THE PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR has said that she was filled with horror as news filtered through of the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israelis.
Dr Jilan Abdalmajid sat down with The Journal at the Palestinian Embassy in Dublin this week and spoke about her thoughts on the events that have led to thousands of deaths of people across Gaza and the West Bank.
She said that she has also sent a message back to the Palestinian Authority to seek their help to free the Israeli-Irish hostage Emily Hand – the eight-year-old girl’s father Thomas is originally from Dublin. She is also working back channels to attempt to get 40 Irish citizens out of Gaza via the Egyptian border.
On the steps outside the embassy there are bunches of flowers and candles – Abdalmajid was visibly upset when speaking of the deaths of people back home. She said that eight people she knows have been killed in the bombing raids of the Israeli Defence Forces.
Abdalmajid said that she knew immediately on hearing news of the October attack that the response from Israel would be devastating for her troubled country.
1,400 Israelis were killed when Hamas fighters launched a devastating early morning raid inside Israel on 7 October. The majority of those killed were civilians. 241 hostages are being held by Hamas inside Gaza – many with dual citizenship status.
In the aftermath of the shock attack, a bombing and ground offensive was launched by Israeli forces on Gaza which has killed more than 11,000 people, according to health ministry officials inside Gaza. The majority of those killed were civilians.
Abdalmajid said she was shocked to hear of the Hamas attacks and was left with a sense of dread as she immediately realised the events that would follow.
“It was horrific … and I knew that it wouldn’t pass like the previous five wars.”
She said she immediately realised the consequences and was worried Gaza would be “flatttened”.
The Ambassador said that the sight of President Joe Biden arriving days after the attacks to visit the Israeli Government and the comments of European Union leaders reinforced that opinion.
In the immediate aftermath of 7 October the EU was disjointed in its response, with some disquiet among member states over a cut to funding for Palestine. Comments by Ursula von der Leyen, regarding her support for Israel were criticised by political leaders, including in Ireland, for lacking condemnation of Israeli aggression towards civilians in Gaza.
She said it appeared “world leaders were against the Palestinians”.
The ambassador said that she and her 95 Palestinian diplomatic colleagues across the world had been warning governments of the risk of violence from Hamas.
While the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, is separate from Hamas she is adamant that there were warning signs before 7 October and said the attacks “didn’t come out of a vacuum”.
She described the attacks as “an explosion” throughout the interview and said that it was building for a number of years.
“This didn’t come out of a vacuum. The suffering of the Palestinians is the root cause of this explosion.
“For months or years, we, our diplomats have been talking to the whole world. We have 95 ambassadors and embassies and representations around the world.
“Everytime ambassadors meet with the governments, we warned them of the current situations denying the Palestinian people rights, our aspiration for freedom,” she added.
Among key causative events the ambassador identified violence by settlers in the West Bank, “and the treatment of these far right Israeli governments of the Palestinians”.
“We said this will lead to an explosion. And sometimes they ask us the meaning of explosions – it is a situation that will not be able to be controlled,” she added.
The Ambassador believes the Russian invasion of Ukraine had also distracted the international community from the gathering build up of tensions in the Middle East.
Abdalmajid is a strong supporter of the work of former Palestinian Liberation Organisation head Yasser Arafat.
In her office hangs a picture of Arafat – side by side with a large image of the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Palestinian State is divided in two – Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank had formed a unity Government after elections but that unity collapsed in 2006. Abdalmajid was appointed by the Palestinian Authority.
In short, the distance between the two can be defined as Fatah is a secular organisation committed to campaigning for a return to the 1967 borders and the peace talks that took place in the Norwegian capital in 1993 which became known as the Oslo Accord.
Hamas on the other side of the divide is a religiously motivated group that is committed to the violent destruction of Israel with its armed wing The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
The Ambassador explained the nature of that relationship as difficult at times with a number of “disagreements” but she said that during the time of the unity Government there was agreement between the two elements to support a campaign to return the region to the 1967 borders.
That changed on 7 October but Abdalmajid said that the Palestinian Authority was “committed to the peaceful path, this is the path we choose”.
The diplomat said talks had been underway at various times since they split to reunite the movement.
She said of Hamas was “an integral part” of the Palestinian people, “whether I agree or disagree with their ideology”.
The Ambassador believes that the only course is for both sides to come together under the banner of Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Abdalmajid returns repeatedly to the Israelis and claims their actions have repeatedly undermined the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to find a peaceful agreement.
Referring to the three decades since the Oslo pact she said, “after 30 years almost, of negotiating with Israel, it stopped a few years ago, because there was a deadlock. We reached nothing”.
“We reach more settlements in the West Bank, there are almost 250 colonial settlements, which are illegal by international law.
“There are more than 700,000 settlers living there and they are weaponised, and they control the area. I don’t want to go into the details, but I can say that they live in the West Bank, over the lands stolen from the Palestinians. But the Palestinian Authority continue to commit to the peaceful path.”
The diplomat paid tribute to Ireland for its support and the efforts of the Government to raise the plight of Palestine at the United Nations and elsewhere.
She said: “This support from the Irish people gives us strength to continue to struggle for our freedom.”
Abdalmajid identifies those key issues as the reasons for the current violent “explosion” but blames the “massacre” in Gaza on “the failure of the international community to stop the aggression”.
She claims 45% of the deaths recorded in Gaza are children asked if the international community had “lost its humanity”.
She declared Israel’s actions as “barbaric” and called out the Tel Aviv regime for its failure to provide water supply and electricity. She also warned of the impending disease epidemic across Gaza, citing the fact that for every six residents there is just one toilet.
She spoke of children and adults going to the sea to bathe because of the lack of water.
“More than 4,500 children have been killed – it’s future families that have been lost.
“Believe me the 50,000 Palestinian women who are pregnant will bring more Palestinian children to this world, and they will live in dignity and they will be proud of being Palestinians.”
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