By Innocent Odoh
Abuja
The Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Montasir Abuzaid, has condemned the Israeli raid on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where several Palestinians were arrested over the missing three Israeli settlers, calling it an aggression against the Palestinian people.
The envoy told a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja that “the situation in the Occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem continues to deteriorate as a result of the repressive and illegal measures that continue to be undertaken by Israel, the occupying power against the Palestinian people.”
He noted that the number of Palestinians detained has risen to 330 which included 24 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council adding that “the prisoners have embarked on hunger strike in an expression of collective nonviolent protest against the abusive treatment and deplorable conditions they are being subjected to in Israel’s jails and detention centers and in peaceful demand of their human rights.”
He stressed that Israeli aggression was in connection with three Israeli settlers that went missing on Friday 13th June saying that Israel has continued to carry out collective punishment against the Palestinian people.
He lamented what he called the Israeli violation of the United Nations resolutions, which stipulate a two –state structure for Israel and Palestine calling on the international community to impose economic sanctions on Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu to force it to obey the resolutions.
He praised the Nigerian government under President Jonathan for voting for the state of Palestine as a nonvoting observer member of the United nations General Assembly in November 2012 describing it as “positive and principled’’ and recounted the strong bilateral relations that had existed between both countries since 1988.
Abuzaid also recalled that Nigeria backed the admission of Palestine into the UNESCO. “Nigeria was the first country in Africa to recognise the state of Palestine in 1988” he said.
He accused the Israeli government of building settlements at the West Bank, which according to him is illegal in international law.
He blamed Israel for the non implementation of the 1993 peace agreement signed by former Palestinian leader, the late Yasser Arafat and the former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stressing that Israel assassinated both men in different ways.
He said further that the solution to the Arab- Israeli conflict is for Israel to respect the 1967 border arrangement.
