Embassy of the State of Palestine

01 November,The Committee's Concluding Observations, published 30 October, reiterated Israel’s obligation to uphold the provisions of the ICCPR in the OPT, including occupied East Jerusalem, and emphasised in paragraph 5(b) that Israel must “… acknowledge that the applicability of international humanitarian law during an armed conflict, as well as in a situation of occupation, does not preclude the application of the [International] Covenant [on Civil and Political Rights].”

2 November, PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi stressed, “Ninety-seven years ago, the British government committed a grave historical injustice at the expense of the Palestinians by signing over their homeland to the Jewish people with the Balfour Declaration. Decades have passed and the people of Palestine continue to be denied their basic human rights to justice and self-determination.

The British government bears the human, legal, political, and moral responsibility to undo its serious mistakes of the past by recognizing the State of Palestine and supporting current and future Palestinian multilateral initiatives of resorting to all venues of international judicial accountability for Israel and the protection for Palestine.

October 30, 2014, PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, welcomed the Swedish Recognition of the Palestinian State she said:

“We are grateful to the Swedish government and its people for recognizing the State of Palestine. Such a principled and courageous decision is consistent with international human rights standards and constitutes an important step towards achieving peace and justice for the Palestinian people".

Oct 30, 2014"President Abbas welcomes Sweden's decision," AFP quoted Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for the Palestinian national unity government, as saying on Thursday.

The spokesman said that Abbas termed the decision by the Swedish government as "brave and historic".

"All countries of the world that are still hesitant to recognize our right to an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem (East al-Quds) as its capital, [should] follow Sweden's lead," Abu Rudeina quoted Abbas as saying.

Oct. 30,2014, in his latest Op-Ed published in Haaretz, Dr. Saeb Erekat, PLO Executive Committee Member and head of the Negotiations Affairs Department said "By affirming their belief in the right of the Palestinian people to a national homeland, European countries are also sending a message to Israel: The era of impunity is over". "To recognize the State of Palestine on the 1967 border is a moral step that should be taken by all states that claim to support the two-state solution. It is an investment in peace that sends the right message to both Israelis and Palestinians".

29 October 2014 Statement by H.E. Dr. Riyad Mansour, Ambassador, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the United Nations Security Council Emergency Meeting on the Situation in Occupied East Jerusalem

We strongly condemn the latest Israeli announcement to expand its illegal settlements in and around Occupied East Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine. This announcement amounts to evidence of an intent to further commit crimes defined by and punishable under international law.

Dr. Saeb calls on the International community to take decisive action in order to save the two-state solution from the colonial expansionism of the State of Israel, including by recognizing the State of Palestine on the 1967 border, by supporting our Security Council efforts to put a deadline to end the Israeli occupation, by banning all settlement products and by divesting from all organizations and companies linked directly or indirectly to the Israeli occupation, colonization and Apartheid policies.

PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, stated, “We strongly denounce the deliberate execution of Palestinian-American teenager, Orwa Abd al-Wahhab Hammad (14) who was shot and killed with live ammunition in the Palestinian village of Silwad on October 24.”
She added: "“We call on the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and other members of the international community to take immediate action and adopt the necessary punitive measures required to hold Israel accountable for its use of live ammunition and for the extrajudicial killings of Palestinian civilians, among other violations of international and humanitarian law.”

Mr Erekat said in his statement: 'We strongly reject and condemn Mr. Netanyahu’s unfounded and inflammatory statement regarding yesterday’s incident in Occupied East Jerusalem.
Mr. Netanyahu declared that President Abbas’ “partners in government” were behind the act and that the President himself “only a few days ago incited towards a terrorist attack in Jerusalem.”
Mr. Netanyahu has no credibility left to lose, three weeks after he declared that the Obama administration was “against American values” and “anti-peace” for condemning his government’s approval of nearly 3,000 new settlement housing units in occupied East Jerusalem. But even by his standards, Mr. Netanyahu’s statement last tonight represents a dangerous new low.

This is the official policy of the Israeli government coalition, a coalition which, in less than two years, has shown itself to be one of the most extreme in history. Mr. Ya’alon has confirmed that the Israeli government does not seek a two-state solution, but rather a way to manage the situation. This has always been, and remains, the line of Netanyahu’s government. In stark contrast to the positions of Palestine and the entire international community, the ruling coalition in Israel has made clear that it has no intention of seeing an independent state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel. Rather, the Israeli government aims to consolidate the occupation that continues to control the lives of the Palestinian people.