Palestine denounces UK, Australia over Paris Peace Conference

The secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Palestinian Authority (PA) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat criticised the position of the United Kingdom and Australian regarding the Paris Peace Conference held on Sunday, official PA news agency WAFA reported yesterday.

Erekat expressed his sadness that the two countries had reservations over the final statement of the Conference which, he said, was as an international consensus in support of peace, reinforcing international law and reiterating the two-state solution.

“These reservations are not logical,” he said, stating that all countries had by now become certain that Israel rejects peace as well as international calls to revive the political process.

He stressed that Israel continues the confiscation of land and Palestinian resources in order to retain its “illegal settlement projects” and its “violations” of international law.

“Our people cannot wait more,” he said. “The persistence of the international will to achieve peace has become an international demand, not only a Palestinian one.”

The PA’s chief negotiator added: “The real danger on the two-state solution lies in such [reservations] which encourage and immunise Israel to continue and reinforce its imperialist policy on the ground.”

Concluding his remarks, Erekat called on both Britain and Australia to bear their historical and political responsibility over the Palestinian cause and recognise the State of Palestine.

“We expected that the UK would have played a balanced role…because it had a role in the oppression imposed on the Palestinians due to the Balfour Declaration,” he said.