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South African News Updates |
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18 May 2009 Ambassador of South Africa to
Palestine Dr. Ted Bikhany on Monday highlighted the
justice of the Palestinian cause and the need for the
establishment of an independent Palestinian state,
pointing to his country’s strong relationship with the
Palestinian people.
Dr. Bikhany’s remarks were made during a meeting
with Palestinian deputy minister of foreign affairs
Dr. Ahmed Yousuf in the Gaza Strip.
“We are aware of the justice of the Palestinian
cause and that it is time for the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state,” the South African
ambassador underlined.
The ambassador recalled the efforts made by South
Africa in the past to strengthen the Palestinian unity
and its invitation to Palestinian premier Ismail
Haneyya to visit the country.
For his part, Dr. Yousuf hailed the South African
ambassador and the delegation accompanying him for
their insistence to visit Gaza despite all Israeli
attempts to prevent them from this visit, pointing out
that the Palestinians highly respect and appreciate
South Africa for all the support it extends to them.
The Palestinian official also handed the ambassador
a written message from premier Haneyya to South
African president Jacob Zuma related to bilateral
relations between the two sides.
Israel was established following
bloody massacres
On his part, Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the acting speaker of
the PLC, said on Friday that Israel was established
following "bloody massacres" in lines of the
Palestinian people in Deir Yassin and Kafr Kassem,
highlighting that resisting the occupation is a
legitimate right guaranteed by divine religions and
cannot be dropped by prescription.
In a speech delivered following a massive march
organized by Hamas in northern Gaza, Dr. Bahar
stressed the Palestinian people’s adherence to the
right of return, saying that the grandchildren did not
give up the house keys they inherited from their
ancestors and still carry their messages.
The acting speaker warned that there is a calamity
in occupied Jerusalem where its people are displaced
and its lands are stolen for expanding settlement
outposts and digging tunnels beneath the Aqsa Mosque,
adding that after the Annapolis conference, 60,000
Jewish housing units were built on occupied
Palestinian lands.
He called on the American administration not to turn a
blind eye to the massacre that was committed by Israel
in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli displacement of
6,000,000 Palestinians all over the world, warning
that the Arab and Muslim nation would revolt if US
president Barack Obama decided to follow the steps of
his predecessor.
The Palestinian lawmaker deplored the Pope of the
Vatican for visiting Israel and the family of Israeli
captive soldier Gilad Shalit while ignoring the
suffering of the Gaza people and the families of
11,000 prisoners in Israeli jails, inviting the Pope
to visit Gaza to see the holocaust committed by the
Jews there.
The lawmaker also held Britain fully responsible for
the tragedy of the Palestinian people because it gave
the Jews the right to occupy Palestine.
In another context, Maan Bashour, the
secretary-general of the popular campaign to support
Palestine and Iraq, said that the day of the Nakba is
not for howling and wailing, but a day for
determination and steadfastness in the face of the
Israeli occupation and aggression on the Palestinian
people, and for the restoration of the Palestinian
national unity.
In a speech delivered at the cemetery of
Palestinian martyrs in Chatila, south of Beirut,
Bashour urged the Arab and Islamic Ummah (Nation) to
assume its responsibilities fully and work on saving
Jerusalem and its people from the Zionist threats.
EsinIslam.Com
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