The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today welcomed the decisions that came in the final statement of the 36th session of the African Union Summit, held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, particularly the paragraph related to the Palestinian issue, and thanked the African leaders for refusing Israel’s request to obtain observer status in the African Union.
The Foreign Ministry expressed its pride in the historical relations between the Palestinian people and the peoples of the African continent, whom it said have always stood by the Palestinian people and their rights, foremost of which are their rights to self-determination, independence, and ending the occupation, settlements and the Israeli apartheid regime.
The closing statement of the African Union summit affirmed the full support of African countries for the Palestinian people, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, in their legitimate struggle against the Israeli occupation in order to restore their inalienable rights, including their right to self-determination, return of refugees, and establishing their independent and sovereign state on the June 4, 1967, borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The African leaders also renewed their call to launch a credible political process to end the Israeli occupation and dismantle its apartheid regime in order to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, to support the State of Palestine’s efforts to achieve full membership in the United Nations and to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency