Lieberman demands harder response to protests against mosque digging

Friday February 09, 2007 23:11 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The extremist right-wing minister, Avigdor Lieberman, demanded that Israel should respond more severely to the protests against the digging Israel is conducting near the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Avigdor Lieberman

Lieberman, the Israeli Ministry of “Strategic Affairs” said that the protests are “acts of provocation carried by Muslims with the intension to distract the attention from the intra-Palestinian conflict in Gaza”.

He also said that “Muslims always react violently” and that the world is now accustomed to “this fact”.

He claimed that the digging is not harming any holy Muslim site and accused the Israeli government of discriminating against the Jewish citizens.

Lieberman also claimed that Israel promises freedom of worship to Christians and Muslim in Jerusalem, “but for Jews, it becomes a different story”, and that Jews “did not enter the Temple Mount area since the outbreak of the Intifada”.

He also attacked Arab members of the Knesset and described them as “envoys of Israel’s enemies”.

Lieberman is well-known for his positions against the Arab residents of Israel and against the Palestinians. He repeatedly called for massive deportation of the Arab and Palestinian population.

In several speeches, Lieberman said that the Palestinians should go to Jordan and other Arab countries.

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