By NAN
The Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Montaser Abuzaid, has called on the international community to impose economic sanctions on Israel.
Abuzaid made the call on Friday at a news conference in Abuja to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians.
He said the call had become necessary because of Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territories in flagrant violation of international laws.
Abuzaid called for the creation of Palestinian State based on the 1967 borders and challenged the international community to compel Israel to stop the building of settlements in Palestinian territories.
“The international community should also compel Israel to implement UN resolutions 242, 338, 181 and 194 concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict.’’
Abuzaid said that ending the occupation of Palestinian territories would make the creation of two states – the State of Israel and the State of Palestine – possible.
“Israel bombed Gaza and in three weeks killed 5,000 people; some people, who ran to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for protection, were bombed and the world did not do anything.
“They world need to impose economic sanction on Israel; when you don’t cooperate with Israel economically, they will understand what it means.
“They won’t care about UN resolutions as long as they have excellent economic relations with the internationally community.
“For example, the EU and South Africa have decided not to import goods coming from the Israeli settlements in the West Bank because they are Palestinian products, not Israeli.
“So we are asking the international community to impose serious economic sanction on Israel to stop it from having its way, because we need peace, they need peace and the international community needs peace,’’ he said.
The envoy said that the EU and South Africa had taken the lead by deciding not to import goods coming from the Israeli settlements in the West Bank because they are Palestinian products.
Abuzaid commended Nigeria and other African countries for their commitment to the Palestinian struggle.
He said that Nigeria’s “principled stand’’ was demonstrated recently when it supported the UN General Assembly resolution upgrading the status of Palestine to a non-observer member of the UN.
Saudi Arabia, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, was elected into the 15-member Security Council to serve a two-year term from 2014 to 2015 but turned the offer.