World Jewish Congress slams Palestinian 'culture of hate'

"The series of attacks against Jews in Israel is the direct result of incitement by radical elements who call upon Palestinian youth to murder Jews," the board asserted.

By SAM SOKOL
Cartoon on Facebook page of news portal "Palestine Now" shows Palestinian making victory sign with his fingers, drawn as two knives. (photo credit: MEMRI)
Cartoon on Facebook page of news portal "Palestine Now" shows Palestinian making victory sign with his fingers, drawn as two knives.
(photo credit: MEMRI)
The World Jewish Congress issued a scathing rebuke of the Palestinians on Tuesday, lamenting what it termed a “culture of hate in the Palestinian media, in schools and on social networks.”
In a resolution passed during the organization’s Governing Board meeting in Rome, the international Jewish representative body both reaffirmed its endorsement of a two-state solution while casting blame for a recent escalation of violence on the Palestinian leadership.
“The series of attacks against Jews in Israel is the direct result of incitement by radical elements who call upon Palestinian youth to murder Jews,” the board asserted.
The WJC urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, along with the leaders of regional Arab states, to refrain from the spreading of “malicious claims against Israel, especially using inflammatory rhetoric.”
Such rhetoric is used to “treat terrorists as heroes.”
Radical Islamists who brought weapons to the Temple Mount were singled out as “endangering this holy site and attempting to turn it into a battlefield,” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts in “maintaining the status quo” and decision to prevent Knesset members from ascending the mount were lauded.
The WJC also condemned UNESCO, both for its recent statements on the Temple Mount, which it termed a “litany of demonstrable falsehoods,” and for its description of both the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron as being exclusively holy Muslim sites.
The group did, however, describe UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova as having shown “great courage” for repudiating her body’s “flagrant distortion of history.”
While the WJC said it felt great concern over Abbas’s apparent repudiation of the Oslo Accords during his recent appearance at the UN General Assembly, it did state that “two-states for two peoples is the only workable, realistic basis for a true and lasting peace,” and called for the immediate resumption of direct negotiations.
WJC General Counsel Menachem Rosensaft said “it was a very well attended meeting representing Jewish communities from literally around the world and President Lauder stated his view that the two-state solution was the only viable option, essentially reaffirming what he wrote in his opinion piece in The Jerusalem Post and he stated his reasoning was this was his strongly held view and the governing board adopted a resolution reaffirming the position of the World Jewish Congress in support of a two-state solution.”
Writing in the Post on Sunday, Lauder called for a swift resumption of talks, stating that “Rather than lay blame for what has caused this recent outbreak of violence, I am keenly focused on where we go from here.
“As we speak, Israelis are living in a constant state of fear. And lone, disaffected Palestinians are taking matters into their own hands, carrying out brutal acts. Some would say that there is no way to have constructive talks in this environment, but I believe now is precisely the time for dialogue,” Lauder wrote.
He called upon Abbas to reign in extremists while also stating that Netanyahu must “reach across boundaries with magnanimity and generosity to acknowledge the fact that President Abbas is the commanding voice for the Palestinian people, which deserves a state of its own.”
Earlier this year WJC President Ronald Lauder met with Abbas in Amman.
The pair had previously met in London in 2012. While Lauder recently told attendees at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York that “no serious discussion about peace for the Jewish people of Israel can take place without a strong agreement for a viable two-state solution,” he has also been a consistent critic of Abbas.
Speaking with the Post last year, Lauder said Abbas does not want peace.
The Palestinian leader “could not have done more to destroy the peace process,” he said.
The leadership of the WJC is slated to meet with Pope Francis on Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate declaration, a papal document that, which among other decrees, absolved the Jews from culpability in the death of Jesus.