Dr. Saeb Erekat: “The Israeli government has approved a racist law attempting to distort the Palestinian social fabric”

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat strongly criticized today an Israeli government decision to extend a provision under its Citizenship law, banning mainly Palestinians from reunifying their families in Occupied East Jerusalem and within the State of Israel.

“What the Israeli government has approved is a racist law attempting to distort the Palestinian social fabric and force the displacement of Palestinian families. Thousands of Palestinian children have been separated from their parents as a result of this law. Israel not only wants to control Palestinian freedom of movement and steal land and natural resources through its colonial settlement enterprise, but seeks to control the very right of our people to choose and establish a family.”

Dr. Erekat called upon the international community to “seriously examine the pattern of Israeli policies contributing to a situation of apartheid and to look into the wider effects and implications of the Israeli government’s precondition of being recognized as a Jewish State.”