Abbas awards Israeli peace activist

President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday awarded a medal of excellence to Israeli human rights lawyer Felicia Langer. Langer received the prize in recognition for her role in defending Palestinian prisoners and her struggle to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, official news agency Wafa reported. The ceremony took place in Berlin. “I’m very happy and deeply touched by this wonderful and inspiring award which I accept with thanks and profound gratitude,” Langer was quoted by Wafa as saying. “If Israel will not totally abandon its destructive, peace-resistant policy, it will remain an island of apartheid in the Middle East with no future at all. “Palestinian people have the legitimate right according to international law to self-determination, as every people under the sun, and to become full member of the United Nations. It will happen as it has happened with UNESCO,” she added. Langer was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 2009 by then German president Horst Kohler.