Saturday 30 May 2009

Barghouthi: IOA is misleading the world on settlements


Barghouthi: IOA is misleading the world on settlements

[ 29/05/2009 - 05:35 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Palestinian legislator MP Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi has accused Thursday the Israeli occupation government of misleading the world on the construction of more Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

In press release he made in Ramallah city, the Palestinian lawmaker explained that the Israeli Knesset's (parliament) endorsement of bills confirming the Jewish identity of the Hebrew state, and of punishing anyone who denies it confirm racism and the apartheid system of the Israeli occupation authority.

He also pointed that the IOA announcement of proceeding with the settlement project in the occupied city of Jerusalem and in the West Bank was sufficient evidence that the IOA doesn’t want peace in the region.

"The Israeli talk of deciding the future of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank through negotiations with the Palestinians on the one hand, and the concrete steps it takes to expand and build new settlements in the area was per se contradictory and meant to deceive the international committee", Barghouthi underlined.

He added, "Netanyahu's government doesn’t need a test period to prove itself as it had indeed proven its extremist identity and its expansionist orientations, which jeopardize peace and security in the region, and could push the entire region to the brink of confrontation".

But he said that if the new US administration was indeed serious in ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands based on the two-state solution, then the USA must oblige the IOA to halt construction or expansion of settlements.

The IOA alleged it was building new settlements to meet the natural growth in the Israeli community although that expansion was at the expense of the Palestinian people's lands.

In this regard, Barghouthi underscored that it is about time for the international community to bridle the Israeli practices on the Palestinian land, and to force her to abide by international laws and conventions, saying, "the Zionist occupation was racing with time in a bid to impose new facts on the ground that would thwart the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

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