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By
Office of the President of the PNA
Today, after 38 years of suffering, steadfastness and sacrifice a
new dawn has risen in a precious part of our homeland. The dawn of
freedom rises with the evacuation of the last Israeli soldier and
settler. The direct military control and colonization of Gaza Strip
comes to end, once and for all.
Gaza
is awakening with new hope and promise yet looking to make its
prosperous and democratic future with the same determination, will,
confidence and belief that made it achieve its victory and freedom
by ending the direct occupation and dismantling the colonization
project in Gaza and Jenin. Our people will continue with this march
until the occupation ends in all its forms and Israel’s colonization
disappears from all the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967,
first and foremost East Jerusalem.
These are glorious historical moments of mixed emotions. Only those
who fell under occupation, resisted it, made sacrifices and won can
realize their deep meaning and dimensions. Those who took their
freedom and restored their will and dignity to remain free deserve a
dignified living.
Today we express our joy and celebrate our long-awaited freedom and
happiness.
On
this happy national day I express my heart-felt congratulations to
all those who love freedom and believe in its values, to all the
Arab and Muslim nation, to all peace-loving nations of the world,
including the forces of peace in Israel, to all our people at home
and in exile, women, men and children, young and old. I recall a
long list of martyrs and bow in respect to their generous
sacrifices, primarily the symbolic leader Yaser Arafat who planted
the seed of freedom and independence. May Allah bestow mercy on them
all. I also recall the long list of those injured and express
appreciation to every drop of their blood that irrigated the soil of
this land and pray for their recovery. I recall our beloved
prisoners who lie in the prisons of occupation. I emphasize that
their liberation and freedom is an indispensable part of our
freedom. I will continue to put the issue of their release at the
top of my priorities.
My
congratulations, appreciation and respect goes also to all factions
and political groups who continuously worked hard through the Follow
Up Committee and contributed to this great achievement in the
framework of commitment to national principles and the national
consensus embodied in the Cairo declaration, especially in regard to
tahdiya (the period of calm) and resolving disputed issues through
dialogue. This emphasized the civilized image of our people as a
reflection of our values and steadfastness. It also allowed for a
quiet and smooth evacuation of the Israeli occupation army and
settlers, disappointing those who wish ill to our people.
My
salute goes to all members of the National Security Forces, police
and the security apparatuses. In spite of their scarce capabilities
and the destruction inflicted on their institutions by Israel, they
proved, with their strong will and true affiliation and nationalism,
great capability in shouldering responsibilities and performing
their duties.
May
I also send my thanks and appreciation to all brothers and friends –
especially our brothers in Egypt – who have strongly supported our
people in these conditions and created with us this historical
event. I express thanks and appreciation to the donor countries for
their generous financial support for the purpose of reconstructing
Gaza after 38 years of de-development. We hope this will help our
people in the process of development and construction.
Our
joy will not be complete without having all the elements of national
sovereignty. The redeployment of the Israeli occupation army and
settlers from Gaza Strip as a unilateral step does not mean, in any
way, that the occupation has come to an end. Gaza’s crossing points
with the world, parts of its land, water and air and the link with
the West Bank are still outstanding issues threatening to transform
Gaza into a big prison. Gaza is an indispensable part of our
occupied land, along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This
means, to us and to every Palestinian citizen, that the occupation
effectively ends when we achieve the objectives of the peace
process: the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on
all the Palestinian land occupied in 1967 with East Jerusalem as its
capital; a just and agreed resolution of the refugee problem
according to resolution 194; a historic reconciliation between two
states for two peoples who live in peace, mutual respect and good
neighborliness. This will put an end to this long and bloody
conflict.
As
we realize the intentions of the Israeli government, the objectives
of its unilateral plan and its daily practices that fly in the face
of international law - the continued construction of the separation
and expansion Wall on our land, the intensive colonization
particularly in Jerusalem and the attempts to isolate Jerusalem from
the rest of West Bank, and the continued imprisonment of prisoners -
we are determined to make the Israeli evacuation from Gaza Strip a
step towards ending the occupation of all the Palestinian land
occupied in 1967. We are strong with the justness of our cause, our
national unity and the support of the international community and
the international law.
Let
us make our construction and administration of Gaza Strip a real
model of our great and civilized ability to manage and create our
future by ourselves, and a message to the world to end all forms of
occupation.
Today we address the international community and all our friends and
brothers. We stress that the success of Gaza Strip can be enhanced
by heading to a comprehensive settlement, partnership and
negotiations, on the basis of implementing the Road Map obligations,
international law, the signed agreements and the Arab Initiative
approved at Beirut summit in 2002 which calls for a complete end to
Israel’s military occupation.
Unilateral, partial and interim solutions do not provide genuine
peace and do not build relations based on equality and mutual
interests.
Therefore, we address the government and people of Israel and extend
our hands to them to work together for real, just and equal peace:
let this not be a wasted opportunity – let’s move forward on the
path to real peace.
I
call on the Israeli government to benefit from this historical
opportunity and implement its obligations by ceasing its settlement
activity and the construction of the Wall. Stop creating facts on
the ground, release our prisoners and allow our deportees to return.
We
stand today with two important tasks that we are determined to
accomplish: the task of independence and peace, and the task of
construction and development.
On
the internal level: the government has prepared a national plan, in
cooperation with the donor countries, for the reconstruction and
comprehensive development following Israel’s mass destruction of all
our aspects of life and all the infrastructure. Although our country
lacks natural resources, it has a major and real resource: the
Palestinian people. Today I am pleased to announce to you a package
of development projects that aim to revive our national economy in
all parts of our country, create thousands of job opportunities and
fight poverty.
