Palestinians want U.N timetable to end Israeli occupation

New York (IINA) - The Palestinians are “ready and willing” to see if the U.N. Security Council has “the political will” to adopt a resolution with a deadline for ending Israel’s occupation and establishing a Palestinian state, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador said Monday, according to the Associated Press.

Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters that the adoption of a resolution with a timetable would be “one of the most effective measures to combat extremism in our region, because extremists receive their fuel from the injustice of the Palestinian people. “If there is a just solution to this conflict ... in a short period of time, then you’ll take away from them the main source of recruitment and mobilization,” he said, adding that it would also contribute to resolving perhaps 70 percent of the “burning issues in the Middle East.” Mansour also said the United States holds the key.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will reassess U.S. policy toward Israel following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comment before last month’s election that he would not allow for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Last year, the council rejected a Palestinian resolution demanding an end to the Israeli occupation within three years. The U.S. opposed that draft, saying Palestinian statehood can only be achieved through negotiations. Mansour said the Palestinians want a new resolution with a timetable and the parameters for a Palestinian statehood deal that would define the pre-1967 frontier as a reference point for border talks, designate Jerusalem as a capital of two states, and call for a fair solution for Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinians also want an international conference and negotiations to include the parties as well as the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council and “concerned” Arab parties, he said. Mansour stressed that there must be the “political will” not only to adopt a resolution but to ensure that it is implemented, which is the only way to end Israel’s occupation and save the two-state solution. That, he said, “should be our answer to the new-old position of Prime Minister Netanyahu who is against a two-state solution.”

HA/IINA

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