PA ambassador stresses dissolution is still an option

Palestine’s ambassador to Russia has said that the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority (PA) is still one option among others in the face of Israel using negotiations to “legalise its violent grab” of more territory. Fa’ed Mustafa’s claims were reported by Anadolu on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, the ambassador said that the Palestinian cause passed through several distinctive moments in 2014, including the Israeli war on Gaza. He noted the huge losses affecting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem at the hands of the Israeli “war-machine”.

Ambassador Mustafa reminded journalists that around 650,000 Israeli settlers are living in 355 illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. In addition, settlers protected by the Israeli army are occupying 97 individual houses in East Jerusalem alone.

Despite losing the vote thanks to the US veto, Mustafa claimed that the Palestinian statehood bid at the UN Security Council was actually a success for the PA. The Americans, he pointed out, did not get the degree of support that they are used to. European recognition of the state of Palestine is one of the year’s success stories, he added, with global awareness of the injustice suffered by Palestinians under Israeli occupation growing.

In order to make Palestinian reconciliation work, said the ambassador, the factions need to have a “united stance” against Israel’s occupation. This is essential to liberate the land of Palestine occupied by Israel in 1967. He made no comment about the land occupied in 1948, when Israel was created in historic Palestine.

Mustafa praised the efforts of the PA in joining international institutions and signing treaties and conventions, including the International Criminal Court. When asked about the situation in the Gaza Strip, he rejected accusations that reconstruction of Gaza is being delayed because of Hamas; the reason is that international donors have not fulfilled their financial pledges yet, he insisted.

He also rejected the Israeli blacklisting of Hamas, noting that the movement is a “genuine” segment of the national and Islamic make-up of the Palestinian nation. He recalled the fact that the PLO was also labelled as a “terrorist” organisation in years gone by.