PA urges world to blackball MKs who back law on West Bank colleges
Palestinian ministry says lawmakers should be banned from countries, added to terror blacklist over support for measure extending Israeli law to Israeli schools over Green Line
Khaled Abu Toameh is the Palestinian Affairs correspondent for The Times of Israel
The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday stepped up its rhetorical attacks on Israel — this time by calling on all parliaments to boycott Knesset members who supported a bill that applies Israeli law to Israeli academic institutions in the West Bank.
The PA also called for placing the Knesset members on the list of global terrorists.
However, the PA, in a statement published by its Ministry of Information in Ramallah, refrained from mentioning the names of the specific lawmakers it wants the world to punish.
The PA’s appeal came in response to a law passed on Monday granting Israeli institutions over the Green Line the same academic standing as other higher education institutions inside Israel.
The legislation, which was passed by the Knesset on Monday, is known as the Ariel University Law because it paves the way for the university to establish a medical school.
The school had previously received an upgraded status in 2012.
The PA has condemned the law, dubbing it another Israeli step aimed at sabotaging any peace process between the Palestinians and Israel.
The PA Ministry of Information, which often uses extremely harsh rhetoric when condemning Israel, went a step further by accusing the MKs who voted in favor the legislation of “supporting racism and terrorism.”
The ministry statement called on parliaments and lawmakers around the world to boycott the MKs and prevent them from entering their countries.
The PA ministry also called on the parliaments to place the names of the MKs who supported the law on terror blacklists.
The passing of the bill defies the will of the world and its decisions rejecting settlements, the ministry argued.
“The accelerated frequency of passing extremist and racist laws is a sign of Israel’s persistence in pursuing terrorism,” it charged.
“It also exposes the dreams of imposing full (Israeli) sovereignty on the West Bank, obliterating the Palestinians’ legitimate national rights and foiling United Nations General Assembly and Security resolutions that reject settlements.”
The PA ministry also called on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and all “free” academic institutions in the world to boycott Israel and academic institutions “that were built on our lands.”
The statement condemned Education Minister Naftali Bennett for using the biblical name Judea and Samaria when talking about the West Bank.
The use of the name Judea and Samaria was tantamount to an “open call for ethnic cleansing and incitement to kill our sons,” the PA statement said. “It’s also a call to settlers to commit brutal acts and run wild.”
