BETHLEHEM, March 21, 2009 (WAFA)- President Mahmoud Abbas said, Saturday, that Jerusalem is the key of peace to human beings, the Palestinians and Arabs hope, and the symbol of justice and peace that this suffering holy land is in need of.

In the inaugural ceremony of Jerusalem, Capital of Arab Culture 2009, President Abbas said that Israeli policies of racism, oppression, land seizing and demolishing of towns and houses, and the policies of faking the past and present and destroying the future, have to stop, entirely, if there be a real chance for peace on this earth.

He also said addressing Palestinians, “I am telling you, as cautious defenders of peace, stand up for Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, as long as we are ambitious to creating a world free of wars and tragedies.”

He affirmed, today, on the occasion of mothers’ day, and the anniversary of Al-Karamah victory, that the Palestinian people, led by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), its only and legitimate representative, will not give up on the world’s promise to them, and will not give in on the Arabs’ pledge for peace, represented by the Arab Peace Initiative adopted in Beirut in 2002. He said that, “we will continue the strife for the brave peace, we reiterate in every international event; a peace based on the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, on the borders of June 1967, whose capital is Jerusalem.”

He pointed that any new Israeli government must reaffirm its serious commitment to go on the path for peace, through a declared acceptance of the two-state solution, and the implementation of the Road Map, and all the previously agreed on obligations, and the international legitimacy resolutions, settled down to solve this conflict.”

He finally asserted that without a total halt of colonization activities, in Jerusalem and throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, there will be no chance to re-embark on serious negotiations.