PLO Secretary General Dr. Saeb Erekat on the French Initiative

We welcome the French initiative to have an international conference for Palestine. We call upon the international community to take this step seriously and take this as an opportunity to end decades of occupation, colonization and exile for our people. Our goal is to achieve a free, sovereign and independent State of Palestine on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital, achieve a just solution to all final status issues, including our refugees. A just and lasting peace based on international law and relevant UN resolutions is possible. We reiterate that for any negotiations to be credible and successful, it is necessary to implement previous agreements and obligations, including a full cessation of settlement activities and the freedom of Palestinian prisoners.  

We will be engaging in further discussions with the French and other international partners. We thank the government of France for taking this initiative. We know that it will be difficult. But we cannot lose hope that the occupation will end and Palestine will be free. We believe that a multilateral forum, rather than the failed formula of bilateral negotiations, is the right path to move forward. 

Once again, we call upon the Government of Israel to take this opportunity to end the occupation. Palestinians have the right to live in peace, security, dignity and freedom in our State.  Next year will mark 50 years of the Israeli occupation that began in 1967. Let it be a year to celebrate hope, justice and freedom rather than a new commemoration of occupation, colonization and Apartheid.