The idea of a Jew-free future Palestinian state seems not to be bothering the Canadian media very much.
The Palestinian envoy to the United States Maen Rashid Areikat said on Tuesday in Washington that the Palestinian Liberation Organization opposes the immediate presence of Jews and gays in an independent Palestinian state, according to reports in US-based publications The Daily Caller and The Weekly Standard. This did not merit media attention, however.
Weinstein’s questioning triggered widespread coverage in the national US media, including an article in USA Today headlined “PLO ambassador says Palestinian state should be free of Jews.”
In an interview last year with Tablet magazine, Aerikat was more explicit on this point.
“Any Jew who is inside the borders of Palestine will have to leave?” he was asked.
“Absolutely,” replied Areikat. “I think this is a very necessary step, before we can allow the two states to somehow develop their separate national identities, and then maybe open up the doors for all kinds of cultural, social, political, economic exchanges, that freedom of movement of both citizens of Israelis and Palestinians from one area to another. You know you have to think of the day after.”
Areikat did not explain how a Palestinian state would go about removing all of the Jews within its borders.
Areikat’s remarks triggered widespread coverage in the national US media, including an article in USA Today headlined “PLO ambassador says Palestinian state should be free of Jews.”
