Egypt’s FM: AL meeting confirms Arab support for Palestinian issue

CAIRO – 9 February 2021: Holding the Arab League meeting on the foreign ministerial level in Cairo amid the pandemic of the coronavirus confirms the Arab countries’ greatest support for the Palestinian issue, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in remarks to “Om My Responsibility” talk show on Sada Al-Balad T.V. on Monday.

In his speech at the meeting upon request from Egypt and Jordan , Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed Egypt’s supporting role in achieving the inter-Palestine reconciliation and in reviving negotiations between the Palestinians and Israeli, saying “The Palestinian cause is still and will remain our central issue … The stability in the region will not be achieved without a permanent and comprehensive peace based on a just settlement that fulfills the aspirations and hopes of the Palestinian people.”

“Some [countries] thought that the Arab world, amid the current circumstances, had become distracted from the cause. They thought that the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, has not become on the agenda of the Arab countries’ priorities. But this belief is wrong. The Palestinian issue was and will remain in the heart of the Arab conscience, no matter how stagnant and disrupted the negotiation process is and despite the unilateral Israeli practices and settlement projects in the West Bank.”

Sparing no efforts aimed at resolving the stalemate that has dominated the peace process for years, Shoukry said that Egypt has intensified its contacts and consultations with various regional and international actors. These contracts have resulted in hosting an Egyptian-Jordanian-Palestinian coordination meeting on December 19 in Cairo, and then hosting the Munich Formula Group meeting (Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany] to open the way for the resumption of negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, under the auspices and fair international mediation, he added

Shoukry affirmed that Egypt has called upon all actors, a top of which are the new US administration and the international quartet, to undertake a sincere effort to achieve peace in accordance with the principles agreed upon internationally, and on the basis of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, in order to achieve the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.

As for the inter-Palestine dialogue, Shoukry said that Egypt has continued its relentless efforts to end the Palestinian division, believing that achieving Palestinian reconciliation will positively be reflected on the Palestinian people's ability to conduct the negotiation process. “In this context, I would like to refer to the meetings that Cairo is hosting during this period to activate dialogue between the various Palestinian factions and discuss ways to hold legislative elections, then the presidential elections, then the National Council scheduled in Mid-2021.”

Egypt calls for respecting the status quo in Al-Quds and avoiding any measures that would fuel the conflict or adopt religious dimensions that will have dangerous repercussions on regional and international security and stability.