Omar Awadallah: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine on New Zealand staying tight-lipped on Palestine

Palestine's Deputy Foreign Minister has shared his view on what it means to recognise a Palestinian state.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters will announce New Zealand's position on Saturday, at the United Nations general assembly in New York.

At least 150 nations have recognised a Palestinian state, including France, Australia, Canada, and the UK.

Omar Awadallah from the Palestinian Authority says it's about recognising the people, Government, and territory of Palestine.

"You recognise the ideas, the principles upon which those people are acting."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are we too late on the Palestine question? That is

(00:02):
the question this evening. Winston Pede's over at the UN
continues to be tight lipped over whether or not we
will recognize a Palestinian state this week. Have a listen look,
we've been waiting eighty long years for an answer.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Here in a few days finding out all the facts,
it will not be wasted.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
The French are the latest to recognize. Doctor Omar Abadala
is the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State
of Palestine and joins me this evening.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Good evening, Good evening, and thank you for hosting me.
Go the best for you, for our friends in New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Thank you. Have you noticed is it being noticed that
New Zealand isn't hasn't yet made a decision, or isn't
recognizing a Palestinian state?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I I maybe I can't reformulate the issue that the
New Zealand is thinking of recognizing the state of Phalestine,
but they are looking for the right time, the right
moment for the New Zealand people and leadership to do
that bold decision.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Have you spoken maybe, have you had any word from
our Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Have they signaled anything about
what they might be doing.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
We had we had, we had an open discussion with
the Foreign Ministry and with the leadership about the recognition
and the importance of New Zealand to recognize the State
of Palestine and to join the the countries, the principal
countries that New Zealand is part of the international community,

(01:34):
and to take that decision towards recognizing the State of
Palestine as an investment in peace, and not to delay
or postpone this decision, which will be taken as an
encouragement to the Israeli policies, the illegal Israeli policies against
the Palestinian people in Palestine.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
What exactly is being recognized by these states? And I
noticed there are a lot of caveats, particularly on the
Canadian recognition. You know, there needs to be elections, there
needs to be all all this sort of stuff needs
to happen first. So what has actually been recognized?

Speaker 2 (02:10):
No, Actually, actually, when you recognize, you recognize the legal,
the moral, the natural right of the Palestinian people to
self determination. You recognize the people, You recognize the territory
on which the people are exercising or should exercise their
right to self determination. You recognize the government, the representatives

(02:33):
of this state, which is the pl O, the sole
representative of the Palestinian people, the legitimate representative of the
Palestinian people. You recognize the struggle, You recognize the the
the ideas, the principles upon which those people are acting,
including the Palestinian people, who are consistent in using the

(02:54):
international law and calling for the international community to be
committed to international law and to the international legitimacy. So
this is what the states already recognized. They recognized the
suffering of the Palestinian people since seventy seven years. They
recognized that this step should be taken seventy seven years

(03:17):
ago when the Yuan divided Palestine into two states, one
already there, but the other state now is still being
recognized by some players and the actors and international actors.
This is what they are recognized. They recognized the right
of people to exist.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
What about the hostages, the.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
Hostages and prisoners was one of the points on which
the New York Declaration about the Conference on the Peaceful
Settlements of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of
the two Still Solution. And it was clear that this
conference and this endeavor should start by a seas fare permanent,

(04:02):
permanent and lasting seas fire, where Israel stop its aggression
against the Palestinian people, where the release of hostages and
prisoners should take.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
All that included immediately. Yeah, definitely, it is just I'm
interested from a Palestinian authority point of view, is a
Palestinian state possible with Hamas in existence if their goal
is to wipe Israel off the face of the planet,
you know, is the are those can those things coexist?

Speaker 2 (04:33):
I think using this court will mislead so many of
your audiences. The State of Palestine recognized Israel in nineteen
ninety three, but Israel yet not recognizing the State of Palestine,
by the way, and they still committing genocide against the
Palestinian people, and they are threatening the existence of the

(04:55):
Palestinian people. The Palaestinian people are now under threat of
existence by the Israeli occupying forces and settular terrorism and
the Qubat Brazilian territory. So the State of Palestine is
about the people of the State of Palestine. It's not
about one party here or one movement here or one

(05:16):
movement there. It's about the ideology upon which the Palestinian
people are acting who are preserving the two state solution,
while we have officialist government, Israeli government that's trying to
inaliate the Palestinian people or possibly did transfer them out.
And they speak about this clearly, plantly in front of

(05:41):
all of others on the TV, that they are dehumanizing
the Palestinian people. Of course, here is not yes, this
is about the State of Palestine and its legitimate leadership,
which is the PLO. And this is what the states
already recognized, recognized the peace can in Palestine. By the way,

(06:02):
these states, they did not recognize any movement or any
party in Palestine, recognized all to Palestinian people.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Understand, Doctor Omar, I really appreciate your time and for
coming on the program as we wait this decision from
our foreign minister. Thank you very much for your time, Thank.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
You very much, thank you very much for the best.
I'm looking forward to talking with you.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
At dtor Omar Abadella, who's the Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the State of Palestine. For more from hither
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