Abbas: Children carry out attacks because of Duma
The Palestinian President meets with Israeli-Arab journalists in Ramallah in attempt to excuse attacks carried out by Palestinian children. “They saw what happened in Duma to the Dawabshe family and the murder of Abu Khdeir, and they can’t take it anymore.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday defended his meetings with the families of terrorists who killed Israelis in the latest wave of violence, going so far as excusing and justifying the attacks carried out by Palestinian children.
Abbas, speaking to Israeli-Arab journalists in Ramallah, said that the Israeli government must ask itself, “why would a 13- year-old child throw rocks (at cars) or try to attack others? The answer is because these children saw what happened to the Dawabshe family in Duma and the murder of Abu Khdeir. They can’t take it anymore. Give us our rights, and all will be calm.”
Regarding his meeting with the families of terrorists who were killed while attacking Israeli civilians, Abbas said, “These are the families of martyrs. What does Israel want? For me to tell them to go to hell? Because that will never happen."
He then went on to comment on the issue of the Sudanese immigrant who stabbed a soldier in Ashkelon: “Has Israel asked itself about the reasons which cause people to do things like this?”
During the meeting with the Israeli-Arab journalists, the question of what will become of the Arab Triangle and Wadi Ara areas in the event of the creation of a Palestinian state came up. President Abbas responded by saying, “I will not broach this subject. The residents of these areas can visit us whenever they want, but I will not talk about the proposal.”
During the last elections, Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman proposed that the Arab Triangle and Wadi Ara, areas with almost 100,000 Arabs who self-identify as Palestinians, would be incorporated into a Palestinian state, while the major Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank would remain under Israeli control in a comparable land swap.
President Abbas further stated, “We are sick and tired of the continued construction in the settlements. The question also arises as to why Israel froze the release of Palestinian prisoners? We still do not have acceptable answers for these unacceptable actions.”
Abbas further went on to note that, “we do not agree to even consider the creation of a Palestinian state without East Jerusalem as our capital. We have already recognized Israel, but as long as they do not respect our previous agreements, we will not recognize a Jewish state. They cannot force us. In our opinion, we already have a state which is recognized by 137 countries.”
