RAMALLAH, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates expressed today its great concern over the continuing campaign of previous US administration officials to encourage further violations of Palestinian rights and undermine efforts by the current Administration aimed to revive the political process.
“The Friedman Center for Peace Through Strength, which will be inaugurated on 11 October by former US Ambassador to Israel and settler-supporter David Friedman, will promote and perverse Trumpian attitudes that only heighten tensions,” said the Foreign Ministry in a statement. “It will promote the advancement of the hollow process of normalizing Israeli occupation and building alliances in accordance with the “Abraham Accords”.
Friedman is notorious for his extremist positions and support for annexation, colonization and other crimes under international law, in addition to his notorious efforts at denying the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
“It thus comes as no surprise that the inauguration of this center will be in the so called “Museum of Tolerance”, built over the Mamillah Cemetery, one of the oldest Muslim cemeteries in Jerusalem,” added the statement.
The Mamillah Cemetery dates back to the eleventh century and it is the place where thousands of Palestinian families and figures were laid to rest. Over the past years Israeli occupation destroyed over 1,500 tombs by 2020 to establish the so-called “Museum of tolerance”.
The Ministry added, “One of the basic requirements for peace is respect of religious sites, maintaining their status quo, and their status and in the particular case of the Mamillah cemetery, to allow for its restoration rather than to continue the process of desecration.”
The Ministry called upon ‘everyone concerned’ not to take part in such events that contribute to the desecration Muslim Holy Site. Participation in these events only serves as an incentive for the extremists that have advanced such plans to continue their vicious attacks against the rights and the very existence of the Palestinian people.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency