(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) David Pollock - Let us distinguish between the Israeli and Palestinian sides on the nature of hate speech and incitement to violence. In Israel, the problem concerns individuals, but this is not authorized by the Israeli government, which is now actively fighting against this phenomenon. On the Palestinian side, however, from President Abbas, to his Cabinet, to the official media, one must note that every day, Palestinian terrorists who perpetrated assaults are considered heroes. This is the official discourse, which works against peace and which encourages violence and terrorism. It is clearly a case of double-talk and mixed messaging, which professes peace and tolerance, while supporting violence and anti-Semitism. Every day, official Palestinian television calls Jews "rats" and "animals." On the official Facebook page of Palestinian schools, one sees photographs of Hitler, and cartoons that illustrate the hadith saying that Muslims must kill Jews. One could condition European and American financial aid to the Palestinian Authority on its cessation of such speech. The writer is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute. These remarks are from his testimony to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense of the French Senate on January 29, 2014.
2014-02-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive