Sada-e-Watan Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
Dr Ghassan Khatib & Hon.Shaoquett Moselmane
Recognition of Palestine based on the 4 June 1967 borders
Dear Friend Mr. Zafar Hussain,
Please see below a speech I gave yesterday & also a couple of photos with Dr Ghassan Khatib who is the Director of the Palestinian Government Media Centre, a former Minister in the Palestinian National Authority and former Vice-President of Sir Zeit University.
He is Special Envoy of President Mahmoud Abbas. Dr Khatib is meeting with Australian parliamentarians, decision makers and senior officials to discuss the latest developments in the peace process and ongoing Palestinian efforts to broaden international recognition of the State of Palestine based on 1967 borders.
Kind Regards,
Shaoquett
FRIENDS OF PALESTINE
The Hon. SHAOQUETT MOSELMANE [6.49 p.m.]: Last week
the New South Wales Parliamentary Friends of Palestine, co-chaired by Mr David
Shoebridge and the Hon. Linda Voltz, welcomed in this Parliament building Dr
Ghassan Khatib, Special Envoy of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and other
Palestinian delegates visiting Australia and New Zealand. Dr Ghassan Khatib is
the Director of the Palestinian Government Media Centre, a former Minister in
the Palestinian National Authority and former Vice-President of Sir Zeit
University. A former member of the Palestinian Delegation for the Madrid Middle
East Peace Conference, part of the Oslo Accord negotiations in 1991 and
subsequent bilateral negotiations from 1991 to 1993, Dr Khatib has a
long-standing and in-depth understanding of the peace process and the commitment
of the Palestinian people to peace.
He is Special Envoy of President Mahmoud Abbas to Australia. Dr Khatib is
meeting with Australian parliamentarians, decision makers and senior officials
to discuss the latest developments in the peace process and ongoing Palestinian
efforts to broaden international recognition of the State of Palestine based on
1967 borders. A Palestinian state can be a certainty only if the people of the
land, wherever they are, are united and speak in one voice. In that unity the
will to achieve a homeland state denied for the past seven decades must exist.
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Only with a united people—Palestinian and Israeli—through peaceful struggle,
free of Palestinian bloodshed, will a Palestinian State be achieved. The
Palestinian people, like all people dispossessed, have an inalienable right to a
homeland of their own—an independent, sovereign viable Palestinian State.
Justice must be achieved for the people of Palestine as it must be achieved for
the people of Cyprus, the Kurds, the Armenians and others dispossessed. The
right of the Palestinian people to self-determination has been universally
recognised by the United Nations General Assembly in one resolution after
another, yet a Palestinian State remains elusive. Decades have passed since the
creation of the State of Israel on 4 May 1948. With the passage of time, the
opportunity for a viable Palestinian State will fade away even further if the
people of Palestine fail to muster the courage and unite in their endeavour to
achieve a viable, sovereign Palestinian State.
The time has now come for the Palestinians to lead and for the world to heed.
Negotiations must continue to ensure an acceptable solution to all, in
particular, to the Palestinian and Israeli governments. Today 130 nations of the
192 members of the United Nations recognise the State of Palestine. Even
international institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund and the European Union have indicated that the institutions of State are
developed to the level of statehood. In other words, Palestine is statehood
ready. Even Hamas, it appears, is ready to accept a Palestinian State along the
lines of the 4 June 1967 borders. Now, more than ever, in the context of the
Arab peoples' revolutions, the question of Palestine has taken on a more urgent
meaning. The Middle East is raging with people who are no longer willing to
accept an existence without freedom, liberty and dignity.
William Hague said that legitimate aspirations cannot be ignored and must be
addressed. The legitimate aspirations of the people of Palestine can no longer
be ignored. It is high time for the world to heed the calls for a legitimate
State. United States-led peace initiatives have failed and for decades, it
seems, they have gone nowhere. Now most of the world is coming behind this new
Palestinian initiative, which may present itself as the best opportunity to
restart genuine talks that will lead to a resolution of this decades-long
conflict in the interest of the two peoples. Australian governments of all
persuasions have always supported a two-State solution. Australia and the rest
of the world should now endorse this statehood bid and help support this
legitimate, non-violent, diplomatic initiative. While the roots of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict are complex, most people on both sides agree that
the best path to peace now is the creation of two States. A refusal to support
this move based on a two-State solution may lead to calls for a one-State
solution. Such a solution may become the only option. If that occurs, that will
present new challenges and lead to further protracted conflict. It is time to
move away from a futile, go-nowhere stalemate and to recognise Palestine based
on the 4 June 1967 borders.
