LEILA FADEL, HOST:
As the United Nations General Assembly gets underway in New York this week, the war in Gaza and the framework of a potential but very uncertain two-state solution is at the top of the agenda. For more, we are joined by Ahmad (ph) Fattouh. He's a spokesperson for the Fatah Movement, the political organization that controls the Palestinian Authority - the government body - in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The group is also a rival to Hamas in Gaza. Fattouh joins us this morning from Ramallah. Hello, and welcome to the program.
AHMAD FATTOUH: Thank you. It's a pleasure.
FADEL: What is the practical significance, if any, of additional countries - allies of the U.S. and Israel - recognizing Palestinian statehood?
FATTOUH: Well, it is a alliance with the international law and international consensus. It's a signal by the international community that they can no longer tolerate the genocide, apartheid, colonial settlements and military occupation by Israel. This long overdue decision, it's finally here, but it comes after decades of Palestinian suffering, oppression, persecution and struggle for freedom and independence.
This recognition by the state - by the United Kingdom, in particular, carries a profound significance. It is the country that issued the Balfour Declaration more than a century ago in 1917, which was the principal reason for the establishment of the occupying state of Israel to the land - I mean, the land of Palestine, which led to the ethnic cleansing of 70% of the Indigenous Palestinian people and dozens of massacres and the erasure of more than 500,000 villages (ph). So this is a historical decision to recognize the Palestinian suffering and our right to self-determination. It's a correction to a historical wrong by the United Kingdom, and we highly welcome this recognition. It has a significance also to consolidate peace, to consolidate the two-state solution and to tell the world that the suffering of the Palestinians needs to stop and justice must prevail. The Palestinian people deserve to live in dignity and freedom like all other nations.
FADEL: I will just point out that Israel continues to deny genocide in Gaza. It is something that a growing consensus of genocide scholars says is happening. But is Palestinian statehood possible with the realities on the ground, without U.S. support, with the continuation of annexation of land in the West Bank?
FATTOUH: Of course, it requires an international community pressure and to impose peace. We have reached a stage where the Israeli government has extremely shifted into the far right that does not recognize the Palestinian state. It does not even recognize the Palestinian people. And ancient people, civilizations, go back 5,000 years ago. Instead, they don't recognize that we exist.
Of course, peace is possible when there is a will by the international community to enforce it, not make a political decision that best suit Netanyahu and his far-right government. It's time to bring justice and to apply the international resolutions. More than 700 U.N. resolutions have been issues for the question of Palestine. Not one of them has been employed. That requires from the world to intervene and step in to stop this madness and this occupation and illegal colonial settlements that are happening in Palestine.
FADEL: Israel says this would be a reward for Hamas for the violence of October 7. Is that fair?
FATTOUH: In the contrary, that decision actually empowers the camp of peace on the - both side. It's empowering the camp of justice, the camp of law, rather than empowering the camp of violence and genocide that are bringing the whole region into destruction. And I have to say the word genocide when the international independent body of the U.N. that made a investigation came to conclusion there is a genocide. When the international genocide scholars and Holocaust scholars say it's genocide, then who are we to say it's not a genocide? We can see the bloodshed on the ground, and that needs to stop. The two-state solution is the only possible path for peace and security for both people. Denying the Palestinian rights harm the Israelis as much as harm the Palestinians.
FADEL: Ahmad Fattouh is a spokesperson for the Fatah Movement, the political faction that dominates the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thank you for your time.
FATTOUH: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF DE LA SOUL, ESTELLE AND PETE ROCK'S "MEMORY OF… (US) - INSTRUMENTAL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
