Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday condemned the recent spate of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, saying there was no justification for violence and offering a more full-throated support for the Jewish state than previous U.S. statements.
Kerry, who plans to visit the Mideast next week, said the United States backs Israel’s “right to defend its existence.”
In a speech at Indiana University, he told a crowd that included former Republican and Democratic members of Congress that he was working with the Israelis and the Palestinians “to stabilize the situation.”
“We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks against innocent civilians,” Kerry said. “There is absolutely no justification for these reprehensible attacks.”
On Wednesday, Kerry’s spokesman, John Kirby, said Israel hadn’t abided by long-standing rules for Jerusalem’s religious sites, “which has led to a lot of the violence.”
Kirby later said he didn’t mean to suggest the status quo for the city’s most sensitive holy site — known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif — had been broken as Palestinians have claimed. The hilltop compound is revered by Jews as the site of the biblical Temples. Today, it houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam and a Palestinian national symbol.
Israel captured the site, along with the rest of the Old City and east Jerusalem, from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. Under a long-standing arrangement, non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but not pray there, while Jordan remains the custodian.
The current round of violence has been fueled by Palestinian accusations that Israel is plotting to change the status quo. They point to a growing number of Jewish activists, including Israeli politicians, who seek Jewish prayer rights on the mount, as well as to occasional Israeli restrictions on Muslim access. Israel says the restrictions are security measures to prevent friction.
Israel says it is adhering to that agreement and that false allegations and rampant incitement against Jews are driving the violence.
In his speech, Kerry stressed “the importance, politically and privately, of preventing inflammatory rhetoric, accusations or actions that could lead to violence.” He didn’t single out either side or any individual for blame.
(AP)
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3 Responses
“He didn’t single out either side or any individual for blame”
That is exactly the problem. Its as clear as day to anyone with a half a brain, as to who the culprit is. Does the Obama administration work for Abu Mazen/Hamas? Is Iran giving some kickback money, under the table, to Barry, to help rid the world of this evil Israeli/Jewish problem?
Words.
By not getting involved – you couldn’t have been further off with you ignorant rant. I know it’s the “in” thing to trash Obama when in fact he has been a strong supporter of Israel from his senator days. Unlike Republican candidates he went to Israel to sedorat to visit the victims and locations of missle damage, he has sponsored the “iron dome” and the list goes on and on. Now the fact that he’s trying to open a dialog with Arab leaders, well it’s about time because what was happening the last 40 years definitely didn’t work. And you mention Iran all you guys should listen to yourselves your criticism is directed at the one president who demanded some supervision of what’s going on in Iran, and all you people have your facts so wrong about helping out Iranians all they did was lift nuclear related sanctions that was put itinto place by the same leaders that put them there in the first placem , I’m sorry to confuse you with the facts but you guys should do a drop of research before you try to trash a president who is friend of Israel