Baraka: Right of return precedes statehood recognition

[ 04/08/2011 – 01:01 PM ]

BEIRUT, (PIC)– Lebanese foreign minister Mansour Adnan has met with a Hamas delegation to discuss developments in Palestinian affairs.

The delegation was headed by Hamas’s representative in Lebanon Ali Baraka and also included members Mahmoud al-Sadiq and Raafat Murra.

The talks saw agreement on the need to pursue with the international courts the right of the Palestinian refugees to return, an official Lebanese media official said, quoting Baraka.

‘’We emphasized to Minister Mansour that the right of return is more important than establishing a state, as we are concerned that the price for establishing it is relinquishing the cause of the Palestinian refugees,’’ Baraka said.

‘’We also asked the minister, on the premise of his position in the Lebanese government, to use the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to pressure [Israel] in the international forums, and to secure a decent life for them in Lebanon until they return to Palestine,’’ Baraka added.

‘’We also asked to form a Lebanese ministerial committee to hold talks with Palestinian political forces to benefit from the presence of the refugees and to develop a strategy to support their return, and so that Palestinian issues in Lebanon can be dealt with on all of its political, legal, social, and security aspects,’’ he informed.

‘’We are open to Palestinian-Lebanese dialogue and ready to weigh all of the issues related to Palestinian affairs in Lebanon in a way that supports the right of return and rejects resettlement and displacement, and also in a way that preserves the security and stability of Lebanon in the light of Lebanese sovereignty.’

The talks also touched upon the Palestinian Authority’s seeking statehood with the United Nations in September.

‘’We spoke about the September ‘entitlements’ and told Minister Mansour that we do not object to the recognition or establishment of a Palestinian state, but without recognizing the Zionist entity (Israel) and ceding the right of return, as we are concerned that the price of a Palestinian state is to write off the refugees’ issue and the right of return. And we deem the right of return more important than establishing a state, as the right of return is the essence of the Palestinian cause.’’

‘’Minister Mansour confirmed that he has understood the matter and said he considered the refugees’ issue the essence of the Palestinian cause, and that Lebanon was committed to the right of return and refuses to let the refugees in Lebanon evolve into a Palestinian community (that has settled in the country), as that would cost the Palestinian identity and the right of return, and the beneficiary would be the Zionist enemy, which has yet to recognize these rights.’’

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