Hamas: Israel’s decision to exile Abu Tir from J’lem a racist step

Hamas: Israel’s decision to exile Abu Tir from J’lem a racist step

DAMASCUS, — The Movement of Hamas strongly denounced the Israeli decision to exile Hamas lawmaker Mohamed Abu Tir from his hometown of occupied Jerusalem, describing it as a racist step and part of Israel’s ongoing crimes against the holy city and its native residents.

In a press release on Friday, Hamas said that such decisions are aimed to empty the holy city of Jerusalem of its indigenous people and its national figures as part of Israel’s schemes to Judaize the city and the Aqsa Mosque.

The Movement stressed that such a step would never intimidate the Palestinian people or shake their adherence to their national rights.

It called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah to stop its frivolous negotiations that are used by Israel as an umbrella for its Judaization and settlement activities.

The Israeli government decided, after releasing MP Abu Tir from its jail on Thursday, to strip him of his residence right and banish him from Jerusalem, his hometown.

In the same context, Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the first deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council (PLC), also condemned the Israeli decision to expel Abu Tir from Jerusalem, saying it was part of the forced migration policy pursued by Israel.

Dr. Bahar also described it as a racist measure taken away from any legal, moral or humane considerations.

He warned that Jerusalem is exposed to the most dangerous Israeli scheme that is aimed to uproot its rightful owners and expunge its Arab and Muslim identity.

The lawmaker called on the Arab League and the organization of the Islamic conference to assume their role in defending Jerusalem and its people against Israel’s attempts to expel them from their city and Judaize it.

The decision was also slammed by the Palestinian minister of prisoners’ affairs Mohamed Al-Ghoul who described it as a racist decision issued by a criminal mindset that does not recognize human rights or international laws.

Ghoul underlined that Israel did not want to end its punitive measures against Abu Tir after releasing him from its jails, but it hastened to send a force of its troops to his home to tell him about a decision to exile him at the pretext that he lost his right to stay in Jerusalem when he was nominated to the PLC.

The minister pointed out that the international law criminalizes such arbitrary measures and classifies them as punishable war crimes.

He called on the concerned international organizations to assume their legal and moral responsibilities and to intervene to stop the policy of forced migration, which was particularly escalated when Israel issued a military decision number 1650 that stipulated the expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from their villages and cities in the West Bank.

Ghoul noted that his ministry will report these violations to international and Arab parliaments so as to address Israel’s measures against the Palestinian lawmakers especially those from Jerusalem.

For its part, the international campaign for the release of Palestinian lawmakers on Friday said that the Israeli decision to expel Abu Tir from his hometown is a crime against international law and part of a wider scheme to uproot Jerusalemite people from their city.

Head of the campaign MP Mushir Al-Masri appealed in a press release to all parliaments of the world to break their silence towards such Israeli crimes against Palestinian lawmakers and immediately move to stop the serious decision to exile Abu Tir from Jerusalem.

He affirmed that the international campaign will move at all levels to urge the international bodies to assume their responsibilities in this regard and expose Israel’s criminal practices against Palestinian lawmakers in international meetings and conferences.

Earlier on Thursday, Masir said in a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC) that Israel played with fire, overstepped all red lines and proved further its criminal and racist mindset when it decided to exile a Palestinian lawmaker from his hometown.

The head of international campaign also warned Israel of the consequences of carrying out its decision, saying the implications would be dangerous and Israel would be fully responsible for what could happen.