They include:
1.
Roads and housing: we will build the city of Sheikh Khalifah Bin
Zayed on the ruins of Morag colony. It will have 3,000 housing units
at a cost of $100 million. This will be built in addition to the
Emirates quarter in Rafah which will contain 638 housing units.
We
will also build 1,210 housing units in Rafah with financing from
Saudi Arabia to compensate those whose houses were demolished by the
Israeli army. There are also projects to renovate houses partially
destroyed by the Israeli army.
We
will reconstruct Salah al-Din in Gaza at a cost of $20 million, in
addition to other roads.
We
will begin work to build the seaport to make it our gate to the
world. We will develop only those crossing points built on 1967
borders.
2.
Water: we announce sewage and drinking water in north Gaza, Khan
Yunis, Hebron, Jenin and Tulkarem.
3.
Economic Development: we have 54 km˛ of land that will be ready as a
production base containing 3,300 dunums of greenhouses in Gaza which
will create 4,000 new jobs and develop Palestinian trade by
encouraging those sectors that generate exports and create jobs in
order to ease unemployment and fight poverty.
4.
Education: we will build some 50 new schools annually, in addition
to new classrooms to meet annual needs, taking into consideration
that we have 50,000 new pupils every year.
5.
Environment: we will cooperate with the UN to remove the rubble left
by the Israeli occupation following the demolition of the colonies.
6.
Health: we will build a new hospital in Qalqilya to serve the city
besieged by the Wall, in addition to other health centers and
clinics.
7.
Judiciary: we are concentrating our efforts to build new courts and
maintain and develop existing courts in order to impose ensure
adherence to law and order.
8.
Jerusalem: We will enhance the steadfastness of our people in
Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley through projects that have economic
returns.
In
addition, the path is now open for private sector investment. We
encourage investors to establish productive and services projects in
all parts of our country.
At
the political level: we express again our readiness and preparedness
to immediately resume final status negotiations. We call on the
Quartet, primarily the United States, to activate its role and
participation and to continue its efforts, through the
implementation of the Road Map, in order to achieve President Bush’s
vision of establishing a free and independent Palestinian state. We
also call upon our Arab brothers to redouble their efforts to revive
the Arab peace initiative. In this regard, we express our people’s
appreciation of the genuine brotherly positions and the generous
support for our just struggle. We trust that this great financial
support will continue and expand to embody the strategic depth and
the common destiny of our people and its Arab nation.
Dear
citizens, Brothers and Sisters:
Since I had the honor to be your President, with your trust and
support, I always followed a path of frankness. I have complete
trust in the ability of our people and its loyalty to our homeland.
This is what I rely on after relying on God. Therefore, let me be
frank with you and explain to you on this glorious day we face a
historic opportunity. We hope to put a strong and eternal foundation
stone for our national project and independent state.
Benefiting from this opportunity will depend upon our performance
and efficiency. We must not allow anyone to waste this opportunity.
It was made by the sacrifices of our people and no one has the right
to confiscate or waste it under any excuse. It is the future of all
our children. We have no homeland but this homeland. We have no life
but in this homeland or be buried in its pure soil. We are all
concerned and obligated to protect and maintain its security and
stability by imposing law and order. Each one of us has interest in
its reconstruction, development and prosperity. It is the right and
duty of every one of us. When each one of us performs his duty, all
the others will enjoy their rights.
There is no place today for personal or factional agendas. The only
agenda is the national agenda which embodies the identity of our
people, maintains its gains and achievements and creates its future.
The way to this agenda is through dialogue, participation and
democracy through equal opportunity, rights and duties. I will work
day and night to protect and implement the constitution and ensure
the implementation of this national agenda through the power of law
and the power of your mandate, trust and support.
Despite difficult and harsh security and economic conditions, our
great and steadfast people have maintained our traditions, noble
values, unity, originality and our adherence to our rights and
identity. We deserve a free, dignified, secure and stable life.
Therefore, we will do everything possible to end all the negative
forms that violate law and order and threaten the security of our
society, and perhaps our national project. In addition, these
negative forms are alien and foreign to the values and traditions of
our society. The principle that govern us is that of “one authority,
one law imposed on all, one legal weapon and political plurality.”
We
will not allow the state of lawlessness, the disorder of weapons,
taking law into one’s hands, kidnapping and attacks on government
institutions and state land to continue. On this occasion, I
reaffirm that public land evacuated by Israel will be used only for
public benefit according to law. Private land, amounting to less
than 3%, will be returned to its owners or they will be compensated
according to law. No one is above the law.
These duties are not only my responsibilities or that of the
Palestinian Authority alone: they are the responsibilities of us
all. Let us rise to the challenge and meet our responsibilities. If
we carry them out in the right way, Gaza will become the cornerstone
for completing our national project and our dream to build our
independent state on all of our national soil with East Jerusalem as
its capital.
I
strongly believe that we can, God willing, make Gaza an oasis of
stability and prosperity and the foundation for achieving our dream
through belief, work, national unity and the political participation
open to all.
Brothers and sisters:
Our
people face real challenges, with many parties working against us.
These parties spread rumors to destroy the spirit of our people. Let
us respond by word and deed, united and determined.
Congratulations to our great people.
Today Gaza, and tomorrow, God willing and through the hard work and
steadfastness of our people, West Bank and Jerusalem.
May
the Blessings and Peace of God be Upon Us All.
Source: ATFP
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