Palestine Obtains Observer Status in NATO PA

www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=5078

GAZA, June 1, 2005 (IPC + Agencies) - [Official PA website]- The North
Atlantic Treaty Organization's Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) agreed to
grant Palestine an observer status, during the Assembly's session in the
Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana.


NATO PA members voted also in favor of granting Palestine the status of
participant during the next session of the Parliamentary Assembly in
November.

Dr. Hassan Khreisheh, First Deputy of the Palestinian Legislative Council
Speaker, thanked the members for their approval to grant Palestine this
status, and called on the Assembly and the international community to help
the Palestinian people attain their independent and viable state.

Dr. Khreisheh and the accompanying delegation explained to the NATO PA
President, Pierre Lellouche, the systematic Israeli aggression against the
Palestinian people, through the continuous expropriation of lands and
construction of the Apartheid Wall, not to mention besieging the city of
Jerusalem and isolate it from its Arabic surrounding.

On his part, Dr. Ghazi Hananiyya, the Second Deputy of the PLC Speaker, also
briefed the Assembly on the Israeli disruption of PLC sessions and the
movement restrictions against its members, which forced them to hold many
sessions between Gaza Strip and West Bank through a videoconference link, in
spite of this system's errors and malfunctions.

Hananiyya pointed out to the continuous imprisonment of PLC members Marwan
Barghouti and Hossam Khadr, despite being democratically elected Palestinian
parliament members and enjoy diplomatic immunity, which was not respected by
Israel.

"[Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon government's racist policies are the
main reason in the current deadlock in the peace process, despite our
commitment to the Road Map plan and Sharm Al Sheikh understandings. The most
obvious evidence to that is that the Israeli Knesset doesn't recognize the
Legislative Council as a representative of the Palestinian people, who
elected its members freely and democratically," Hananiyya addressed the
Parliamentary Assembly.