Dr. Saeb Erekat on burning of Christian and Muslim Holy Sites

During the last 48 hours, a Mosque near Bethlehem and a Christian seminary in Occupied East Jerusalem were set on fire by Israeli terrorists. These terrorists have been incited for and protected by a government that claims exclusivity over this land and that justifies its illegal occupation and colonization based on distorted religious claims. Those attacks are a direct consequence of the calls for recognition of Israel as a “Jewish State” and Jerusalem as the “eternal and undivided capital of the Jewish people.”

We hold the Israeli government fully responsible for those attacks that aim at terrorizing our people in order to leave their land. We will not tolerate any attacks on our Christian and Muslim religious holy sites, including any graffiti attacking Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammad. We call upon the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks against Palestinians. Once again, we call upon the international community to stop treating Israel as a state above the law.

As a nation that takes pride in its history of religious coexistence, we send our support and solidarity to the Islamic Waqf and to all the Christian Churches in Palestine.