PLO official: I never called for a Jew-free Palestine

[oberliner]

Excerpt:

"It's not a misquotation or out of context, it's a total fabrication," Areikat said in an interview today. "I never mentioned the word ‘Jews,' I never said that Palestine has to be free of Jews."

Areikat said that he stands by his call for "separation," but that he intended to refer to the separation of the Israel and Palestinian peoples, not the members of the two religions. Areikat also said that the idea of "separation" is an Israeli idea and that Israeli officials including Defense Minister Ehud Barak have endorsed it.

"Israeli people includes Christians, Jews, Muslims, Druze... When I say the Israeli people, I mean everybody. This is not a religious conflict, this is not against Jews. We want to be a secular state," Areikat said.

"This was a total set-up," Areikat said, adding that Weinstein followed him to his car after the breakfast meeting. "He followed me to my car and asked me if I would allow homosexuals to live in Palestine. I didn't know he was trying to implicate me. It was all premeditated."

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/15/plo_official_i_never_called_for_a_jew_free_palestine

Not sure what this means for the Israeli Muslims and Christians who call themselves Palestinian citizens of Israel.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DirkGently]

2. Source? The actual quoted exchange says nothing like that.

Know nothing about this guy, but the quotes of the full Q &A in the source article do not contain the words you have in quotes.

Edit:per the article in the OP here's what was actually said:


JW: What kind of state do you perceive the independent Palestinians to be? For instance, do you imagine that in an independent Palestinian state, a Jew could be elected mayor of Ramallah?

MA: I haven't seen the draft resolution but I can assure you the resolution will be calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. And it will definitely include also that it will live side by side in peace and security with Israel...

JW: To my point, do you foresee in an independent Palestinian state, for instance, a member of the Jewish minority there, if they existed, being elected mayor of Ramallah?

MA: Well, you know, I personally still believe as a first step we need to be totally separated and we can contemplate these issues in the future. But after the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict of friction, I think it would be in the best interests of the two peoples to be separated first.

[socialshockwave]

3. Here ya go.

“Well, I personally still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated, and we can contemplate these issues in the future,” he said when asked by The Daily Caller if he could imagine a Jew being elected mayor of the Palestinian city of Ramallah in a future independent Palestinian state. “But after the experience of 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it will be in the best interests of the two peoples to be separated first.”

It sounds like he's saying that there needs to be a separate Palestine - not Israel. Apologies for the error.

[Purveyor]

6. Well I'm sure the "Daily Caller" can provide audio of this for verification.

After all Daily Caller is a less than reputable rightwing site, imo.

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. What are you talking about

and why did you call OP a moron?

[socialshockwave]

5. Wasn't talking about the OP. I was referring to the guy who said the quote he didn't say.

n't

[shira]

7. The Tablet interview from last year proves he did. n/t

[shaayecanaan]

8. No, he didnt

he started off his answer by saying "Israelis". It was the interviewer who then deliberately conflated the issues of "Israelis" and "Jews" by referring to "Jews" in his follow up questions. No doubt this was probably deliberate, and the ambassador was probably a bit gauche in falling for such an obvious ploy, but it is certainly ridiculous to say that he called for a Jew-free Palestine.

And in the event, even if all the settlers leave, there will still be Jews in Palestine (albeit a relatively small number, but then again, prior to the settlements, there was only a relatively small number anyway). The ambassador made it perfectly clear that they would be receptive to Jews wanting to migrate to Palestine, in the future, but that they would have to do so legally.

[Violet_Crumble]

9. I can see why it'd be confusing to some 'supporters' of Israel...

Those who are in the habit of conflating Israelis and Jews would of course read the word 'Israeli' as being 'Jew', which then provides hundreds of posts of unadulterated glee in pronouncing how antisemitic Palestinians are, and at it's crescendo is topped off by a lecture about how conflating Israelis and Jews is antisemitic....

[shira]

10. You don't have to be an apologist for the PA's extremely bigoted rightwingery.

He was very clear in the Tablet interview right here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x363590#363727