Israeli terrorism is "culmination of racist policies"

As the number of openly racist statements by Israeli politicians and officials grows daily, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Information has said that Israeli terrorism “is the culmination of its racist policies”. The ministry made its comments following the latest outburst by Israel’s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman in which he said that the morale of the Israel Defence Forces is never higher than when killing Palestinians.

“Such statements,” said the ministry, “defy humanity and international laws and conventions.”

In a press release, the Ramallah-based ministry added: “This is very serious, showing as it does the practical aspects of the state terrorism practised by the Israeli occupation. It is an open invitation for soldiers to liquidate ever more Palestinians in cold blood with the backing of a senior government minister. It is racism, pure and simple, which needs to be criminalised and prosecuted in all of its pernicious forms.”

A report in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper revealed that soldiers paint an “X” sign on every Israeli tank which kills a Palestinian. “This is the culmination of Israel’s racist policies and has to be added to the lengthy list of its crimes which make a complete mockery of the Israel Defence Forces’ claim of ‘Purity of Arms’ as an army subordinate to ‘universal moral values based on the value and dignity of human life’.”

The PA is demanding the UN General Assembly and Security Council, and its human rights agencies, “to prosecute Israel for this criminal behaviour”. The UN should also “assume its political, legal and ethical responsibilities for protecting the people under an oppressive occupation with a black record of crimes against humanity and lack of respect for international law”.