BDS angry at the PA for attending a conference with Israelis. The PA's response proves it is not interested in statehood. ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Friday, February 21, 2025

BDS angry at the PA for attending a conference with Israelis. The PA's response proves it is not interested in statehood.

This week, Morocco hosted the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, with representatives from ministers of transportation of many countries participating.

Israel's Transportation Minister Miri Regev attended, causing controversy. Moroccans protested her presence and demanded that Morocco arrest her.

The BDS movement was upset at the Palestinian delegate, Tarek Hosni Salem Zaarab, the Palestinian minister of transport. They declared any Palestinian participation to be "normalization" and a violation of BDS principles.

An official from the Palestinian ministry of transportation defended Zaarab's attendance. His justification for attending reveals how the Palestinians look at international events and conferences.

Most attendees go to these conferences to learn, to meet colleagues, to compare notes, to hear about new ideas, to create standards and to sign resolutions promising that their nations would work hard to improve themselves.

Not the Palestinians. Their attendance at every international forum has nothing to do with sharing ideas or learning from peers.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Muhammad Hamdan, said that the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Minister attend all international conferences to convey the Palestinian voice and the suffering of the Palestinian people, "and this participation comes to confirm the right of the Palestinian people to establish their state and obtain their rights."

Mohammed Hamdan added, in a comment to Ultra Palestine: "We are present in all places, and wherever we can find a way to do so, to convey the Palestinian voice everywhere."

We've seen this before. The "State of Palestine" eagerly attends every international forum it can find, but it never shows interest in participating. Their attendance has two political purposes: to pretend like they are a real state, and to spread anti-Israel propaganda.

As I wrote in 2017:

Since the PLO started to join world bodies, it has consistently used its position to do only one thing: bash Israel.

It has used UNESCO for years to deny Jewish heritage and history in the Middle East. It has tried to hijack refugee conferences, conferences on children, Human Rights Day, and conferences on women - all to pursue an anti-Israel agenda.

It gets farcical. The "State of Palestine" has used its position to bash Israel at climate conferences and even a recent conference dedicated to saving the world's oceans. It has nothing positive to add to these venues - they are merely excuses to find more ammunition against Israel.

As far as I can tell, this is 100% consistent. The entire point of gaining recognition as a state in international forums is to add new platforms to attack Israel.