Bethlehem/PNN/

PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi said:“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again bent on proving that he is willfully delusional; he is also determined to slander and publicly malign any public figure or leader who expresses concern about his dangerous policies and who warns against the occupation’s disastrous consequences.

“Netanyahu wants to impose a false and misleading version of reality by claiming without a shred of evidence that Palestinians ‘want to destroy a state’ and not build one, or that ‘they want to murder Jews simply because they are Jews.’ Such public tirades are contrary to the fact that the Palestinians recognized the state of Israel on 22% of historical Palestine in 1993, and that Palestine has always been tolerant, inclusive and pluralistic; it has never claimed exclusivity or exceptional privilege on the basis of ethnicity or religion.

“We have repeatedly stated that we have no conflict with Jews— the conflict is with the occupation itself and with the Israeli government’s policies, regardless of the religion or the ethnicity of the perpetrators of such an injustice.

By attacking the UN and slandering its Secretary-General, Netanyahu is once again providing further proof of his loss of touch with reality, and is demonstrating the arrogance of power that has been a constant attribute of his ideology and policies. This attitude in itself is the real danger to peace, security, justice, and the rule of law throughout the region and the world.”