admin
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
PALESTINE is pinning its hopes on Zimbabwe to object and reject a unilateral decision to grant Israel observer status during the oncoming 35th ordinary session of the assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), that begins on Saturday.
Israel was contentiously granted observer status by the African Commission last year, a decision most member states are now opposed to. Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Palestinian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Tamer Almassri, said the objection will serve as a stark reminder that colonial occupation, racism and endemic violations of international law, which continue to shackle Palestine, must not be rewarded or appeased.
“We are counting on free countries in Africa and Zimbabwe has a strong history, leadership and it is one of our best friends in Africa.
“We have a long common history in the struggle and we believe that Zimbabwe will raise its voice against comedy. We believe that Zimbabwe with the other countries will defend the reputation of the African Union by loudly rejecting Israeli membership in the African Union.
“I want to confirm again that the Palestinian people count on our friends and in hard times, we remember our friends in Zimbabwe. (We should never forget) the solidarity between our two peoples, leaderships and our two national movements during our common struggle against the apartheid regime before 1980 in Zimbabwe and against the Israel apartheid occupation.”
He added that Israel is confident that Africa will not accept Israel into the AU and cannot normalise its relations with the “apartheid” state. Ambassador Almassri said Africa should not ignore the fact that Israel was copying from the apartheid regimes in Zimbabwe and South Africa before they both collapsed in 1980 and 1994 respectively.
“It is time to show everybody that our principles and solidarity cannot be sold and cannot be changed. Sooner or later the Israel apartheid regime will collapse and the Israeli occupation will come to an end. We promise that our struggle against this occupation and this apartheid regime will continue until we achieve our independence . . .’’ Ambassador Almassri said.
Online Reporter