00:00The 29th of November of each year is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
00:06following a resolution adopted by the UN in New York in 1977.
00:13This date was chosen to commemorate the date of the adoption of another resolution,
00:19the Resolution 181, that has been adopted on the 29th of November 1947.
00:26This resolution is also known as the Partition Plan, Partition Resolution of Palestine.
00:34At that time, there was a proposal to create two states already in Palestine.
00:41And to commemorate this resolution, the UN decided in 1977 to have the 29th of November
00:51as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
00:55So this year, we decided to celebrate it together with the National Day or the Proclamation of the State of Palestine.
01:05The State of Palestine was proclaimed on 15 November 1988 in Algeria by the PLO.
01:14At that time, it was the first time that Palestine, the PLO, accepted the Resolution 242,
01:26which means indirectly it was a kind of a recognition of the State of Israel, which was not the case before.
01:33So 15th of November is the Proclamation of the State, which is our National Day,
01:39and 29th of November the International Day of Solidarity.
01:42But we decided to celebrate both together on the 18th of November last for logistic questions and things like that.
01:54And so we did it together with the UN office in Manila.
02:01Can you tell us the specific significance of the International Day of Solidarity?
02:07What is it specifically commemorating?
02:09It is commemorating the decision or the resolution of the UN calling for the two states,
02:17which means that something that we are advocating for, it is what we call nowadays the two-state solution.
02:24This is the only way we, as Palestinian government, we think that the only way to guarantee peace,
02:34lasting peace and security for all, for both Palestine and Israel,
02:40it is through this solution, the two-state solution, that is also supported by a huge majority of members of the UN.
02:49Nowadays, we are talking about 160 countries recognizing the state of Palestine,
02:57which means 160 countries in favor of this solution, the two-state solution.
03:03You mentioned that for logistical purposes you decided to celebrate on the 18th of November.
03:08But this celebration in particular, this year you didn't have the cake cutting ceremony, no toasting.
03:16Yes, here in this country, whenever there is a national day, the tradition is that there is a toast and there is a cake cutting.
03:23But we decided to skip this tradition, and I announced it in the reception,
03:29saying that we will not have a toast and we will not have a cake cutting because of the situation in Gaza.
03:39Our people in Gaza is suffering famine, they don't have water to drink,
03:44so having a toast, it would have been, you know, somehow too much for the situation.
03:51There is no real joy to have with the situation of our people in Gaza.
03:57So that's why we decided to skip these two things.
04:01So on November 29, will there still be any activities on the actual day itself?
04:05No, activities as such for public, no, but there will be some lectures in some universities, and that's it.
04:12Here in the Philippines?
04:14Yes, yes.
04:15We already have given other lectures, so we didn't stop.
04:20It's not only on the date itself.
04:22We went to two universities, the University LaSalle and Ateneo.
04:28And at Ateneo, there were more than 350 students in the amphitheater, and it was an excellent meeting.
04:40Students were very, how to say, very interested, many questions.
04:45So, yes, this kind of activities, we will continue it for the International Day.
04:52But as celebration with the diplomatic corps and the officials, no, it was only November 18.
04:59So was the two-state solution discussed in these lectures?
05:03Of course, of course.
05:04It comes very often everywhere.
05:06The question is always raised, and our position is always very clear.
05:11We are in favor of this solution.
05:14Actually, we are in favor of any solution that guarantees just and lasting peace.
05:21Actually, with no justice, there wouldn't be peace, and it wouldn't be sustainable.
05:27So no lasting peace without justice.
05:29And we think that the two-state solution is a just solution, so it could be a lasting peace, of course.
05:36So the contentious part about it is just how the two states will be divided exactly, the borders.
05:44How do you tackle the situation?
05:47No, actually, it's not the problem of the borders.
05:49The borders are defined by the international resolutions.
05:53We are talking about the borders of what we call 4th of June, 1967, commonly called the 1967 borders.
06:03And in that case, it includes Gaza, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
06:11This is what we call the 1967.
06:13So the borders as such, there is no ambiguity on it.
06:17But the problem for the viability of the future state of Palestine is the problem of the illegal settlements in the West Bank by the Israelis.
06:28Nowadays, we are having settlements surrounding all Palestinian cities around East Jerusalem, around Bethlehem, around Hebron, around Ramallah, what have you.
06:41All cities are surrounded by settlements, and the settlers, they are reaching around 800,000.
06:51And with the expansion, continuous expansion of the settlements, maybe they will reach very quickly one million.
07:01This is the first problem.
07:02Second problem, it is the communication between the cities and the crossing for the Palestinian citizens between the cities.
07:14For example, I'm from the city of Bethlehem.
07:16When I want to go to Ramallah, I have to check several Israeli checkpoints.
07:22And very often, the Israeli soldiers on the checkpoints, they decide to have a break.
07:29They close the checkpoint, and simply like this.
07:31So you can't cross.
07:33Usually, in the past, it used to take us maximum half an hour to go from Bethlehem to Ramallah.
07:39Nowadays, if it takes you two hours, you are lucky.
07:42Same thing for Jericho, from Bethlehem to Jericho, or from Bethlehem to Hebron.
07:47When it is open, when you can go.
07:49So the viability of the state of the future, let's say, the state of Palestine exists.
07:55But we are under occupation.
07:58This is our problem for the public.
08:01And this is a question very oftenly raised.
08:05I have to explain that, for example, in my city, Bethlehem, we as Palestinian authority, we are in charge of everything.
08:15Everything, everything, the educational system, health, security, everything is managed by our government.
08:23Same thing in Ramallah, same thing in Hebron, in Tulkarem, in Naples, in Jericho, but inside the cities.
08:31Now, outside the city, it's the Israeli army.
08:35This is the problem.
08:36And going from one city to another, it is controlled by the Israeli.
08:41This is the occupation.
08:43So the viability due to the occupation and the settlements is in question.
08:49This here is the difficulty.
08:50Now, in the past, during the negotiations in the 90s, there was many ideas talking about land swap, for example.
09:01If they don't want to evacuate some settlements, then they should give another land and things like that.
09:07There are solutions.
09:09Where there is a will, there is a way.
09:10But it is very clear that the current government of Israel has no will to reach any solution.
09:18And they declared it, that they are against the two-state solution.
09:23But you have the support of the international community.
09:26I said 160 countries, including, well, in the, you know, in the Security Council, there are 15 members.
09:33Out of them, there are the P5, the permanent members.
09:37Out of the P5, we have four recognizing Palestine.
09:42It's only USA who doesn't.
09:46Even if, historically, the USA used to say that they are in favor also of the two-state solution.
09:54It's not only the US.
09:55Some, still few, European countries, they pretend being in favor of the two-state solution.
10:03But meanwhile, they recognize only one state over two.
10:06If they were really in favor of the two states, then they should start by recognizing the two states.
10:13So, indeed, we have 160 countries recognizing Palestine.
10:19But this is not enough.
10:20Because what we need, it's not only the declaration of recognition.
10:25We need the implementation.
10:26And to have the implementation, we need Israel to implement it first.
10:31Because they are the occupying power.
10:33And in order to push Israel to do so, we need to have pressure from the international community,
10:39and especially by those who recognize Palestine.
10:42So, they have the responsibility now to pressure Israel to end the occupation.
10:46I think the solution wouldn't occur without ending the occupation.
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