PA again blames its problems on Israel; this time, it’s drugs

The Palestinian Authority as policy demonizes Israel in numerous ways, often blaming Israel for its problems within Palestinian society and even the problems of the entire Arab world.

At a recent conference, a P.A. minister and two Palestinian university leaders blamed Israel for the Palestinian drug problem, saying that Israel deliberately spreads drugs among Palestinian youth to harm the young generation and “create frustration, illness, and economic and social consequences.”

P.A. Minister of Local Authorities Hussein Al-A’araj stated that Israel deliberately lets drugs into Palestinian society to harm it.

P.A. Minister of Local Authorities Hussein Al-A’araj: “We as a government, the leadership, a civil society and municipalities must pay attention to this scourge [of drugs] that has infiltrated our society through the Israeli occupation, which is striving to create a situation of frustration, illness, and economic and social consequences that diminish our resolve and the realization of our national project.” [Official P.A. TV News, Dec. 24, 2018]

Both the president and dean of Al-Quds University repeated this P.A. libel, stressing that Israel “inflicts the scourge of drugs” on Palestinian society, and that Israel is using drugs to wage “a war” against young Palestinians. The Dean of Higher Education and Scientific Research even claimed that Israel has “special agencies” that “distribute the drugs and ease their transfer.”

Al-Quds Open University President Dr. Younes Amr: “This scourge is very dangerous in all societies. We have noticed that this scourge is more dangerous [for us, in particular], because the occupation is fighting against us and inflicting it on us ... .”

Full report at PMW.