewish, we would be acknowledging that Palestine is their original land and country.’ He emphasized that this would never happen under any circumstances.
He [Shaath] added: ‘This recognition threatens the right of return and the Palestinians in Israel (i.e., Israeli Arabs). It would mean depriving them of their right to citizenship, and defining them as aliens or visitors. Israel’s aim is to justify the continuation of the colonialist settlement of the occupied land and the [refusal to] retreat from any part of Jerusalem, [which they consider their eternal capital.’ He also said: ‘With this demand, they are threatening the Palestinian [West] Bank, since the propaganda, deceitfulness and claims of the Zionist movement were based on [the idea] that their historic roots were, in fact, in the [West] Bank.
What this means is that they are preparing justifications for stealing the lands of the State of Palestine. Through this recognition, the settlement will become legal, meaning [it] will no [longer] be colonialism.’
He added: ‘They are trying to falsify reality, and their historic stories about their connection to the land of Palestine are questionable…
From WAFA, official PA news agency
He [Shaath] added: ‘This recognition threatens the right of return and the Palestinians in Israel (i.e., Israeli Arabs). It would mean depriving them of their right to citizenship, and defining them as aliens or visitors. Israel’s aim is to justify the continuation of the colonialist settlement of the occupied land and the [refusal to] retreat from any part of Jerusalem, [which they consider their eternal capital.’ He also said: ‘With this demand, they are threatening the Palestinian [West] Bank, since the propaganda, deceitfulness and claims of the Zionist movement were based on [the idea] that their historic roots were, in fact, in the [West] Bank.
What this means is that they are preparing justifications for stealing the lands of the State of Palestine. Through this recognition, the settlement will become legal, meaning [it] will no [longer] be colonialism.’
He added: ‘They are trying to falsify reality, and their historic stories about their connection to the land of Palestine are questionable…
From WAFA, official PA news agency