By Zafar Ali Khan/Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD: Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan, Ahmed Jawad Rabei, said that implementing the United Nations resolution 181 — which provides for a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict — was the only way forward to resolve the long-running intra-Arab conflict.
During an exclusive interview with Worldecho.net, the Palestinian ambassador said that the UN and world powers in general facilitated the emergence of Israel out of nowhere in 1948 (under resolution 181) but left the Palestinians in a quandary just to face fodder. The Israeli artillery and bombardment, which has left tens of thousands of Palestinians martyred and hundreds of thousands injured over the past 75 years or so.
He said that the Israeli forces continue to kill Palestinians in the occupied West Bank with impunity, and the world is looking forward without doing anything to stop the bloodshed of the innocent Palestinians, including children and women.
Almost daily, Rabie said, Israeli forces raid homes, apartment complexes, streets and villages to hunt down and kill the unarmed Palestinians, who have few weapons to confront the powerful and armed Israeli forces.
He said that Israeli forces have set up 700 checkpoints in the occupied territories, including in the West Bank. He said the Israeli forces have 12 checkpoints between Hebron and Bethlehem, just 12 kilometers away. “From this point, you can understand how Palestinians live in a completely suffocating environment,” Rabei said.
The Palestinian ambassador said that the world, especially the US and other world powers, claim to work for the two-state solution, but, in practice, they have failed to rein in Israel, which continues to seize more Palestinian land and implementation of settlements. “Israel, through these illegal settlements, wants to change the demographics (of Palestine), and they are working on the plan with the world watching as a spectator.
He said that Israelis even uproot trees in the Palestinian territories and uprooted three million olive trees.
He said that Israel is working on a plan to completely expel the Palestinians from their land.
The ambassador said Palestinians want their own independent and have pushed the issue at the internal forum, including at the UN and the International Court of Justice.
He said that Al-Aqsa Mosque is under the continuous Israeli occupation and allows Muslims to pray in the Grand Mosque with difficulty and harassment and attempts to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque.
He said that Western and other countries are talking about the resolving the Palestinian issue, but in practice, they have done nothing to establish and independent Palestinian according to the resolution of international legitimacy, the Security Council and the United Nations.
He said that Tel Aviv had been under Israeli occupation since 1948 and Jerusalem since 1967 and more and more Palestinian land was being illegally occupied.
The Palestinian expressed his sincere thanks to the Pakistani people and successive Pakistani governments for their unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, noting that the Palestinians go to Pakistan when they were in deep trouble.
During the visit to the Worldecho.net office, the Palestinian ambassador was shown offices of Worldecho.net, including the newsroom, and expressed his gratitude for the invitation and for allowing him to express his thoughts.
