Wiesenthal Center: Abbas’ Promise of a Palestinian State Cleansed of Jews Endangers Hopes for Peace

Officials from the Simon Wiesenthal Center denounced comments by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made to journalists inCairo in which he said, "In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli - civilian or soldier - on our lands."

“Abbas’ vision of peace in the Holy Land is duplicitous and repugnant and only serves to undermine Secretary of State Kerry’speace initiative,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Center’s associate dean. “The bitter irony is that Abbas has made acareer out of rejecting Israel as a Jewish State, yet has the audacity to claim for himself that the future Palestinian state will be cleansed of Jews,” they continued.

“Abbas and his supporters continue to libel Israel as a racist and apartheid state—despite the fact that nearly 20% of Israelicitizens are Christians and Muslims. Now as renewed peace talks struggle to gain traction, he has signaled Israelis that the neighbor who will be sharing the Holy Land plans to excludeall Jews from its domain,” Rabbi Hier and Rabbi Cooper concluded.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families inthe United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament(Parlatino).