Palestinian envoy to Britain dismisses two-state solution

Manuel Hassassian tells audience at anti-Israel fringe group event that Israel does not want peace and “nurtures on conflict.”

By JONNY PAUL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
Palestinian representative to Britain Manuel Hassassian 370 (photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
Palestinian representative to Britain Manuel Hassassian 370
(photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
LONDON – The Palestinian diplomatic representative to Britain has buried the idea of a two-state solution, saying that he believes that Jews are the children of God “because nobody is stopping them from building their messianic dream of the Land of Israel [Eretz Yisrael].”
Manuel Hassassian, the head of the Palestinian delegation to London, was speaking in parliament on Tuesday night at an event organized by the anti-Israel fringe group Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
The Palestinian representative, who was appointed to London in 2005, advocated a one-state solution.
He told the audience of around 100 people that it was his personal belief that Israel does not want peace and “nurtures on conflict.”
“There is no two-state solution,” he said. “Democracies don’t fight each other. If Israel is a democracy, I would claim that the Palestinians are also a democracy. If democracies cannot fight each other then why not have one state, one man, one vote?” Hassassian, an Armenian-Palestinian born in Jerusalem, implied that God must be colluding with Israel, hence the Jews are children of God, and asked how long the Palestinians were going to suffer at the hands of Israel.
“We, the Palestinians, the most highly educated and intellectual in the Middle East, are still struggling for the basic right of self-determination. What an irony.How long are we going to suffer and be patient with Israel?” In response he reportedly said: “You know I’m reaching the conclusion that the Jews are the children of God, the only children of God and the Promised Land is being paid by God. I have started to believe this because nobody is stopping Israel building its messianic dream of Eretz Israel to the point I believe that maybe God is on their side,” he said.
He also alluded to the demographic structure of Israel, remarking on the growing population of the world’s Muslims.
“Israel will never continue to exist as a pariah state. Israel could never continue to fight wars against the Palestinians, against the Arabs and the Muslims. The US is not going to be Israel’s strategic ally for time immemorial.
And today we have 1.5 billion Muslims. In 20 years we will have two billion. And those two billion, forget about politics, from a religious perspective will not allow Israel to continue desecrating their religious rights [in Jerusalem], and then what?” Also speaking at the event was Labor party Shadow Justice Minister Andy Slaughter MP, Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather and veteran anti-Israel campaigner and Labor MP Jeremy Corbyn.
According to the London-based blogger Richard Millet, Slaughter accused Israel of deliberately killing Palestinian families and controlling the Palestinians’ calorie count.
Slaughter said Israel supplied Palestinians just enough to stop them from starving and he added that Israel’s failure to supply clean water, electricity and decent homes to Palestinians as “collective punishment.”
In his speech, PSC chair Hugh Lanning claimed that Israel has banned 180 life saving medicines from Gazan hospitals “because they might save lives.”
Corbyn spoke about Gazans who had “never known the ability to move out of Gaza.”
Millet commented on this statement saying, “Ironically, he then introduced us to Rania Al-Najjar from Gaza who has just completed a Masters in International Relations at London’s City University.”