Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said he opposes violence as well as bloodshed, and that he had always supported a popular, nonviolent struggle.

Abbas made the remarks while speaking to a group of Israeli journalists.

“I am against every drop of unjustified blood and against murder for no reason; we believe this and these are our values and what the Koran says,” Abbas said.

He said several times that he is against any type of extremism, including religious extremism, whether it be Muslim, Jewish or Christian.

“We must not turn the conflict into a religious struggle because that’s dangerous and it gives an opportunity for terror elements in the Arab world to lead a religious conflict and we don’t want that,” he said.

Source: MENA