PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

PLO Executive Committee

Department of Culture and Information

January 20, 2015

Dr. Ashrawi Responds to Comments by Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird

In response to media inquiries regarding Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird’s insistence that the Palestinians are making a ‘huge mistake’ by going to the ICC, PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi said:

“John Baird has adopted an arrogant tone. ‘The huge mistake’ is allowing Israel to persist in its violations and war crimes, including its illegal settlement activities, the shelling and bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza, the expansion of the apartheid wall and checkpoints, the annexation and political, geographical and cultural transformation of Jerusalem, the superimposition of ‘Greater Israel’ on historical Palestine, and Israeli policies of ethnic cleansing, particularly in Jerusalem, Area C and the Negev.

‘The red line’ is the impunity that Israel enjoys for its violations and the fact that Israel is enabled by apologists like John Baird to persist with the support of self-appointed advocates who become complicit in these war crimes.”