Brasília – The president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, said this Friday (31st), in an interview to ANBA, that he is expecting the Palestinian State to be established in 2011. “We have negotiated all of the main aspects with the Israelis, all with the mediation of the United States,” said he, who is now in the Brazilian capital, Brasília, to attend president Dilma Rousseff’s inauguration on Saturday (1st).
Abbas, who laid the cornerstone for the new Palestinian embassy in the Federal Capital, in a plot donated by the Brazilian government, added that the PNA is going to submit a petition for the UN Security Council to mandate the withdrawal of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
Abu Mazen, as the president is also known, claimed that he believes an agreement may be reached between the Fatah, his party, which governs the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Read the interview below:
ANBA – You said today, while laying the cornerstone for the embassy, that we should expect the Palestinian State to be established in the near future, maybe in 2011. Is that viable?
Mahmoud Abbas –Sure, it is viable and possible, because everything is clear now. We have negotiated all of the main subjects with the Israelis, all with the mediation of the Americans. Now, if the Israelis are ready for peace, if the Israeli government wishes to build peace with us, then I believe it will not take a year, it will take months. Why? Because as I said before, everything is clear for us and for them. We are requesting international validation, that is all. If they agree with the 1967 borders (prior to the Six Day War), with the exchanges that we have agreed upon, then 70% of the conflict will be solved, and then we may negotiate other aspects, such as the refugees, the water etc.
Is the PNA going to submit a petition for the UN to recognize the Palestinian State?
We are going to submit something different to the Security Council. We will request that the Security Council issue a ruling on Israeli settlement activities. We want a resolution that mandates the Israelis to stop or withhold all settlement activities. Later on, in the future, once the atmosphere is right, I believe we will take other steps.
Do you believe that the United States are going to support this sort of requirement?
I believe that the United States are the mediators. They are aware of everything and they want peace in the Middle East. They believe, and they have expressed it several times, that peace is a strategic interest for the United States itself. Thus, they should pressure the parties to reach said peace as soon as possible. I don’t know why they would stop or obstruct these activities.
Do you believe Brazil may help in some way other than the support it already has provided?
Brazil is helping the Palestinian people, it is seeking peace in the world as a whole and, at the same time, [the country] is in some forums – with South Africa, with India (Ibsa), with other countries – in order to establish a bloc, so that it may play a role in international peace.
Regarding the Palestinians, there is a split between them. How can it be solved?
Yes, there is a split between the Hamas and the Fatah. The Egyptians said they were going to work hard to solve that issue. In October 2009, they issued a document to solve it. We signed it, but the Hamas did not. Now we are working hard, between the Hamas and the Fatah, to solve it and I believe we can solve it, because we (the PNA) have managed to reach deals for peace with Israel.
You are going to meet with president Lula (the meeting took place in the mid-afternoon). What message do you bring?
First of all, we will say that we are very thankful for his recognition of the Palestinian State, for the plot that he has granted us to build the Palestinian embassy, and we will also discuss the future: how Brasília may play the fruitful role that we want it to play.
And are you going to meet with the new president [Dilma Rousseff] as well?
Of course, to congratulate her on the election. I have met her two years ago, and now I am going to meet her again in order to congratulate her and wish her the best of futures, just as president Lula had.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
