PLO ambassador says Palestinian state should be free of Jews
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.
By Oren Dorell
September 18, 2011
USA TODAY
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WASHINGTON — The Palestine Liberation Organization's ambassador to the http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Places,+Geography/Countries/United+States \o More news, photos about United States United States said Tuesday that any future Palestinian state it seeks with help from the http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/United+Nations \o More news, photos about United Nations 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 – HYPERLINK http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Publishers,+Media,+Music/Christian+Science+Monitor \o More news, photos about Christian Science Monitor Christian Science Monitor. He was responding to a question about the rights of minorities in a Palestine of the future. 
Such a state would be the first to officially prohibit Jews or any other faith since http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Political+Bodies/Nazi \o More news, photos about Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, which sought a country that was judenrein, or cleansed of Jews, said http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Elliott+Abrams \o More news, photos about Elliott Abrams Elliott Abrams, a former U.S. National Security Council official. 
Israel has 1.3 million Muslims who are Israeli citizens. Jews have lived in Judea and Samaria, the biblical name for the http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Places,+Geography/Regions/West+Bank \o More news, photos about West Bank West Bank, for thousands of years. Areikat said the PLO seeks a secular state, but that Palestinians need separation to work on their own national identity.
The Palestinian demand is unacceptable and a despicable form of anti-Semitism, Abrams said. A small Jewish presence in a future Palestine, up to 1% of the population, would not hurt the Palestinian identity, he said.
No civilized country would act this way, Abrams said.
Israel has often complained of anti-Semitic views in Palestinian discourse. Palestinian media frequently publishes and broadcasts anti-Semitic sermons by Islamic religious leaders, while the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV shows programming for preschoolers that extolls hatred of Jews and suicide bombings, according to a 2009 http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/US+State+Department \o More news, photos about State Department State Department human rights report. 
The PLO seeks a http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/U.N \o More news, photos about U.N. U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood when the http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/U.N.+General+Assembly \o More news, photos about U.N. General Assembly U.N. General Assembly meets in http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Places,+Geography/Towns,+Cities,+Counties/New+York+City \o More news, photos about New York City New York City next week. Areikat said Palestinian negotiators have been stymied in peace talks with the Israelis because of the two sides' unequal status before international legal institutions such as the U.N. and the http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/International+Criminal+Court \o More news, photos about International Criminal Court International Criminal Court, where Israel is a full member and the Palestinians are not. The Palestinians hope the increased pressure will push the Jewish state to agree to their demands.
We are trying to preserve the concept of a two-state solution, Areikat said. And to make the Israelis understand there will be consequences for their actions.
The Obama administration has promised to veto the statehood bid if it reaches the http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/U.N.+Security+Council \o More news, photos about U.N. Security Council U.N. Security Council.
This shortcut is not going to create a Palestinian state, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said. We continue to urge them and convince them that would be self-defeating.