Reply #79: Palestinian diplomat takes on Israel, AIPAC and U.S [View All]

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"Palestinians have had to pay a heavy price for the birth of Israel, says Afif Safieh, the top Palestinian representative to the U.S.

"Misunderstood,” "misportrayed” and "mischaracterized,” Palestinians are the victims of a tragedy, he said. Their suffering and their rights have been denied as Israel has unilaterally annexed "occupied” Jerusalem in defiance of international law and United Nations resolutions."

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"His message may not be one that Jews are comfortable hearing. But during a speech to the City Club last week, the articulate, forceful and erudite diplomat received two standing ovations from an audience predominantly Arab and sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Safieh was vitriolic in his criticism of what he often called, simply, "the lobby,” the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). "On Capitol Hill, AIPAC has gone for the kill. It's easy to demonize Hamas and the Palestinian people. They had the audacity of voting for Hamas. Islamaphobia, Arabphobia are the only permissible forms of racism” in America.


The AIPAC agenda, he claimed, is to stop American aid to Palestinian society, block U.S. Palestinian leaders from visiting the occupied territories, and close the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington. Furthermore, AIPAC wants the U.S. to subtract from its United Nations dues the amount the international organization spends on Palestinian aid. Finally, he said AIPAC wants to bar Palestinian Americans from visiting Gaza or the West Bank by designating it a sanctuary for terrorists."


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