Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi said that the Israeli government and its allies are responsible for rise in settler terrorism, referring to the earlier shooting by Israeli settlers of a Palestinian father in the al-Mughayyir village.Ashrawi condemned on behalf of the PLO “the heinous murder of Hamdi Naasan, 38, and the injury of 30 other Palestinian civilians at the hands of armed Israeli settler militias.”

She said, “Under heavy protection from Israeli forces, these militias raided al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah, terrorizing the defenseless residents and wreaking havoc in the isolated village.”

She continued, “The political climate in Israel negates Palestinian rights and expresses objectionable racism against the Palestinian people. As such, the marked escalation of terror attacks by armed groups of Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians is a natural outcome of the culture of hate and atmosphere of incitement and violence against Palestinians that this extremist Israeli government espouses and promotes.”

She held the Israeli government wholly responsible for what she described as a “heinous crime.”

Ashrawi stressed that governments that actively support Israel’s colonial regime and “shield it from accountability also bear moral and criminal liability” for the crimes committed by Israeli forces and settlers, who commit “murder with impunity.”

She added, “Equally, states that choose to remain silent against this terror campaign must understand that in these times of injustice, silence is complicity.”