Arab Ministerial council to set date for Palestinian UN bid

The date for presenting the application of the Palestinian bid to the United Nations will be set in the Arab Ministerial council’s meeting scheduled on the fifth of September, Thursday said Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. During separate meetings with councils and representatives of France, Germany, India, Brazil, South Africa, and the US, Erekat said that the Palestinian bid to the United Nations to seek a non member state status is a decision taken by Palestinians and Arabs. He added that to recognize Palestine as a non-member state will not harm the final status negotiations, which aim is to implement UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967. He called on the international community to intervene immediately to compel the Israeli government to re-open the closed Palestinian offices and institutions in East Jerusalem since 2001, mainly the Orient House, and the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce, as well as to stop all settlement activities, including in East Jerusalem. Erekat urged Israel to accept the two-state-solution, release all Palestinian prisoners, particularly prisoners arrested before the end of 1994.