Newspaper
Mundo Arabe
Santiago
de Chile – October 15, 1992
Suhail Akel, “another refugee”
PLO’s voice in Argentina (view)
The director of the PLO’s Information Office in Argentina, Suhail Akel, who defines himself as “another refugee”, represents the Palestinian people and defend their rights in the neighbouring country. His untiring work, issuing press releases and denouncing the crimes the Israeli army and settlers have committed against Palestinians in the occupied territories, has received the permanent acknowledgement from the American-Arab communities. Even the Jewish magazine "Arca del Sur", which is published in Argentina, published his long interview about peace in Middle East.
Akel said that on November 15, 1988, the PLO declared the independence of the Palestine State and it also recognized the existence of the State of Israel and the need of living together. “Israel –he said- has never accepted the independence of the Palestine State up to now”.
The Israeli magazine points out that, according to Akel, “the PLO asks for an autonomy supervised by the United Nations. This autonomy must allow us to control our people and lands. An autonomy which may help us to establish the foundations of the Palestine State. On the other hand, Israel rejects this proposal and it offers us an autonomy where they could take control of the land, running waters and international relations. We could not be able to have our own government, flag or national anthem. We could become a Sioux reserve, an Apartheid”.
Akel stated that we, Palestinians, “will try dialogue and understanding with the State of Israel”, but “we are not negotiating on an equal footing. While we are at the table of dialogue, Israel is continuously creating new settlements”.
The Palestinian spokesman denounced that “at present around 200,000 Jewish settlers control 53 per cent of our occupied territory and 90 per cent of the waters belonging to 2,500,000 Palestinians”.
Photo: Suhail Akel bravely raises his voice to present and defend the Palestinian rights in Argentina.