Husni Abdel Wahed, the Palestinian ambassador to Spain, has admitted that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which he represents, has a “very limited field of action”, vis-à-vis Israel and the reality on the ground, in addition to the conflict with the Islamist group Hamas, with which it has been at odds since 2007.
“We have to start by recognizing our reality and being self-critical,” said Abdel Wahed during his speech at the second International Seminar organized by the Carlos III University of Madrid. “We have a serious problem that is division and we have not been able to solve it. For there to be an agreement, the different parties have to give in,” he added in reference to the disagreements with Hamas, although the ANP has shown its solidarity with the movement that controls Gaza in the face of Israel’s massacre in the Strip. “Hamas continues without giving in anything on the Palestinian side,” the ambassador insisted.
On the other hand, he regretted that the Palestinian Government based in the city of Ramallah has little defense capacity: “The 40,000 rifles that the ANP has cannot confront Israel.” “We do not wash our hands, we have chosen the peaceful route and we continue with it. However, the European Union and the United States are attacking this peaceful path.”
The ambassador has categorically rejected the argument that “the ANP is a collaborator of the Israeli occupation.” “It is a lack of respect,” he emphasized, ensuring that “if there is anyone who has to judge him, it will be the Palestinian people.” “I cannot cover the sun with a finger and say that [la ANP] It’s perfect, nothing is perfect. The ANP should be self-critical and reform many of the problems it has.”
During the university seminar ‘Palestine, an obligation of the international community’, Abdel Wahed also took advantage of the moment to remember two moments in which the international community “harmed the Palestinian people.” First, on November 2, 1917, with the Balfour Declarationa document in which the British Government already showed its support for the creation of a “national home” for the Jewish people in Palestine.
“The Palestinian people were not consulted and that generated other events that finally ended with the creation of the State of Israel and the consequent expulsion of the Palestinians,” the diplomat explained. In his opinion, the Balfour declaration has given rise to what we are seeing today: “the expansion of Israel to other countries such as Lebanon.”
The second moment is November 29, 1947, when the UN approved the partition of Palestine with resolution 181. The approval of that document, also without consulting the Palestinian people, was “a kind of reward for those who were persecuted and massacred by the Westerners”, that is, the Jews. According to the ambassador, this has been a constant of the international community: “Whoever generated this crime against humanity would have to pay the price, but since they were Westerners, they did not do it.”
The two-state solution
“Where is international law? In nothingness,” said Abdel Wahed. The diplomat has denounced the double standards of the West with the regime that, after the Second World War, created a system for the protection of human rights. “You cannot be a selective humanist: either we are all human or we are not.”
In a context in which countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway and Slovenia have already recognized the State of Palestine, the ambassador has asked others who support the two-state solution to “really do it” and be encouraged to take that position. “It is no longer time to negotiate as was done in 1991, here in Madrid”, it is time to “implement the international consensus.” However, the diplomat has assured that, for the moment, “things are not going in this direction.”
“I do not want to be pessimistic, I want to convey hope: we Palestinians are a people who have not yet fallen into resignation or resentment, we are a people who will continue fighting for human values, for justice, for peace and for freedom.” ”, he concluded.
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