Declaration of the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A.Kyprianou on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
29th NOVEMBER 2017, NICOSIA
Dear friend Ambassador of Palestine, Jubran Taweel,
We are here today at the Embassy of Palestine to stress the importance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people. This day has been established by the United Nations in 1977 – ten years after June 1967 marking the beginning of the 50 years of occupation by Israel of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. It is the longest occupation in modern history.
The figures themselves describe all the suffering the Palestinian people are going through: 5 million refugees worldwide, some of whom are in Cyprus. 6198 political prisoners among them 12 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, including 58 women and 280 children. It is estimated that since 1967 750,000 Palestinians have been arrested. The colonization of the Palestinian territories continues, threatening to destroy every possibility for a two-state solution. The number of settlers today has exceeded 750,000. The demolition of houses and sheds, as well as the uprooting of people is continuing. Gaza is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster with the ongoing blockade. The economy is completely dependent and unemployment levels in some regions have reached 80%.
The turbulent region of the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean is perhaps going through the most tragic period in its history. Interventions and military operations by the United States and its allies in their attempts to impose their plans, with the ultimate goal of gaining control over the natural wealth of the area’s energy sources, have provoked continuing bloodshed in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen. Millions of people have been uprooted and hundreds have drowned in the Mediterranean while trying to reach a safe region. These imperialist designs created the “Islamic State”, which turned into a criminal boomerang that is threatening innocent citizens now very far away from the Middle East.
The Palestinian problem is at the heart of these problems. At the heart of the Middle East. In every respect, the just solution with the restoration of International Law and implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations is a matter of urgency. The responsibility of all the UN member states is to recognize the Palestinian State as an independent, sovereign, viable state with territorial cohesion, on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
AKEL reaffirms its unreversed solidarity with the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people. We will continue in practice, from every podium at our disposal (European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, international fora and bodies), to express our solidarity and support the efforts for a just and peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue. This is the only way the Middle East will be able to live in peace.
