Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al Qidwa said on Thursday that Israel cannot avoid implications of the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, regarding the Separation wall.
The statements of Al Qidwa came during an interview with Haaretz, marking the first anniversary of Arafat’s death.
“You cannot separate yourselves with a fence, without asking about the implications of this wall on you and the region”, Al Qidwa stated, “You have to give the rights back to their legitimate owners, history will prove you wrong”.
Also, Al Qidwa told Haaretz that “Israel is consistently and relentlessly eliminating the option of two states living side by side”, and added that it is quickly closing the window of opportunity for two states solution.
“Israel is close to forming a binational state” he said, “Today the situation is very similar to the one in Yasser Arafat’s era, and things depend on Israel much more than they depend on us”.
Al Qidwa added that Arafat’s death left an emptiness which is not filed yet, but his “heritage is stronger today than it was a year ago”. The issue of Arafat’s death will not be closed until clear evidence of its cause is revealed, he said.
“Arafat was never a burden on the Palestinians, he is a symbol of the Palestinian struggle against the occupation”, A Qidwa stated, “Arafat became the enemy of Sharon, because the later did not want to arrive to a settlement to the Palestinian Israel conflict; Arafat negotiated with Rabin and became his friend”.
