Following a joint fast-breaking iftar meal between PLO officials and left-wing pro-Palestinian Israelis, Palestinians took to social media to condemn this act of “normalization” with the “enemy.”
By United With Israel Staff
Is it conceivable that the Palestinians could some day become good-faith peace partners with the Jewish State?
After reading this story, we think the answer will be quite obvious.
Last Friday, the PLO’s Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society sent a delegation of Palestinian officials to Jaffa for a Ramadan break-fast meal, called “iftar,” with a group of Israelis that included former Meretz party lawmaker David Zucker.
In response, Palestinians expressed their outrage on social media, condemning the meal in “occupied Jaffa,” reported the Jerusalem Post.
Meanwhile, Zucker announced, “I’m very delighted to host here our friends from the Palestinian Authority,” calling the event “an evening full of joy.”
Palestinian political activist Rasem Obeidat did not share Zucker’s sentiments, calling the joint meal a “treacherous iftar.”
In a released statement, Obeidat continued, “The so-called Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society is a committee for normalization with an enemy that occupies our land and wants to expel our people. Its role is to legalize Arab normalization with the state of occupation.”
At the meal, former Palestinian Authority minister Ashraf Ajrami delivered a speech affirming PLO principles that include an independent Palestinian state, with the eastern portion of Jerusalem as its capital.
PLO committee member Shadad al-Atili defended the joint gathering, claiming that those in attendance support the two-state solution.
“This is a symbolic iftar between Palestinian and Israeli peace activists,” he said according to the Post. “We carry a joint message in support for the two-state solution.”
The PLO’s Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society, which organizes visits by Israelis to Ramallah, an Arab city that Israelis are usually barred from entering, denied charges that it was engaging in promoting “normalization with the occupation.”
“We need to distinguish between normalization with the occupation and its tools – which is unacceptable and condemned by Palestinians – and working on the internal Israeli front for dialogue and debate with Israeli society and its various aspects,” the committee stated.
Given the irate reactions by Palestinians about good-faith meetings even with pro-Palestinian Israelis, one would be hard-pressed to believe that the Palestinian Authority could ever agree to become peace partners with the State of Israel.