'Turks are as Responsible as the Palestinians for the Future of Jerusalem'

Wednesday 12, 2005

By Cumali Onal

The Palestinian representative in the Arab League, Ambassador Mohammed Subeyh, announced that Turks are as responsible for Jerusalem as the Palestinians living there under Israeli siege. Assessing the results of the presidential elections in Palestine, Subeyh told Zaman that there is no difference between Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, who won the elections, and noted that the conflict stems only from Israel's anti-peace attitude.

The Arab League, based in the Egyptian capital Cairo, has been working almost as a bureau for Palestine since the day it was established. Attending all meetings in this institution where Arabs spend a great deal of time and effort and money to reach reconciliation on Palestinian issue, Subeyh expressed the Arabs' concerns that they had failed to reach a joint decision for action.

Stressing that the Palestinian people and leaders only have a single goal, Subeyh explained: "First of all comes Israel's withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, the establishment of a Palestinian state, the capital of which will be Jerusalem, and the return of the refuges living outside the Palestinian land." Subeyh argues that Israel is doing everything it can to kill the peace.

The Palestinian Ambassador expressed that Israel had set up refugee camps everywhere and turned Jerusalem into a Jewish city: "They have rejected all attempts at negotiations about the refugees. They demolished the houses of thousands of Palestinians. They left over one million people homeless. They continued their massacres even during the period when the elections were held."

According to Subeyh, Abu Mazen has come to power through a very democratic and transparent election and shown that Israel always has plans for war against them, "Unfortunately, there are those in the current Israeli cabinet, who want to kill the Palestinians like animals and even exile them to India. Sharon supported them, too." Subeyh also indicated that the groups like the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) and the Islamic Jihad will definitely work with the new government and pointed out that Abu Mazen had reached an agreement on all the issues with these groups last year. "But that peace was spoilt by Israel. I am not sure whether or not Israel is ready for this." Subeyh claimed.

Subeyh reminded that Jerusalem is under a siege and even the US, Israel's greatest supporter, has accepted this. "According to the United Nations (UN) resolutions too this city is included in the West Bank," he added.

Subeyh underlined that Jerusalem is the cultural capital of the world, full of Turkish works of art and several buildings and a part of the historical heritage remaining from the Ottoman period. "This should not be forgotten: Turkish people are responsible for Jerusalem as much as the Palestinians are. Many of the buildings in Jerusalem were built by Turks. I do not think that any Turks want Jerusalem to belong to Israel," said the Palestinian Ambassador. He also stressed that a relatively positive change occurred in Turkey's policy regarding Palestine in the last term and concluded: "Turkey should clearly and courageously convey all the realities to Israel."