On the occasion of the visit to Portugal by Mahmoud Abbas - PCP Press Statement
On the occasion of the visit to Portugal by Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, the PCP reaffirms its continuing solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for their inalienable national rights and for the creation of a
Palestinian State within the territories occupied in 1967, with East Jerusalem as capital and ensuring the right of return to the refugees.
Mahmoud Abbas’ visit to Portugal takes place following the significant vote in the UN General Assembly which, on November 29, decided to give Palestine the status of non-member state. The PCP welcomes UN’s decision and acknowledges the vote of the Portuguese State. Moreover, considers that this decision can only be regarded as a step forward for the effective creation of a Palestinian State – according to the UN resolutions in the past 65 years, but never implemented – and its full and unconditional recognition, on equal footing with the other Member States, in the United Nations Organisation.
Because the policy of occupation, segregation and aggression against the Palestinian people is the biggest hurdle to build the Palestinian State,
the PCP reaffirms its repudiation of the most recent massacre committed by Israel against the population of the Gaza Strip. It also repudiates the
Israeli government’s recent decision to build new illegal settlements on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, a decision that seeks to create a *fait
accompli* to hinder a Palestinian State on the Palestinian territory.
Therefore, the PCP calls for the continuation and strengthening, in our country, of solidarity actions with the struggle of the Palestinian people
and urges the Portuguese government to assume, in line with Portugal’s stand now expressed in the United Nations Organisation, a clear
condemnation of the illegal and criminal actions by the Israeli State and army, and an unequivocal support for the national rights of the Palestinian people, in line with the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the Republic and the relevant United Nations resolutions that recognise and defend them.
