Barghouti calls for Palestinian statehood bid to be rewritten

Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Al-Barghouti yesterday stressed that the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s statehood bid at the UN Security Council has many mistakes and called for it to be rewritten according to a national consensus, Qudsnet reported.

Al-Barghouti said none of the official Palestinian committees or any of the PLO factions.

Last week, Jordan filed a proposal which calls for adopting a timeline for ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands occupied in 1967, to be vote on in the UNSC.

Speaking to Qudsnet, Al-Barghouti said that the Palestinian National Initiative appealed against the proposal because it included several mistakes that “dangerously” lowered the Palestinian rights and demands.

The mistake, Al-Barghouti said, mainly related to Jerusalem, borders, refugees and “equating Israel with Palestine”.

He said: “We called for withdrawing the proposal in order to rewrite it in accordance with the Palestinian rights and principles.”

Al-Barghouti stressed that filing this bid to the UNSC is not an alternative for joining the ICC because Israel will not be deterred unless it is prosecuted for its crimes.

“Putting off the vote and procrastination regarding it means delaying the PA joining the ICC,” Al-Barghouti said.