Palestine refuses allegations of incitement, invites Israel to resume tripartite incitement committee

In order to divert attention from yet more Israeli violations in occupied Palestine, including the announcement of new settlement units, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman have filed baseless complaints to the European Union about "Palestinian incitement".The PLO Negotiations Affairs Department (NAD) said in a statement Monday that these tactics are a part of an overall campaign by senior Israeli officials to undermine international efforts, while attempting to lay the blame at Palestine's door. Israeli Army Minister Moshe Ya'alon's recent defamatory comments against US Secretary of State John Kerry have made this campaign patently clear.Such tactics are also an attempt to draw attention away from Israel's illegal settlement enterprise, which is the main obstacle to peace, it added.According to the statement, recent comments made by high-ranking Israeli officials, including Economy Minister Bennett, ("It is our duty to encourage continuous Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank]") and Housing Minister Ariel ("No Jewish town [settlement] will be uprooted. We'll continue building"), among many others, display Israel's true agenda.NAD said, "Despite our firm belief that these allegations of Palestinian incitement are nothing more than diversionary tactics, we call upon the Government of Israel to accept our standing offer to resume the work of the Tripartite Committee on Incitement.""We also invite PM Netanyahu to tackle the issue of incitement within his own government, beginning with his statements to the settler movement that the Hebron and Bet El settlements, located in the heart of Palestinian districts, are not going to be evacuated under any agreement," NAD added.PLO Negotiations Affairs Department demands that Israel end the systematic denial of Palestinian rights and the acts of violence committed against the Palestinian people as a result of its illegal occupation, which is preventing a just and lasting peace.