Egypt's Statement at General Assembly Debate on UN Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism

Egypt, in its statement at the General Assembly Debate on the Secretary General's Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism on February 12, 2016, claimed that Israel and the expression of free speech were main causes of terrorism, not Islamist ideology. In its words:

"Additionally, the plan has not contained a reference to all the reasons inside the states leading to violent extremism, which in turn gives rise to terrorism such as Islamophobia and other reasons...Let us be candid. If there is a serious desire to take action, the international community must realize that Israel's continued occupation of Palestine is one of the main reasons behind the proliferation of violent extremism leading to terrorism in addition to internal interference in the internal affairs of states, offending Islam and the Prophet (peace be upon him) on the pretext of freedom of expression, treating Muslim citizens as citizens of second class in some other states..."