In Christmas message, Abbas calls on world to protect Palestinians from Israel
Palestinian Authority president accuses Israeli government of continuing to "consolidate an Apartheid regime."
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHUpdated: DECEMBER 24, 2015 00:38Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas(photo credit: AFP PHOTO)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday accused Israel of continuing to “consolidate an Apartheid regime by accelerating policies that destroy the two-state solution.”Abbas’s latest accusation came in a “Christmas Message” in which he repeated other charges against Israel, such as the construction of an “Annexation Wall” and the uprooting of “historic olive trees” near Bethlehem.“Jesus is a symbol for all Palestinians,” Abbas said. “Palestine and its people take pride in being the birthplace of Christianity and having the oldest Christian community in the world.”Palestinians in Bethlehem, he said, would celebrate Christmas this year “surrounded by 18 illegal settlements and an annexation wall, which are taking over their land.”Abbas went on to say this Christmas comes during a particularly difficult period and that international intervention is “desperately needed to protect the Palestinians.”He accused Israeli extremists of attacking mosques and churches, and said the “twin cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem have been separated for the first time in more than 2,000 years of Christianity.”The PA president stressed that there can be no Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital.He also reiterated his condemnation of terrorism by Islamic State and other groups, saying he supported action against them.“We express our solidarity with the peoples who have been affected by their evil actions, and particularly with the millions of refugees who were forced to leave their homes in search of safety,” he said.