RAMALLAH, May 30, 2018 (WAFA) – Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Wednesday told a visiting German cultural delegation that a nation cannot flourish under military occupation.

Ashrawi met at her Ramallah office with members of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany to the Palestinian Territories.

The meeting, according to a press release by Ashrawi’s office, focused on Palestinian-German relations and issues of mutual interest, including the importance of future cooperation in areas of culture, education, research, and good governance.

"A nation cannot flourish under military occupation. Educational initiatives and programs will not succeed unless there are serious and effective measures to end the occupation and to establish the independent and viable Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital," Ashrawi stressed to the delegation.

She also briefed the delegation on the deteriorating conditions on the ground and the latest political, international and regional developments. The issues raised included the unrelenting campaign by the US to enable the occupation and to provide Israel with continued legal, political and financial cover and Palestinian efforts to seek accountability for Israel and protection for the Palestinian people at the International Criminal Court and the United Nations.

In that view, Ashrawi affirmed the urgent and serious need for multilateral engagement from the European Union and other members of the international community to curb Israel‘s persistent breach of international law and destruction of the chances for a just peace.

M.K.