Welcome Mr. President

We warmly welcome Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who is on a three-day official visit to Bangladesh. As a nation that earned its liberation through a bloody war, we stand by the people of Palestine and voice solidarity with them in their demand for full statehood. The cause of Palestine is a moral issue and we believe that no conversation on "sustainable peace" can be meaningful without addressing the ongoing humiliation and repression of the Palestinian people. 

Emboldened by the election of Donald Trump as US president there has been a dramatic escalation in Israeli aggression and the establishment of an increasing number of new Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, displacing thousands of more Palestinians which is in violation of world opinion and the "UN resolution condemning Israel for violating international law." Trump's campaign declaration to shift the capital of Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv is an ominous sign that doesn't augur well for peace in the region.

The perpetual denial of the rights of the Palestinians, many believe, is one of the main factors in fuelling radicalisation in the West and elsewhere. There is no alternative to solving the Palestinian issue than implementing the two-state solution. Israel and its defenders must realise that an offensive every two or three years or an expansion in settlement, is untenable for an indefinite period of time. We extend our full support to the people of Palestine in their quest for their homeland.