Ramallah: The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) submitted to the UN Security Council a draft resolution which states that the Israeli colonial activities in the Palestinian territories including Occupied East Jerusalem are illegal and directly violate international law, said a top Palestinian official.
“The resolution of the Security Council should categorize Israeli colony activity in Palestinian territories including Occupied East Jerusalem as illegal and a direct violation of international law,” said Dr. Saeb Erekat, the Chief Palestinian Negotiator and Member of Fatah Central Committee.
Erekat was meeting with the US Consul General to the Palestinian Territories Daniel Robenstien, and the EU Representative in the Palestinian Territories Christian Perger separately.
Erekat told the US and the European diplomats that the Palestinians were approaching the Security Council with a fixed stand and a draft resolution on Israeli colonial activities, adding that the Palestinian Territories occupied in 1967 will be handled under the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
“The resumption of negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians requires clear terms of reference and those negotiations need to be resumed from where they left off,” he said, “Clear references for negotiations implies the recognition of 1967 borders with small land swaps,” he added.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamine Netanyahu will not be allowed and will not be given the chance to restart the negotiations from scratch and he will be required to halt all colony activity in the Palestinian Territories including Occupied East Jerusalem,” he said.
“It is time for the US Administration and the EU to press Israel to cancel its decision of deporting member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Mohammad Abu Tair from (occupied) Jerusalem to the West Bank. Israel should also drop its intention to deport other members of council and activists of Fatah. Israel should also stop demolishing the houses of Palestinians and seizing their lands,” he said.
Erekat said that the Negotiations Affairs Department at the PLO has around the clock contacts with Ussamah Al Sa’adi, the lawyer to the Occupied Jerusalem based members of the Palestinian Legislative Council in the case of ‘deporting those members’.
He added that his department has provided the lawyer with all the necessary documents to defend the parliament members and kept direct contacts with Israeli and international parties gaining huge support in this case.
“It is time for the EU states to recognize the Palestinian state based on the 1967 border lines should those countries desire to preserve the two states for two peoples formula,” he said.
“Borders is the key issue when a new state is created. It meaningless to address the Palestinian state without recognizing its 1967 border lines,” he added.
