Porto Alegre – The Palestinian ambassador to Brasília, Ibrahim Alzeben, believes that Palestine will be recognized as an observer state of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), in a vote to take place on Thursday (29), in Nova York. The diplomat is in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, to participate in the World Social Forum Free Palestine, to take place from November 29th to December 1st.
“We hope that, after tomorrow Palestine will be recognized as a non-member state. This will be the first step to take in the appeal for Palestine to be recognized as a full UN member state,” said Alzeben.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is in New York to call for his country to be recognized as a state by the General Assembly. The request is facing the opposition of Israel, which does not accept Palestine being treated globally as a nation.
“Palestine has been occupied for over 64 years, and that grants us rights. We are not going to lose energy and hope,” pointed out the ambassador. To him, not even the pressure exerted by the United States, historical allies of Israel, is a reason for disbelief in recognition by the UN.
“We are going to continue working, trusting that the world is in constant change, that the United States is going to change and that even Israel will have to change. The Israeli people and the Jewish communities worldwide have to change their way of thinking. The Palestinians exist and have rights and obligations, as do the members of these communities,” he emphasized.
Internally, the proposal of the PNA, which controls the West Bank, the largest of the occupied territories, received the support of Hamas, its opposing group in Gaza Strip, in a rare moment of agreement between the two Palestinian political movements.
After the recent attacks suffered by Gaza strip, Hamas was strengthened with the negotiation of a cease-fire intermediated by the president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, and without the interference of the PNA. Despite the domestic division of power between Palestinians, Alzeben does not believe that this is a definitive situation.
“This is only a temporary moment in the life of the Palestinian people. We trust that the people of Palestine. We trust that the people of Palestine should reunify their lives very soon and our legitimate representative with the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organisation). We are awaiting the immediate incorporation of Hamas, of the Islamic Jihad and of all Palestinian forces to the legitimate representative [of Palestine], the PLO”. The organisation was established in the 1960s by Yasser Arafat, who passed away in 2004, and its main political branch is the Fatah party, of which Mahmoud Abbas is a member.
Brazil
To Alzeben, Brazil is doing “all that is possible” to support the creation of a Palestinian state. “Brazil is a friendly country of both parties, of the Israelis and Palestinians. Brazil lived difficult moments, but reached a democracy that is an example to be followed, not only in Latin America, but also globally,” he said.
Regarding the forum in Porto Alegre, Alzeben sees the event as an opportunity to find support for the Arab cause. “The forum is an important factor to promote the Palestinian question, what is happening in the [occupied] territories, so that this may help denounce the abuses, the aggressions and the excesses that are taking place,” he said.
Apart from the main conferences, the forum brings together several independent activities for discussion of problems related to the Israeli occupation. “There will be some 160 talks, debates and activities proposed by the civil society,” explained Elayyan Taher Aladin, president of the Palestinian Arab Federation in Brazil (Fepal), one of the organizers of the event and responsible for 20 of the activities taking place in the sidelines.
“We will have five conferences and a very rich cultural space, with exhibitions by artists and photographers. We will also have a cinema exhibit, in a partnership between the Fepal and the Bibliaspa (Library and Centre of South American and Arab Research), as well as exhibitions of Palestinian garments and embroidery,” he explained.
Jamal Juma, coordinator of the international “Stop the Wall” campaign, is one of the activists to participate in the debates. The campaign will work on fighting the trade choke placed on Palestine and intensified with the construction of the walls in the West Bank. Among its activities is the incentive to a boycott of Israeli and international companies that support the occupation of Palestine.
One of the main themes of his address will be the fight against free trade between the Mercosur and Israel. “We consider Latin America an ally. Latin America had great success in its anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist fight and this agreement contradicts the history of the continent,” he said.
*Translated by Mark Ament
