Abbas confident Palestine will become state

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stressed the steadfastness of the Palestinian leadership and people in defending their Palestinian land despite significant pressure, starvation and siege. President Abbas spoke in Hebron city on Wednesday evening while visiting for the second time since taking his office. He stated “we are firmly rooted inside our land and will not leave it. We will not return to the past.” “I have received a lot of complaints and daily harassment because of the occupation, however we will remain steadfast. When I travel, I need a permit and it is a big problem, but we will be patience and will not give the occupation the opportunity to get us off of our land.” He confirmed that the Palestinian people will get their state this year, if not this year, it will be the next and so it follows. He continued: “we will eventually get our state. We want peace based on justice and equality that gives us what the international legitimacy has given to us; a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, free of discomfort and disputes, which is supported by all the world.” Referring to the many methods to resistance available to the Palestinian people he stated “we agreed with all factions on the activation of the Popular Resistance to raise our voice to the world to tell them we want our right. This resistance is the most effective response to the international community so we should invest it and not let the opportunity go away.” He expressed his happiness at visiting Hebron, saying: “I saw the determination of the people for construction and development, I walked around the vital facilities, and I saw the covered gym, which is perhaps the most splendid in our home, and I was pleased to see the number of women training in this gym bigger than the men. This shows the diversity of Hebron city.” He emphasized: 'what distinguishes Hebron is that they support industry, there are more than 300 factories. These factories achieve development more than other sectors. For the sake of encouraging the industry, the Investment Fund allocated $60 million for industrial loans that must be invested to encourage the development process in or home. “ ”I have repeatedly heard about the water problem.  The city, farms and livestock suffer shortages, but we have to think about how we can get out of this ongoing crisis and look for solutions. Our people are capable of inventing miracles.” The President spoke of the importance of the democratic process “The elections are the basis of reconciliation and pluralism is the basis of the Palestinian system. The best proof is that when Hamas won the election, we handover power. We must allow the Central Elections Commission to work in Gaza because they need preparation, and the population there had not registered since 2007 and there are more than 200 thousand citizens who are not registered to vote.” The Palestinian President exclaimed why Hamas stopped the work of the Commission, stressing that reconciliation means elections and when the Election Commission is allowed to work, the reconciliation will start. As for the peace process, the President said: “We went to get the membership of Palestine in the UN Security Council, but we could not get the nine votes, so we seek to get a full membership at the General Assembly of the United Nations, but then the Palestinian name shall be a ‘state under occupation’, and the occupation will not be able to make any changes.” He added “it is essential to get this right, despite the difficulties and pressures, especially since there are 133 countries who recognise this right. This is an important issue and should not be given up. He pointed out that the membership does not mean abandoning negotiations as there are important issues that cannot be terminated without negotiations.” President Abbas stated that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked to meet him but he replied that the 123 prisoners should be released first and then the Palestinian side is ready to talk. Netanyahu replied that he will release 50 prisoners in 4 batches, The Palestinian President assured: “For the sake of the prisoners, we are ready to go to anywhere in the world and we will remain steadfast until the establishment of our Palestinian state.”