Ashrawi condemns racist anti-Christian graffiti

PLO Executive Committee member Dr Hanan Ashrawi has condemned racist graffiti by Jewish extremists on the walls of the Dormition Abbey of the Virgin Mary on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Slogans written in Hebrew called for the “Slaughter of Christians to send them to hell”.

Ashrawi made her comments at the PLO headquarters on Sunday where she met with a US delegation from the Tree of Life Educational Fund. Items discussed included the latest political developments on the ground, the general situation in Palestine and across the region, and the Israeli attacks against the institutions of the State of Palestine, particularly in the education, health and religious sectors.

“The escalation of violence and organised hate crimes practiced by Jewish extremists against religious sanctities are within the context of a sectarian war,” said the former Palestinian Authority spokesperson. “This is led and fed by the extremist Israeli government in order to realise the vision of ‘the purity of the state’, which adopts the goal of establishing a Jewish state through the violation of anything that is non-Jewish.”

During the meeting, Ashrawi reviewed the Israeli practices that violate international laws and norms. Such practices are being manifested daily, she told the visitors, in the campaign of field executions by the occupying state against the largely defenceless Palestinian people; the violation of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, including Al-Aqsa Mosque; the arbitrary arrests; ongoing illegal settlement activities; the isolation of Palestinian towns from each other through checkpoints and other barriers; the theft of land and natural resources, as well as the Palestinians’ history and culture; the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure; and other collective punishments carried out by Israel in order to get rid of the Palestinian people.

“The international community,” insisted Dr Ashrawi, “must assume its humanitarian and legal responsibilities by exposing and holding this occupation accountable, lifting Israel’s immunity, uncovering its practices and ordering it to follow international laws, norms and obligations which it has breached in full view of the world.”

The veteran activist also touched on the official US policy and its complicity with the Israeli occupation. She stressed the importance of the role that should be played by American public opinion and civil society in the face of Washington’s policy by holding the decision-makers accountable for the continuation and deepening of the Israeli occupation.