In statements to the Lusa news agency, Rawan Suleiman acknowledged that the stance taken at the end of the international conference on the implementation of the two-state solution, held this week at the UN in New York, “was very well received by the Foreign Minister, the Palestinian leadership, and also the Palestinian people.”
It represents “a step forward in advocating for peace and justice and, of course, the implementation of international law,” she said.
Portugal admitted on Wednesday that it might recognize the State of Palestine in September during the United Nations General Assembly session.
The Portuguese position was stated in a joint declaration signed by the diplomatic leaders of 12 European countries, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, at the conclusion of the conference on the two-state solution.
For the Palestinian ambassador, “this is part of a global consensus on recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people to, above all, exercise their right to self-determination and have their own state with the 1967 borders, and East Jerusalem as the capital.”
This consensus, according to the representative of the diplomatic mission in Lisbon, is “very important because it means transitioning from the phase of declarations to actions,” and also because it shows a reaction to Israel’s stance.
“What united all these countries was the devastating situation in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, and the need to react, to pressure Israel to stop this aggression and genocide, allowing unconditional humanitarian access, a ceasefire, and the end of this aggression,” she argued.
For the diplomat, the solution of having two sovereign and recognized states—Israel and Palestine—can only contribute to peace in the region.
“We have been in this situation [of being aggressed] for 77 years, since the ‘Nakba’ [Arabic term meaning Catastrophe, referring to the expulsion, since 1948, of about half of the predominantly Arab population of Palestine], with the occupation of 1967 and the horrible situation caused by the injustice and illegal practices of Israel,” she lamented.
But now, she emphasized, “together with the international community and in accordance with international law, we have decided that the solution will never be military.”
The solution for this Middle East region will have to involve “making a political horizon possible, ending this injustice, ending this occupation, ending this genocide and this aggression by the occupier,” added Rawan Suleiman.
“I think everyone in the international community realizes that this cannot continue. Peace cannot be an option. It must be a moral and legal obligation,” she stressed.
On Thursday, the Portuguese Prime Minister announced he would consult the President of the Republic and political parties with parliamentary representation about the possible recognition of the Palestinian State.
The process of consideration is seen as normal by the ambassador, who emphasized that the recognition of a state is always a “sovereign decision of a country.”
However, Rawan Suleiman ensures that she has been discussing the issue with Portuguese parties and authorities since she took her current position 11 months ago and that “she sees Portugal as part of the global consensus” on Palestine.
According to the government, the recognition of the Palestinian state will only occur within a coordination with a group of countries with whom Portugal has been “maintaining continuous dialogue and who actively participated in this conference [in New York]” and if the Palestinian Authority meets certain conditions and guarantees.
To date, at least 142 of the 193 UN member countries recognize the Palestinian state, according to France-Presse news agency data.
