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Netanyahu leads propaganda machine to defend occupation: Palestinian official

Xinhua, August 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat on Thursday said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading a "propaganda machine" to defend Israel's occupation of Palestine.

In a statement, Erekat said "Once again, Israel and its propaganda machine attempt to defend its prolonged and belligerent occupation of Palestine."

He said Netanyahu aims at "justifying the racist narrative that Palestinians are to blame, rather than Israel's military machine and armed settler that exercise violence and oppression against the land and people of Palestine."

Erekat's remarks came after a video by Netanyahu accused Palestinians of pushing their children to death on Aug. 2.

In his video, Netanyahu said "the Palestinian leadership must stop encouraging children to kill. They must stop encouraging Palestinian parents to call for the death of their own children."

Netanyahu showed a few seconds in which a Palestinian father, Ayoub Sroor, carried his three-year-old child daring Israeli army soldiers to kill him.

In response, Erekat said "the few seconds shown by Netanyahu omit a large portion of the physical and psychological attacks that Ayoub Sroor, who is the father of Jihad, Mamdouh, Issa, Bara'a and Mohammad, has been subject to threats for years from armed Israeli soldiers."

The video is part of a weekly demonstration in Ni'lin, a village near Ramallah, severely affected by the Israeli separation wall and settlements, where large portions of agricultural lands were confiscated.

"Sroor's helpless reaction shows the desperation a life under occupation creates. Netanyahu and his extremist government are the ones responsible for killing the hope in the minds and hearts of millions of Palestinians," said Erekat's statement.

Erekat accused Israel of using "every opportunity to violate the rights of Palestinian children, including their right to a dignified life."

He highlighted the the Israeli Knesset approved on Wednesday a law that would allow Israeli authorities to imprison Palestinian children under 14 years old and that there are currently over 400 Palestinian children in Israeli prisons.

The PLO secretary general concluded his statement reiterating that the Palestinians will "continue to seek justice through international mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, to hold Israel accountable for the crime it commits against the Palestinian people." Endit