Monday, 16 November 2009Talking to the press alongside US officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, Salam Fayyad dismissed Israeli concerns as irrelevant and said, "They’re talking about unilateralism, to which we reply yes, building state institutions is our responsibility and we embrace it."
A Palestinian state will be established as per the demands of the Palestinians, "as it is their natural right to live in a homeland," but everyone knows that the road is not embedded with roses, he added.
Fayyad briefed reporters on his plan to establish an independent Palestinian state within two years.
But he said that "Israeli stubbornness" was getting in the way and urged the Israelis to freeze all settlements and "abide by international law and legitimacy."
"The international community must emphasize Palestinian rights, at the top of which is ending the occupation, and ensure the right to determine our own future, rather than relying on the occupying power to carry out its wishes," the Ma’an news agency quoted him as saying.
US Senator Joseph Lieberman said that the United States is committed to the two-state solution and praised the Palestinians’ efforts to build state institutions.
"I know some people are concerned that this is unilateral," he added, according to The Jerusalem Post.
"But it seems to me that it is unilateral in a healthy sense of self-development," Lieberman noted.
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Monday, 16 November 2009
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