Sultanate stands by people of Palestine
MUSCAT: Despite the various political developments, wars in the Arab world and the Middle East, the Palestinian case is very important for the Sultanate and its people. This is substantiated by the Oman’s stand on the Palestine issue and the Omanipalestinian relations.
For decades, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos affirmed the Sultanate’s support for the Palestinian people who struggle to regain their right and set up their independent Palestinian state. This stems from the belief in the right of the brotherly Palestinian people to live and enjoy peace and security within their independent state based on the borders on 4 June 1967 with East Al Quds as its capital. This also comes out of the belief that peace, security and stability should not be only one party. Peace, stability and security should be fair and balanced. This has been the approach of the Palestinian leadership led by President Mahmoud Abbas of the State of Palestine, who seek twostate solution, which is supported by the Sultanate, the Arab countries and the international community.
While the Sultanate had done everything possible to support the efforts made by the brotherly Palestinian people and its leadership to get their rights, the Omani support is not limited to just supporting the Palestinian rights and stances through the Arab, regional and international organisations. The Sultanate also alleviated their suffering.
There are different forms of cooperation between the Sultanate and the Palestinian organisations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Sultanate also supports any sincere effort, which may contribute to providing conducive environment to resume peaceful negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian sides to reach a fair, comprehensive and balanced solution.
The Palestinian people have suffered and are still suffering a lot to get their legitimate rights, which were approved by the regional and international organisations, as well as the international community. The Sultanate’s stance emanates from its policy, which is based on belief in peace, dialogue and negotiations.
The Sultanate clearly affirmed that it is important to resume the efforts to reach the two-state solution and set up an independent Palestinian State. The Sultanate believes that failure to reach this solution for any reason may increase the risks of violence, instability and challenges faced by this vital region throughout the past years.
Despite the current regional political conditions, the Sultanate still believes that there is an opportunity to provide the conducive environment to resume dialogue among the different stakeholders. It also believes that it is important to augment the sincere efforts made to resume the indispensable peace negotiations to reach fair and comprehensive settlement that materialises the hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people. This settlement will open the door before reaching comprehensive peace, security and stability for the Middle East states and peoples especially solving the Palestine issue is a perquisite to achieve this aim. It also serves the interests of other stakeholders as well.
While delivering the Sultanate’s speech before the 73rd UN General Assembly on September 29, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, said, “The Palestinian Cause is the central problem for the Middle East. Therefore, the cooperation of the International Community in creating a suitable environment to help the parties involved end the conflict is considered, as a matter of particular strategic urgency. We think that despite the difficult current situation and the stalemate in dialogue, however, it is convenient to create favourable conditions for positive discussions between the Palestinians and Israelis, to reach a comprehensive settlement, based on the two-state solution, since not establishing a Palestinian State will perpetuate violence and terrorism.
“We, in the Sultanate of Oman, are willing to make every effort in our disposal to restore the optimistic environment, to reach a comprehensive agreement, taking into account, the future of peaceful co-existence in the Middle East, particularly between Palestinian and Israeli people. Achieving a peaceful environment between the Palestinian and Israeli parties is essential to establish peace in the region,” he said.
“We also call upon countries of the world, particularly, the United States, which has an essential role in achieving peace and stability in the world, to consider the future of this cause from the perspective of supporting orientations in peace, facilitating the work of international organisations, and not sacrificing peace”.
The visit by President Mahmoud Abbas of the State of Palestine and his meeting with His Majesty the Sultan is very important in enhancing the already strong Omani-palestinian relations in different fields.
There is an opportunity to create a conducive environment to start positive discussions among the different stakeholders to reach a comprehensive agreement that achieves the Palestinian aims and interests and contributes to building peace, stability and peaceful coexistence among countries and peoples of the region.
To achieve this, sincere and serious cooperation is required by all parties including the United State of America (USA), Israel and the relevant regional and international powers.
This will enable the Sultanate to contribute and make use of its relations and its status both regionally and internationally.
For decades, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos affirmed the Sultanate’s support for the Palestinian people who struggle to regain their right and set up their independent Palestinian state