President Mahmoud Abbas received, today, Tuesday, at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
We welcome the British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in Palestine, and we appreciate the importance of the visit in these complex circumstances, as the Israeli occupation authority still controls occupied Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine, in contravention of international legitimacy, and exercises its settlement activities, and has not abandoned its plans for annexation, which are Practices that destroy what is left of the peace process.
The president added, we reiterate that there will be no peace, security and stability in our region without ending the Israeli occupation of our land, and the Palestinian people obtaining their freedom and independence in their sovereign state on the 1967 borders.
And he continued, peace will not be achieved through leaping over the Palestinians towards normalizing relations with Arab countries, and it will not be achieved in the form of an illusion of peace in exchange for peace. Rather, it will be done on the basis of international legitimacy decisions and the Arab Peace Initiative, which means that a peace agreement is concluded with the Palestinians first.
The President said, I confirmed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in my previous contact with him, of our commitment to achieving peace in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, and that we are ready to go to negotiations under the auspices of the International Quartet and with the participation of other countries, and our firm commitment to fighting global terrorism. We are also continuing our efforts for Palestinian reconciliation leading to the general elections.
He added, "We appreciate all the assistance Britain provides to support building our institutions and advancing our national economy." We say that it is time for Britain to recognize the state of Palestine, which will help achieve justice, inspire hope and work to establish the two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders, so that Palestine and Israel can live in security, peace and good neighborliness.
The meeting was attended by Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat, Deputy Prime Minister Ziyad Abu Amr, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Maliki, a member of the Fatah Central Committee Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, and the president´s advisor for diplomatic affairs, Majdi al-Khalidi.
