The international community must shoulder its responsibility to protect the lives and fundamental rights of the Palestinian people

Shujaat Hamza

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday reaffirmed its consistent and unstinted support for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause, which has always been a defining principle of the country’s foreign policy.         

          “The government and people of Pakistan join the world community in observing the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (29 November),” Foreign Office said in a statement issued here.

          “The commemoration of this day is a reminder to the international community that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and the Palestinian people are yet to realize their inalienable right to self-determination as provided in various resolutions of the United Nations.

          “It is also an occasion to reiterate our support and solidarity for the Palestinian people who continue to wage a just struggle against an illegal and brutal occupation,” the statement added.

          The Foreign Office said that the international community must shoulder its responsibility to protect the lives and fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, and play its rightful role in promoting a just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian question in accordance with international legitimacy in the interest of durable peace and stability in the Middle East.

          The international community should also ensure accountability for the widespread violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the occupied territories, it added.

          “We renew our call on this day for a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian State, with pre-1967 borders, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital being the only just, comprehensive and lasting solution of the Palestinian question, in accordance with the relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions,” the statement concluded.