30 Nov 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Monday that the Palestinians "will not tolerate Israeli occupation forever." Abbas made his comment on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and stressed that continuous occupation "undermines" the two-state solution.
"We reiterate our absolute rejection of the continuation of the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, of racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing against our Palestinian people," said the PA official. "We affirm our rejection of changes to the historical status quo in Al-Aqsa Mosque, preventing worshippers from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, expelling Palestinians from Jerusalem neighbourhoods and designating six Palestinian civil society organisations as terrorist bodies."
Abbas added that the Palestinians are still striving to achieve a just and comprehensive peace that leads to two-states based on the resolutions of the international community and under the auspices of the International Quartet. "However, ongoing Israeli measures to undermine the two-state solution and impose the reality of apartheid will force us to go to other options if the occupation does not back down on its practices."
Measures imposed by the occupation authorities, including apartheid, oppression of the Palestinian people, land seizures and confiscation of natural resources, strangling of the economy and attacking the identity and character of Jerusalem are all totally unacceptable, he insisted.
Moreover, Abbas condemned the demolition of homes of Palestinian people and the unjust blockade on the Gaza Strip. He called on the international community to put pressure on the Israeli government to abide by signed agreements, and to allow the Palestinian elections to be held in East Jerusalem, as happened previously.
Meanwhile, in a speech delivered at the UN, the PA's Permanent Envoy Riyad Mansour said: "Today more than ever the choice is clear and unequivocal, as stated by [former US] President [Jimmy] Carter: Peace or Apartheid. Can the world tolerate a new apartheid?"
He added that the Palestinian people will not tolerate oppression and injustice, and will continue to pursue their struggle against the colonial occupation of their land. "We will not abandon the culture of peace that is deeply rooted within us and we will continue to pursue peaceful popular resistance. We will not accept a future of walls, blockade, racial discrimination, oppression, hatred and colonialism."
