Israel’s Smotrich: Palestinians ‘an invention’ of past century
Paris (QNN)- Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed late on Sunday that Palestinian people are “an invention” of the past century and that “there’s no such thing as Palestinians.”
Speaking in Paris on Sunday at the memorial of the late Likud activist Jacques Kupfer, Smotrich said there was “no such thing as a Palestinian” because “there is no such thing as the Palestinian people. There is no Palestinian history. There is no Palestinian language.”
“Do you know who are the Palestinians? I’m Palestinian,” Smotrich said, going on to describe his late grandfather, who he claimed was a “13th generation Jerusalemite” as “the true Palestinian.”
“The Palestinian people is an invention that is less than 100 years old,” added Smotrich.
“Is there a Palestinian history or culture? No. There were Arabs in the Middle East who arrived in the Land of Israel at the same time as the Jewish immigration and the beginning of Zionism. After 2,000 years of exile, the people of Israel were returning home, and there were Arabs around [us] who did not like it. So what do they do? They invent fictitious people in the Land of Israel and claim fictitious rights in the Land of Israel just to fight the Zionist movement,” Smotrich alleged.
Smotrich was speaking at a podium adorned with a map based on the crest of the Zionist Irgun militia, which shows ‘Israel’ straddling the West Bank and Jordan, saying that the French and US governments needed to hear “this truth” about the Palestinians.
A video of ultranationalist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich struggling to speak English has gone viral online. pic.twitter.com/snoHsKXnzk
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 20, 2023
Speaking from Paris, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich: "The Palestinian people are an invention from the past century. There is no such thing as Palestinians because there’s no such thing as the Palestinian people". pic.twitter.com/KgRkt5rgsM
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 20, 2023
The map shown on the podium Smotrich was speaking at also showed parts of Syria and Lebanon, regions included in the concept of Eretz Yisrael – Greater Israel – a key part of ultra-nationalist Zionism that claims all of these lands for a Zionist state.
Smotrich’s appearance at the memorial was supposed to be sponsored by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), but the group removed its support because of the minister’s appearance, Haaretz reported.
Smotrich, who is also responsible for Israel’s civil administration in the occupied West Bank, is well-known for making inflammatory statements against Palestinians and is a staunch opponent of the establishment of a Palestinian state.
On March 1, he triggered international outrage after he called for the Palestinian village of Huwwara to be “wiped out”, comments that coincided with hundreds of Israeli settlers violently rampaging through the streets of Huwwara, killing one person, injuring hundreds of others, and burning dozens of cars. The settler riot, or what many are calling a pogrom, came in revenge after a shooting operation was carried out and resulted in the killing of two Israeli settlers in the town of Huwwara earlier that day.
