Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh today called on Germany to recognize the Palestinian state and to submit a statement on the Palestine situation to the International Court of Justice.

‘Whoever believes in the two-state solution must recognize the State of Palestine, and we hope that Germany, one of the protectors of human rights, on the occasion of the celebration of German Unity Day, will recognize the independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, issue a statement to the International Court of Justice regarding the nature of the occupation as illegal and illegitimate, and impose sanctions on settlement products and boycott them,’ Shtayyeh said during a celebration in Ramallah marking German Unity Day attended by the German Representative to Palestine, Oliver Owcza, and a number of officials, ambassadors, consuls, and representatives of countries accredited to Palestine.

Shtayyeh called on Germany and all friendly countries to put pressure on Israel to allow elections in all the Palestinian territories, pointing out that ‘it is unreasonable for Israel to hold five elections in the last four years and deprive us of our right to do so.’

The Prime Minister recognized the day the German people brought down the Berlin Wall.

“We do not forget the will and courage of the German people in destroying and removing the wall and barriers in Berlin. The political will of the people, which put an end to the division of Germany and made Germany a success story among the top developed countries, cannot be defeated,’ he said.

Shtayyeh said that while the headquarters of the presidency, the government and its institutions are temporarily located in Ramallah, they will eventually be moved to the capital of Palestine, Jerusalem, as the wall surrounding Jerusalem is temporary, and with the will of the Palestinian people the wall will be removed just as the Berlin Wall was removed. ‘Barriers were placed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was under siege and isolated to separate our people from each other,’ he said.

“The Palestinian leadership, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, and we are behind him, are making every effort to end the division and achieve national unity on the road toward ending the occupation.”

The Prime Minister added: ‘Successive occupation governments practice the most heinous forms of sanctions and violations against our people. They continue to hold the bodies of 140 martyrs in refrigerators, and there are more than 5,000 prisoners in the occupation prisons, while more than 750,000 settlers are in the occupied Palestinian territories illegally and illegitimately in violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and the United Nations.’

He said: “We are victims of the occupation and our land is a victim of settlement. This current Israeli government is reoccupying the West Bank through daily incursions in Palestinian cities, villages and camps, killings, arrests, and raids on holy places and Al-Aqsa Mosque. We saw the Israeli Prime Minister raising the historic map of Palestine on the United Nations platform as the State of Israel, which indicates that it is a government that does not believe in the two-state solution and seeks only to destroy it.’

Shtayyeh praised the continued German support for Palestine and the two-state solution, stressing that Germany is the largest single donor since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, which covers all sectors in all the Palestinian territories, in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

“There is a lot that we can learn and benefit from Germany’s experience. Unity, justice and freedom belong to Germany and to Palestine,” he said.

For his part, the German Representative said Germany has been and remains a steadfast partner to the Palestinians and it remains committed to the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent, democratic and united Palestinian state. He said Germany will continue to be one of the main partners to support infrastructure, economic development, vocational training, local governance and building the institutional foundations of the future state.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency