Barzani: IsraeliPalestinian conflict was allowed to ‘fester’

Decades-old issues like the IsraeliPalestinian conflict have been allowed to “fester” in the Middle East, fueling the instability and turmoil that the region is currently experiencing, the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan said on Monday. Masrour Barzani said the roots of the injustices experienced by Palestinians since the establishment of Israel in 1948 “remain unaddressed.” “Had the foundational rights of the Palestinians been dealt with 80 years ago, or in the decades since, there would’ve been far less chance of the tragedy we’re seeing now,” he told the World Governments Summit in Dubai.

Barzani urged the international community not to ignore the origins of threats to the region’s stability. “War, insurrection, hardship and economic instability have unfortunately become part of our hardwiring,” he said. “There’s no denying the toll this has taken on social and economic development.” In the case of the Kurds, “we’ve been unjustifiably targeted,” he said, even though “we’re a factor of peace and stability,” pointing out that Kurdistan stood by its allies during “the plague of ISIS (Daesh).”

“It was the right thing to do, and had we not done so, the region would now be a very different place, plagued by global terrorists who had consolidated a foothold in the heartland of the Middle East, sowing chaos among us at will,” he added. Barzani also said Kurdistan would help play a role in combating the effects of climate change, especially considering it is directly impacted by those effects.

“We’re fully aware of the risks of ignoring a catastrophic reality,” he said. “Together, we can summon the will to confront the issues that hold us back. It isn’t always easy as leaders to look to the horizon, but

we must.”