Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Nigeria, Abdallah Shawesh, has said that despite the war Israel was waging against Hamas in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority was committed to a two-state solution to the lingering Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The envoy said this when he visited the corporate headquarters of LEADERSHIP Newspapers Group in Abuja on Tuesday, stressing that contrary to the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States and the European Union (EU), the Palestinian militant group is a resistant organization against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and not a terrorist group.
He said, “Nelson Mandela was designated as a terrorist when he was fighting for the liberation of South Africa but when you look back into history, Israel has designated us as a terrorist people, President Mahmoud Abbas who is a preacher of the peace process, is being considered as a terrorist diplomat.
“If you dare to criticize the Israeli occupation, you will be branded a terrorist or anti-Semitic. Even the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) which has been involved in the peace process by signing the Oslo Accords under late PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, was also designated as a terrorist organisation.
“Hamas is not a terrorist organisation; it is a resistance movement against the occupation of Palestinian territories. It is only Israel, the US and EU that so designated the group. The African Union and the Nigerian government do not recognise Hamas as a terrorist organisation because if we accept the Israeli narrative, then we should accept that Nelson Mandela is a terrorist for resisting colonial rule. We have to have a clear-cut definition of terrorism.”
He pointed out that the stated objective of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in the ongoing war in Gaza was to eliminate Hamas, adding that this intention might not come to reality because Hamas is an ideology that cannot be eliminated just like that.
Although the latest war was triggered on October 7, 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel and killed about 1,200 people and took over 200 others as hostages, Ambassador Shewash however, noted that his country has been under the siege of Israeli occupation and violence up to October 6, 2023, saying that 152 Palestinians including babies have been killed up until October 6, 2023.
Speaking further on the resolution of the conflict, he said: “the two-state solution is actually not a new invention. When you go back to the so-called partition of the land of Palestine on November 2, 1947, adopted by the United Nations (Resolution 181), this document recognised the State of Israel and the State of Palestine. But unfortunately it’s not the power of logic but the logic of power that has been prevailing.
“The 181 Partition plan gave Israel only 54% of the ancestral land of Palestine. Unfortunately because of the logic of power, the Jewish gang, which was armed to the teeth with the full support of the UK, succeeded in expelling about 78% of the Palestinians and converting us to refugees. They totally dismantled 531 villages and towns, then expelled the Palestinians and occupied 78% of the historical land of Palestine instead of 54%.”
He said further that after 1967 when Israel occupied West Bank and Gaza, the then leader of PLO, Arafat, moved for the peace process, during which Palestinians agreed to build their state on only 22% of its historical land. He added that after signing the Oslo Accords, the “Two-state solution is the minimum that we can accept and we want it implemented but the current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is talking about not accepting the two-state solution even when the American president has made a move for it.”
Earlier, welcoming the Palestinian envoy, the Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP, Mr. Azu Ishiekwene, assured him that LEADERSHIP is passionate about the resolution of the conflict and supports the two-state solution in line with the commitment of the Nigerian government and the African Union (AU).
