Ron Kampeas Denies Palestinian Plans For An Apartheid State--But When Challenged, Remains Silent (Updated)

The Palestine Liberation Organization's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that any future Palestinian state it seeks with help from the United Nations and the United States should be free of Jews.

"After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," Maen Areikat, the PLO ambassador, said during a meeting with reporters sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor. He was responding to a question about the rights of minorities in a Palestine of the future.
PLO ambassador says Palestinian state should be free of Jews, USA Today, 9/18/11

After the expected outcry in response to Areikat's statement, the following was added to the article:

Clarification: In the headline and story, Palestinian Ambassador Maen Areikat says he was referring to Israelis, not Jews, when he stated that "it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated first."

Funny that no such clarification was ever needed last year when Areikat said Jews would be transfered out of a Palestinian state:

When you imagine a future Palestinian state, do you imagine it being a place where Jews, if they wish to become Palestinian citizens, could own property, vote in elections, and practice their religion freely?

I remember in the mid-’90s, the late [PLO official] Faisal Husseini said repeatedly “OK, if Israelis choose to stay in a future Palestinian state, they are more than welcome to do that. But under one condition: They have to respect and obey Palestinian laws, they cannot be living as Israelis. They have to respect Palestinian laws and abide by them.” When Faisal Husseini died, basically no Palestinian leader has publicly supported the notion that they can stay.

What we are saying is the following: We need to separate. We have to separate. We are in a forced marriage. We need to divorce. After we divorce, and everybody takes a period of time to recoup, rebound, whatever you want to call it, we may consider dating again.

So, you think it would be necessary to first transfer and remove every Jew—

Absolutely. No, I’m not saying to transfer every Jew, I’m saying transfer Jews who, after an agreement with Israel, fall under the jurisdiction of a Palestinian state.

Any Jew who is inside the borders of Palestine will have to leave?

Absolutely. I think this is a very necessary step, before we can allow the two states to somehow develop their separate national identities, and then maybe open up the doors for all kinds of cultural, social, political, economic exchanges, that freedom of movement of both citizens of Israelis and Palestinians from one area to another. You know you have to think of the day after.

With this background, we now come to Netanyahu's speech at the UN--and the odd denial by Ron Kampeas.

Challah Hu Akbar writes about the determination of some to deny Areikat's statement  about the Arab Apartheid plan for a Palestinian state:

None of this stopped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from mentioning Areikat’s statementsin his UNGA speech. 

The Jewish state of Israel will always protect the rights of all its minorities, including the more than 1 million Arab citizens of Israel. I wish I could say the same thing about a future Palestinian state, for as Palestinian officials made clear the other day -- in fact, I think they made it right here in New York -- they said the Palestinian state won't allow any Jews in it. They'll be Jew-free -- Judenrein. That's ethnic cleansing. There are laws today in Ramallah that make the selling of land to Jews punishable by death. That's racism. And you know which laws this evokes. 

It was this paragraph that set off a set of tweets from Laura Rozen and [JTA's] Ron Kampeas.

Rozen, who writes for Yahoo News tweeted: 

BN quoting USA Today false story on what Areikat did (not) say. Shameful 

Kampeas who writes for JTA tweeted: 

oof, areikat never said jew-free 

I took issue with Kampeas tweet and responded: 

@kampeas Are you kidding? http://www.tabletmag.com/news-and-politics/48834/qa-maen-areikat/ Any Jew who is inside the borders of Palestine will have to leave? Absolutely. 

After no response for a bit, I tweeted: 

@kampeas Waiting for your response.... Or are you going to lie again....

Kampeas then responded, but failed to address my question: 

@ChallahHuAkbar I'm sorry, what was that? I was kicking puppies. 

I responded: 

@kampeas Question: Any Jew who is inside the borders of Palestine will have to leave? Areikat: Absolutely.http://www.tabletmag.com/news-and-politics/48834/qa-maen-areikat/ Jew-Free? 

Kampeas never responded. Today, I sent him a new tweet: 

.@Kampeas I'm still waiting... You still say Areikat didn't call for "Jew-Free Palestine" 

Still waiting for his response...because it is 100% clear that Areikat call for a Judenrein State of Palestine.

It is clear Areikat indicated that a Palestine state would be an Apartheid state.
And Kampeas should be kicking himself--not those puppies--for denying that fact.

UPDATE:

Challah Hu Akbar has an update on Ron Kampeas still avoiding the question--dancing around the point and tossing out an insult or 2 instead.

Technorati Tag: Palestine and Apartheid.