RAMALLAH, President Mahmoud Abbas said this evening that it is time for the international community to change the way it acts with the Israeli occupation authorities, by moving from statements of denunciation and condemnation of the Israeli violations against the Palestinian people and lands to taking tangible steps.
President Abbas added, in a speech marking the 17th anniversary of the death of President Yasser Arafat, that “this anniversary comes and our just national cause is going through a very delicate stage, perhaps the most difficult in our history of struggle.” “It is not reasonable or acceptable for the occupation to remain chocking us forever, and it is not reasonable for us to remain committed to agreements that Israel does not abide by,” he said.
“On this painful anniversary, the anniversary of the death of the martyr Yasser Arafat, we renew our adherence to the unity of our people and the call to form a government of national unity in which all the factions participating in it will be committed to the international legitimacy recognized by the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and to preserve the independence of the national decision.”
The President continued: “I say to my brother and comrade, the martyr Yasser Arafat, to all his martyred comrades and leaders, and to the prisoners and the wounded, that we are continuing on the path that you died for, regardless of the difficulties. The occupation will end, and we will achieve freedom and independence in our sovereign Palestinian state on our national soil.”
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency