Arab MK urges world to boycott Israel
Knesset Member Talab El-Sana calls on international community to boycott Israel over Hebron house takeover 'like South Africa during the apartheid era.' Meanwhile, Defense Minister Peretz says he fears escalations of violent clashes between settlers, Palestinians
The international community should boycott Israel over the Hebron house takeover like it boycotted South Africa during the apartheid era, Knesset Member Talab El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) said Tuesday.
According to El-Sana, Israel was the one endangering the region's stability.
"What is actually happening is that the Israeli government is presenting itself as innocent while pointing a finger at the Palestinian government, when in fact Israel is the one who is systematically violating international treaties and Security Council resolutions," the MK explained.
"Israel is the one which is not honoring the agreements it signed, such as the Oslo Accords or the Road Map. Israel is the one continuing its intensive military operation in the West Bank and putting the ceasefire at risk, while backing the rioters in Hebron," he charged.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Amir Peretz instructed his office to legally examine what actions could be taken against the settlers who occupied a Hebron house on Monday evening.
Peretz said he was unsatisfied with the matter and feared an escalation of violent clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank city. However, a source in the minister's office said that Peretz would not operate before receiving legal advice.
A senior police official told Ynet on Tuesday morning that the police had no plans to evacuate the settlers
from the Hebron house.
"We have no legal basis to evacuate them," he explained.
IDF soldiers have been guarding the house since Monday night and will continue to guard it until the legal examination of its ownership documents is completed. The settlers, on their part, promised to reinforce their presence in the area.
Kadima MK: Settlers did government’s job
Also Tuesday, MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima) visited the home invaded by settlers in Hebron and said that "Kadima raised the banner of expanding settlement blocs and the demographic separation, and there is no doubt that Hebron and Kiryat Arba will be an inseparable part of these blocs."
Schneller added that he was under the impression that the house was purchased legally.
"The purchase of the house contributes to the continuation of Kiryat Arba into Hebron, a very important issue. If the Israeli government did not do it until today, the settlers did it instead,” he said.
MK El-Sana said in response, "The fact that the prime minister's aide, MK Otniel Schneller, is involved is proof that we are not talking about a horde of people, but about an act backed by the government.
"Therefore, I believe that the one endangering stability is not the victim – the Palestinians – but the Israeli government. So it is not the victim who should be punished, but the assaulter, in order to force it to return to the diplomatic process and fulfill its obligations according to international treaties," he said.
Ronny Sofer, Efrat Weiss and Amnon Meranda contributed to the report
