Manama: Bahrain has reiterated its full support for the rights of Palestinians “to establish their independent state like the other peoples across the world.”

In a message to Fodé Seck, Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) as the world marked on November 29 the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa said that Palestine is the core issue that constitutes the major concern of the international community.

“The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People reflects the keenness of the United Nations and the international community and the global responsibility towards the issue of Palestine,” he said. It also reflects “the Palestinians’ firm commitment to fulfil their legitimate aspirations to obtain their rights and to continue the struggle for self-determination and for their right to establish their independent state like the other peoples across the world”.

“Israel’s repressive practices against the Palestinian people are going on through the continuation of arbitrary arrests, the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories especially in Jerusalem, the repeated storming of Al Aqsa Mosque without regard for its sanctity and holiness, and the siege of the Gaza Strip. Such abominable practices constitute a major obstacle to the resumption of negotiations,” King Hamad said in his message.

The Bahraini monarch said that his country supports the cause of the Palestinian people in all international forums, and embraces it fully.

“At the same time, Bahrain is deeply concerned about the rapid developments resulting from the Israeli occupation policies and crimes based on assassinations, sieges and settlements, and which pose a challenge to the international community and represent a flagrant violation of UN resolutions and international conventions, without any regard for the tragic human suffering caused to the Palestinian people.”

King Hamad said that Israel’s policies were no longer merely schemes based on the imposition of a new reality to change the demographic character of the occupied city of Jerusalem in order to blur its identity and its landmarks in an attempt to isolate it from the rest of the Palestinian territories.

“The storming of Al Aqsa Mosque is now a systematic practice and the performance of the daily prayers and religious rituals are being prevented, which constitutes a provocation to all Muslims around the world. It is therefore highly critical to intensify the efforts of the international community and friendly countries, and to continue to move internationally with the aim of putting pressure on Israel to force it to stop these flagrant violations in the Palestinian territories, and to commit to the references of the peace initiative, the only hope for a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the June 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The recent resolutions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) that emphasised the Islamic identity of Al Aqsa Mosque are important decisions that stress the rights of the Palestinians in these holy places, he added.

“Bahrain affirms its full support for the establishment of the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, and calls on the international community to make more efforts to enable the Palestinian people to obtain their inalienable rights and achieve a just and comprehensive peace in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, including Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002) and 1515 (2003) on the two-state solution, the terms of reference of the peace process and the Arab peace initiative, which calls for Israel’s full withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and from all Arab territories occupied since 1967 and on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,” he said.