Palestinian Envoy to the UNHRC Ibrahim Khreisheh Suggests that Jews Should Return to Their Countries of Origin

Ibrahim Khreisheh, the Palestinian envoy to the U.N. Human Rights Council, recently said that it may "be useful" to ask Arab and European countries "to allow the Jews to return to their former lands and homes." "Then we, the Palestinians, will return to be the way we were - Jews, Christians, and Muslims," he said, in a February 4, 2016 interview with the official Palestinian Authority TV channel, adding: "We never had people from Poland, the Ukraine, Switzerland, France, or England."

Following are excerpts:

Ibrahim Khreisheh: A few days ago, Barack Obama said: "We are all Jews." But we, as Palestinians, say: We are Jews, Christians, and Muslims. So [Obama] did not invent anything new. Our problem is that the Jews came to Palestine from outside the region, colonized it, and established their own state. If they still hold any belief in the notion of a Promised Land, I believe that everybody knows that all the historical stories about their exodus, and about how they left Egypt for Palestine, which they call the "Promised Land"… If this "Promised Land" within Israel is not large enough for them, and they have begun to take over our lands in the West Bank, with their settlements…

I believe that President Putin's message is very important. He declared – about two weeks ago, I believe – that Russia was ready to accept back all the Russian Jews, who are suffering throughout Europe. Therefore, if the [Israelis] continue on this track, it may be useful to consider asking many countries – to allow the Jews to return to their former lands and homes, whether they are Iraqi, Yemeni, Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Lebanese, or Syrian. Then we, the Palestinians, will return to be the way we were – Jews, Christians, and Muslims. We never had people from Poland, the Ukraine, Switzerland, France, or England.

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