On Monday, 15/7/2013, dozens of Palestinians demonstrated in front of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah. The demonstration was a rejection of the normalization of dealing with Israelis and to demand the expulsion of the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Organization, Yasser Abed Rabbo.
Various movements, youth groups, trade unions and activists attended the sit-in to condemn the meeting being held at the PLO headquarters between various Palestinian figures and members of the Likud and Shas Israeli parties. Among those present at the meeting were organizers of the Geneva Initiative, headed by Abed Rabbo, and Fatah central committee members Nabil Shaath and Muhammad al-Madani.
The protesters demanded that the Palestinians who called for and participated in this meeting be held accountable. Given the current situation and continuing onslaught by the Israeli government on Palestinian citizens and their property (land confiscations, the process of ethnic cleansing and judaization of Jerusalem and the unprecedented expansion of settlements), it is utterly unacceptable to hold a meeting of this sort and this type of normalization must be rejected.
It’s worth noting that at the same time another meeting was being held in the Israeli Parliament Building, the Knesset, involving the former Prisoners Minister Ashraf Ajrami, researcher Khalil Shikaki and various Israeli war criminals such as the Israeli Minister for Justice Tzipi Livni.
The Palestinian National Committee for a boycott of "Israel" has also condemned the meeting which they described as "disgraceful". Organizers of the sit-in and protests have confirmed they will continue to organize events until the organizers of these shameful encounters are held to account.