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| PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR |

The further development of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land has proven to
me one of the most intractable obstacles to progress.

speaker of the Kuwaiti parliament, Marzouk al-Ghanim, is the worst type of injustice and when Irish people see
who branded two visiting Knesset members as ‘occupiers injustice they oppose it. Remember, the boycott against
and murderers of children’ discredit Israel’s claims. Infor- South Africa started here.
mal visits between former generals and former officials will
not lead to official relations with Saudi Arabia. The Israeli Ambassador has similar opinions of the
country and its people, which is interesting, have you
How has Palestinian foreign policy developed and will met him?
Dublin be your final post in a diplomatic career that Of course I have met him. We are both professional
spans more than 40 years? diplomats and we greet each other civilly when we meet
We have achieved much over the past decades, and at events and functions. But I am here to represent my
we have requests from many countries to open embas-
sies but this is very expensive and our financial resources
are limited. That said, we have more than 100 embas- I AM HERE TO REPRESENT MY
sies throughout the world, including in the majority of EU GOVERNMENT AND HE IS HERE TO
countries as well as a representation office in the US. I REPRESENT HIS. IT IS USELESS TO
have been in Ireland for four years and professionally and
personally I am happy here. I have no idea yet if this will be MAKE SMALL TALK WHEN THERE CAN
my final post! People are very warm and sympathetic to BE NO REAL PROGRESS. WE ARE
our cause. I think this has a historical basis. It was an hon- INTERESTED IN A DIALOGUE WITH
our for me to be here last year for the centennial celebra-
tions of the 1916 Easter Rising. People here still remem- THE ISRAELIS, NOT A MONOLOGUE.
ber what it was like to be under occupation. Occupation

70 | | WINTER ‘17 |