Ashrawi meets with British Consul General Alastair McPhail

PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi met with British Consul General Alastair McPhail in Ramallah.

Both parties discussed the latest international and regional developments and the worsening conditions on the ground, including the British position vis-à-vis the French International Peace Conference and the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, matters related to Brexit, and American policy positions regarding Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise and its annexation of Palestinian land and resources, as well as recent political moves and options for the future.

Ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump on Friday in Washington DC, Dr. Ashrawi called on the British government to play a positive and constructive role in working to end the military occupation rather than compounding a historical injustice dating back to the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of the State of Israel on Palestinian soil: “It is our hope that the British government acts in line with international law and the requirements for peace, and we trust that it will stand on the right side of justice, not on the side of the occupation and oppression. We also urge the UK to exert a corrective force on the US administration rather than to encourage populism, racism, extremism, and impunity, especially as practiced by the Israeli government and in light of the new American administration’s pronouncements on Jerusalem and the illegal settlements.”

In addition, the discussion focused on the internal situation and the importance of reconciliation and elections in Palestine.

Source :PNN