Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is Palestinians’ only legitimate representative and that he still holds on to peace talks with Israel.
“We will not accept another alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization—the sole legitimate representative of our people and our cause” said Abbas.
Quoted by the PA-run WAFA news agency Abbas stated in a recorded speech addressing a gathering at the Saraya grounds in Gaza City commemorating 13 years since the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat: “I want to tell all our friends around the world that despite of the obstacles created by the Israeli occupation and its apartheid-based colonial settlement activities we are still holding on to the culture of peace.”
According to the same source Abbas added that he has been working with “the administration of (US) President (Donald) Trump and other concerned international bodies to reach a peace agreement based on international resolutions the Arab Peace Initiative and the two-state solution on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Palestine.”
Abbas also said that efforts are continuing to reach Palestinian reconciliation and reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
“We are proceeding with the Palestinian reconciliation” he said. “We are going to make steps forwards until we reach one authority one law and one legal weapon.”
“I say to our people in Gaza that the timely implementation of the (reconciliation) agreement and the full empowerment of the government will definitely ease the hardships and bring hope for a better future for all of us” said Abbas.
Addressing Yasser Arafat Abbas stated: “My brother Abu Ammar we will remain forever faithful to the promises we made to create an independent Palestinian state having Jerusalem as its capital. All attempts carried out since 1917 to put Palestine on the margins of history and geography have been foiled by the sacrifices and self-abnegation of our people martyrs and prisoners.”
“Every child who was born in Palestine will not accept to set up roots in another home but Palestine” he added.
Abbas further lashed out at the British government for celebrating the centenary of the notorious Balfour Declaration which led to the displacement of over 12 million Palestinians.
