Newspaper
La Gaceta
San
Miguel de Tucuman – Friday, October 22 of 2004
It is a tragedy, but there is some hope (view)
The Palestinian Ambassador in the country accuses Ariel Sharon of the war in Middle East
“We are committed to the ‘peace of the braves’, which was proposed by President Yasser Arafat and understood by our peace partner, former Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin, who was killed by an Israeli terrorist”. By means of these words, the Palestinian Ambassador in Argentina, Suhail Hani Daher Akel, who is visiting Tucuman, started his conversation with La Gaceta.
The diplomat, who yesterday delivered a discourse at the Law School in the UNT, said that Palestinians are convinced of the fact that they have a partner in this crusade for peace and this partner is the Israeli people.
-Even though there are serious difficulties day after day, is it possible to be on good terms after this attempt?
-This cause is on the right road, trying to achieve a decent peace for the Palestinian and Israeli people.
But both people have to be on an equal footing to achieve a definite peace.
-What is the Palestinian people’s present reality like?
-Our people are living a tragedy as a result of the Israeli occupation. This is a regrettable action which is being put in motion by the Israeli government. But this gets worse due to the construction of that racist wall which invades the Palestine territory.
-Has the situation gotten worse in these last weeks?
-Since the beginning of this new Israeli re-occupation –on September 28, 2000- there have been over 3,350 Palestinian martyrs, 40% of them are children. There have been around 40,000 injured people. Family houses, hospitals, universities, schools, ministries and other state buildings have been destroyed. That is, Israel is destroying the structure of the Palestinian State. Such a structure has been financed by Europe which has made great contributions in order to be able to restitute a modern and efficient State which may be able to fulfil the demands of a global world.
-Is it possible to achieve a real dialogue between these two people?
-Unfortunately, Ariel Sharon’s policy is an obstacle, because he destroyed the accords we have signed and he disobeyed the resolutions of the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. What is more, he is determined to destroy the Palestinian State.
-Could you describe the relationship between Argentina and Palestine?
-They have an excellent relationship. Our bilateral relations, which started in 1996, are going through an important moment. We thank this country for its constant support to UN resolutions, voting in favour of the free determination of the Palestinian people and in favour of the peace achievement with Israel. It is very important that Argentine is highly interested in the fact that the Palestine State may be restituted and may live in peace together with Israel.
Point of Departure
ACCORDING to the Palestinian Ambassador the following clauses must be included to achieve an endless peace in Middle East:
FINALIZATION of the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories occupied in the 1967 war.
LIBERATION of Jerusalem.
FINALIZATION of the policy implemented by Premier Ariel Sharon, “an ethnic cleansing policy against the civil Palestinian population”.