By Mohammed Al Ragawi
ISTANBUL (AA) - Palestine on Saturday condemned “racist” statements made by Dutch extremist leader Geert Wilders, whose Islamophobic political party seems poised to form the next Netherlands government, in which he called for Palestinians to be sent to Jordan.
“The Palestinian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the racist inflammatory statements by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, in which he denied the rights of the Palestinian people, especially their right to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and called for their displacement to Jordan,” the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry based in Ramallah, the West Bank, as saying.
The ministry called Wilders’ statements “a call to escalate the aggression against our people, and a blatant interference in their affairs and fate.”
The ministry stressed that "the Palestinian people have demonstrated the depth of their steadfastness in their homeland.”
The ministry called on the Dutch government to “condemn and reject” these statements, “in line with international law and international legitimacy.”
Separately, Jordan on Saturday also condemned the “racist position” taken by Wilders denying Palestinians’ right to freedom.
“Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs Ayman Safadi held a telephone call with his Dutch counterpart, Hanke Bruins Slot, during which he confirmed Jordan’s condemnation and rejection of the racist positions announced by extremist MP Geert Wilders, in which he denied the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to their freedom and their state,” said a Jordanian Foreign Ministry statement.
After Wilders won a major victory in Nov. 22 Dutch elections, he called for sending the millions of already displaced Palestinians to Jordan.
For more than 20 years, Wilders has become notorious for his rhetoric stoking hatred of Islam and Muslims, including insulting the Prophet Muhammed and the Quran.
Wilders is also a staunch supporter of Israel with a clear anti-Palestine stance.
The far-right politician has advocated moving the Dutch Embassy from Israel's capital Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and closing the Dutch diplomatic post in Ramallah.
*Writing by Ikram Kouachi