Erekat Invents New Facts
Palestinian official Saeb Erekat today rejected Israel’s pre-Annapolis summit demand that the Palestinians recognize the country’s existence as a Jewish state, telling Radio Palestine: “There is no country in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined.”
Erekat is not known for hewing closely to the facts. After an Israeli military operation in Jenin in April 2002, during which approximately 50 Palestinians, mostly combatants, and 23 Israeli troops were killed, Erekat falsely claimed that “the camp was totally destroyed,” that “there is no longer a refugee camp there [in Jenin],” and estimated that the number of Palestinian dead “will not be less than 500.”
His comments today might not be as damaging is his April 2002 accusations; but they are just as false.
In fact, “religious and national identities are intertwined” in many countries. The State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report, for example, notes that the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the official state religion of Denmark and Norway, and “enjoys some privileges not available to other faiths.” In Greece, the Constitution establishes the Eastern Orthodox Church as the “prevailing religion.” The official titles of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran begin with “The Islamic Republic of…,” a point reinforced in those countries’ constitutions. The Jordanian constitution describes that country as an “Arab State” and notes that “Islam is the religion of the State.” The Saudi constitution states that “Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its religion.” And numerous other states describe themselves in a similar manner.
It is hard to believe that Erekat is not familiar with the constitutions of neighboring Arab and Islamic states. But he need not look even that far for an example of a country where religious and national identities are intertwined
The Palestinian Basic Law, which acts as a provisional constitution, asserts that “Islam is the official religion in Palestine,” and that “The principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation.”
The more recent Palestinian draft constitution similarly notes that Islam will be the official religion of any future Palestinian state.
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