Abbas: Israel is trying to “Judaize” the Western Wall
Headline: “The President [Abbas] to [Egyptian magazine] Rose Al-Yusuf: All efforts to achieve peace should be made in accordance with the international decisions”
“Q: Could you elaborate on the campaign to isolate Israel politically and economically?
PA Chairman Abbas: Because of this campaign, which has begun before 2012 and is still running, all of Europe now says that the settlements are illegal, and Washington also stated, through its Secretary of State John Kerry, that the settlements are illegal. Furthermore, Europe has taken another step forward and boycotted all products originating from settlements, because they are illegal, and this is the first time in history that Europe has taken such positions. Therefore we continue in this direction and we will not stop. This is what I have said when I have spoken to several American officials – that our goal is to isolate Israel’s policy… and they say: ‘You want to isolate Israel.’ I told them, however: ‘I recognize Israel but I demand to isolate its policies.’ If I did not mean to recognize it, I would have stopped my relations with them [the Israelis], but I do not wish to boycott them, but rather to isolate their foreign policy in all the countries of the world and, praise Allah, we have succeeded. This is what made the Pope, who recently visited us, change his planned route and pray at the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall) which Israel is trying to Judaize, and he also prayed near the [separation] fence, which was not part of his program, in order to tell the world: ‘We are against the fence.’”
“Q: Could you elaborate on the campaign to isolate Israel politically and economically?
PA Chairman Abbas: Because of this campaign, which has begun before 2012 and is still running, all of Europe now says that the settlements are illegal, and Washington also stated, through its Secretary of State John Kerry, that the settlements are illegal. Furthermore, Europe has taken another step forward and boycotted all products originating from settlements, because they are illegal, and this is the first time in history that Europe has taken such positions. Therefore we continue in this direction and we will not stop. This is what I have said when I have spoken to several American officials – that our goal is to isolate Israel’s policy… and they say: ‘You want to isolate Israel.’ I told them, however: ‘I recognize Israel but I demand to isolate its policies.’ If I did not mean to recognize it, I would have stopped my relations with them [the Israelis], but I do not wish to boycott them, but rather to isolate their foreign policy in all the countries of the world and, praise Allah, we have succeeded. This is what made the Pope, who recently visited us, change his planned route and pray at the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall) which Israel is trying to Judaize, and he also prayed near the [separation] fence, which was not part of his program, in order to tell the world: ‘We are against the fence.’”