RAMALLAH, September 10, 2012 (WAFA) – Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee, Saeb Erekat, called on Thursday upon the international community to support the Palestinian initiative to raise the flags of non-member states at the United Nations headquarters and offices.

He said if this move succeeds, “The world will be sending a strong message of support to the realization of the two-state vision and in honoring the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”

“While we know that this step by its own will not end the Israeli occupation, it will contribute to the efforts aimed at both the attainment of peace and the realization of the rights of the Palestinian people,” he explained.

Erekat also underscored Israel’s attempts to oppose this initiative by mobilizing its allies at the United Nations to block it. He said the government of the “occupying power” rejects the initiative “simply because it does not believe in ending the occupation.'

'But [Israel] prefers the maintenance of the current status-quo by which Palestinians are placed under a separate and unequal system and where the build-up of Israeli settlements and the transfer of Israel's civilian population into the occupied territories continues unabated.”

The official called upon UN members to send a clear message of support by backing Palestinian non-violent diplomatic steps “in the hope of getting closer to attaining both peace and our right to self-determination.'

M.N/M.H