Husni Abdel Wahed, the Palestinian ambassador to Spain, admitted that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which he represents, has a “very limited field of action” vis-à-vis Israel and the reality on the ground, in addition to the conflict with the Islamist group Hamas, with which it has been in conflict since 2007.
“We must start by recognizing our reality and being self-critical,” said Abdel Wahed during his speech at the second international seminar organized by the Carlos III University of Madrid. “We have a serious problem, that of division, and we have not managed to resolve it. For there to be an agreement, the different parties must give in,” he added in reference to disagreements with Hamas, even if the ANP showed its solidarity with the movement which controls Gaza in the face of the Israeli massacre in the Gaza Strip. “Hamas continues without giving up anything on the Palestinian side,” insisted the ambassador.
On the other hand, he regretted that the Palestinian government based in the city of Ramallah has few defense capabilities: “The 40,000 rifles available to the ANP cannot confront Israel.” “We are not washing our hands, we have chosen the peaceful path and we are continuing this path. But the European Union and the United States are opposed to this peaceful path.”
The ambassador categorically rejected the argument that “the ANP is a collaborator of the Israeli occupation.” “It’s a lack of respect,” he stressed, assuring that “if there is anyone who should judge him, it will be the Palestinian people.” “I can’t hide the sun with a finger and say that [la ANP] It’s perfect, nothing is perfect. The ANP should be self-critical and reform many of its problems.”
During the university seminar “Palestine, a duty of the international community”, Abdel Wahed also took the opportunity to recall two moments when the international community “hurt the Palestinian people”. First, on November 2, 1917, with the Balfour Declaration, a document in which the British government already showed its support for the creation of a “national home” for the Jewish people in Palestine.
“The Palestinian people were not consulted and this generated further events that ultimately led to the creation of the State of Israel and the resulting expulsion of the Palestinians,” the diplomat explained. According to him, the Balfour Declaration gave rise to what we see today: “Israel’s expansion to other countries like Lebanon.”
The second moment is November 29, 1947, when the UN approved the partition of Palestine with Resolution 181. The approval of this document, also without consulting the Palestinian people, was “a kind of reward for those who were persecuted and massacred by Westerners. “, that is to say the Jews. According to the ambassador, this has been a constant of the international community: “Whoever generated this crime against humanity should pay the price, but since they were Westerners, they did not.”
The two-state solution
“Where is international law? Into nothingness,” said Abdel Wahed. The diplomat denounced the double standards of the West with the regime which, after the Second World War, created a system for the protection of human rights. “You cannot be a selective humanist: either we are all human or we are not. »
In a context where countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway and Slovenia have already recognized the State of Palestine, the ambassador asked those who support the two-state solution to “really do it” and to be encouraged to adopt this position. “The time is no longer for negotiations as we did in 1991, here in Madrid”, it is time to “implement the international consensus”. The diplomat, however, assured that, for the moment, “things are not going in this direction”.
“I do not want to be pessimistic, I want to convey hope: we, Palestinians, are a people who have not yet fallen into resignation or resentment, we are a people who will continue to fight for human values, for justice, for peace and for freedom..”, he concluded.
