Interview: Int'l community should end Israeli occupation: Palestinian chief negotiator

Less than two weeks after officially joining the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Palestinians hope to move forward in the efforts to internationalize their cause.

Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat told Xinhua in an exclusive interview recently that that it's time for the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to set a time frame for the Israelis to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.

"I believe the five permanent members should convene a meeting between themselves to talk about the substance," he said, adding that such a conference should ensure a gradual Israeli withdrawal in two to three years under international supervision.

Erekat's suggestion is based on a UN Security Council resolution issued in 2009 that called to convene an international conference in Moscow to discuss the future of the Palestinian issue.

He added that the hoped timeframe for the establishment of the Palestinian state wouldn't exceed three years.

The chief negotiator also called upon the United States and European countries to recognize the Palestinian state in a step that comes within efforts to take the Palestinian cause in international platforms.

Last month, the future of the long-stalled peace process seemed to be going downwards upon the win of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party in the parliamentary elections. Netanyahu had vowed to his voters one day earlier that he wouldn't allow a Palestinian state to be established in his term.

While he later retracted the quote, saying that he meant that the current time wasn't suitable for such a state to be established, Palestinians believe this Israeli government has no prospects of peace.

"I believe Mr. Netanyahu unmasked the real policies of this Israeli government when he said that the establishment of the Palestinian State will not be on his watch. That's why what we need now as a response to the policies of Israel is for the United States, France Britain, Italy, Spain, Germany, those who recognize the state of Palestine, to immediately recognize Palestine in 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital," Erekat commented.

At the end of last year, Palestinian National Authority decided to join the ICC after they couldn't secure eleven votes needed at the UN Security Council for a resolution that called for a deadline for the Israeli occupation. On April 1st, Palestinian officially became a member of the court, paving the way to sue Israeli leaders.

According to the Palestinian request, the prosecutor of ICC opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine in order to establish whether the Rome Statute criteria for opening an investigation are met.

In parallel, Erekat said that the legal and technical teams are preparing the files for referrals in the issues of Jewish settlements and the Israeli war on Gaza last year. Palestinians have formed a national committee composed of all factions, including Hamas, the Palestinian NGOs, the unions, and top experts in the legal frame to prepare the needed files.

"We did not become a member of the ICC to seek revenge from anyone. We seek justice and the non-occurrence of crimes committed against our people. For those in Israel who worry about courts, my advice to them is to stop committing crimes," he stressed, adding that "we hope to finalize it in the most professional manner soon, as we are determined to sue Israel for its continues war crimes."

Palestinian officials argue that they are struggling to keep Palestinian a relevant topic in a region troubled with chaos and turmoil. A senior official who asked to remain anonymous told Xinhua that Palestinians feel that their case in being put on the shelf in a region that is crowded with crisis and turmoils.

Erekat denied that Palestinians feel marginalized in a region undergoing major changes. "You can't put the Palestinian question on the shelf, it is the most potent subject in the hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims," he said.

He urged all countries to stop extremist in the region by fighting the Israeli occupation which he described as the source of all terror in the region.

"The question we should ask is what to do to make the right people win, the right people I mean are those who want to have good governance, legitimacy, democracy, human rights, women's rights, peace. Then you begin with drying the swamp of the Israeli occupation. This is the source of all the bad things in the region," he said, adding that ideas can't be defeated with bullets but with better ideas. Endit