Palestinian propaganda State Department pool "journalist" admits he has terrorist relatives

At the daily State Department briefings, a so-called journalist for Palestinian newspaper Al Quds named Said Arikat always harangues the spokesperson with questions that are really meant to get anti-Israel propaganda into the official record.

In yesterday's briefing, he sad something interesting:

QUESTION: Real quick. Thank you, Ned. Last week, while Mr. Hady Amr was visiting the West Bank and Israel, the Israeli occupation authorities razed 50 structures – 50 structures – while he was there. Are you not offended by that? Why is there no statement on these things? Why can’t you say you have to cut this out, stop it, just stop it?

MR PRICE: Said, we have spoken very clearly in public and in private. We have made the point that we believe it is critical to refrain from unilateral steps that increase or exacerbate tensions and then make it more difficult to, over the longer term, achieve that two-state, negotiated solution. This certainly includes demolitions. We’ve certainly made that point. You’ve heard me make that point before. We have made that privately as well.

QUESTION: Yeah, I mean, I hear you all the time. But apparently, they are not hearing you. They are not listening to you. So, what is the use of saying what you’re saying without having – without putting some teeth or some oomph behind your statements?

MR PRICE: Well, Said, we certainly have, and you’ve seen that in any number of forms. We have spoken recently about the steps that we have taken to re-engage the Palestinian people, the Palestinian Authority, to provide humanitarian assistance, to provide support. And we do that not only for the humanitarian implications, because the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank – in the West Bank, are in need of this humanitarian assistance, but also because we are trying to set the conditions to eventually be able to work towards a two-state solution. That has been the overriding goal of successive American administrations, obviously has been an overriding goal that has eluded successive administrations.

As you have heard from us, we aren’t under any illusions that a two-state solution is right around the corner. We’re not under any illusions it will be here next week or even next month. But what we are trying to do now is to set the stage to make meaningful progress, and I think we’ve done that in ways that are both rhetorical but, more importantly, are tangible, including for the welfare and the well-being of the Palestinian people. We have repeatedly made the point that Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve equal measures of safety, of security, of prosperity, and importantly, of dignity. And that is what much of our humanitarian assistance, what much of our support, is aimed at enhancing: a sense of dignity that has in many ways eluded the Palestinian people for far too long.

QUESTION: I mean, you speak of dignity to me. As much as I hate to do it, it’s a personal thing. A cousin of mine, young cousin of mine, 29 years old, was shot dead in cold blood a year ago on the 22nd of June. They still hold his body. Last month, another relative of mine, a young woman, 29 years old, shot in my village. They still hold her body. I mean, talk about dignity. Why do this? Isn’t that collective punishment?

MR PRICE: Said, look, I’m, as you know, not in a position to speak to individual cases. We have spoken to the broader issue of what some might call collective punishment, and we spoke of home demolitions of Palestinians suspected to have been behind attacks. And we made clear that entire communities, entire families shouldn’t be punished for the actions of one individual. But again, I’m just not able to comment on specific cases.

QUESTION: Well, let the record note their names: Ahmed Erekat and Maya Afana.

Ahmed Erekat was killed while trying to ram his car into Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint. It is on video.

Mai Afana also tried to ram her car into soldiers at a checkpoint, then exited the car and tried to stab them.

Arikat sure has some family. And he defends their terror.

(h/t YMedad)

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