July 16, 2011
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on July 15 held talks with Mohammad Shtayyeh, minister of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR), special envoy of Mahmoud Abbas, president (chairman) of the Palestinian Authority, and Afif Safieh, special envoy of the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority is going to request the U.N. General Assembly to approve the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders in accordance with the pertinent U.N. resolutions. It has sent the special envoys to Japan in an effort to build international support for such a resolution.
Recalling the history of hardships the Palestinians have suffered, Shtayyeh pointed out that Palestine is the last remaining colony in international society. He called on the JCP to urge the Japanese government to stand for the right to national self-determination at a historical moment when the U.N. General Assembly will approve Palestine’s independence.
Shii stated that the JCP fully supports the establishment of a Palestinian state. He said that since the 1970s, the JCP has maintained the following three principles regarding a resolution of the Middle East question: Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories; realization of the right of the Palestinians to national self-determination, including the right to establish an independent state; and peaceful coexistence of the Palestinians and the Israelis.
The JCP chair said that the right to self-determination, set forth in the 1960 U.N. Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, has become the international principle providing a precondition for every human right. Stressing that their struggle and demands have a just cause and will surely find support from the international community, Shii promised to push the Japanese government to support their demands.
Both sides also talked about building support and cooperation to create a Middle East and a world free from nuclear weapons.
The meeting was accompanied by JCP Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo and Ambassador Waleed Siam, head of the Permanent General Mission of Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority is going to request the U.N. General Assembly to approve the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders in accordance with the pertinent U.N. resolutions. It has sent the special envoys to Japan in an effort to build international support for such a resolution.
Recalling the history of hardships the Palestinians have suffered, Shtayyeh pointed out that Palestine is the last remaining colony in international society. He called on the JCP to urge the Japanese government to stand for the right to national self-determination at a historical moment when the U.N. General Assembly will approve Palestine’s independence.
Shii stated that the JCP fully supports the establishment of a Palestinian state. He said that since the 1970s, the JCP has maintained the following three principles regarding a resolution of the Middle East question: Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories; realization of the right of the Palestinians to national self-determination, including the right to establish an independent state; and peaceful coexistence of the Palestinians and the Israelis.
The JCP chair said that the right to self-determination, set forth in the 1960 U.N. Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, has become the international principle providing a precondition for every human right. Stressing that their struggle and demands have a just cause and will surely find support from the international community, Shii promised to push the Japanese government to support their demands.
Both sides also talked about building support and cooperation to create a Middle East and a world free from nuclear weapons.
The meeting was accompanied by JCP Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo and Ambassador Waleed Siam, head of the Permanent General Mission of Palestine.
