Standing up: Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, Riyad Mansour, speaks at the UN headquarters, New York
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It is important that attention remains sharply focused on the decades-long struggle by the Palestinian people to establish their own state, at a time of a changing political and security landscape in the Middle East and amid grave concerns about Syria, Libya and the Islamic State (IS) movement, a senior foreign ministry official has said.
The Foreign Ministry's director general for multilateral cooperation Hasan Kleib said civil society organizations could do more to help Palestinian people to achieve their independence and freedom.
Hasan highlighted the Peace Now movement in Israel, that he said had demonstrated a firm position against the expansion of Israel in Palestinian territories and stood in favor of a two-state solution.
'Networking with groups such as Peace Now in Israel should continue and flourish,' he said in the opening of the UN Civil Society Forum on the Question of Palestine on Wednesday.
Representatives of 800 accredited civil society organizations joined with the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in attending the Forum.
'We diplomats need the strong support and engagement of civil society to support the resolution of the Palestinian plight,' said the committee's vice chair Desra Percaya.
He encouraged participants to take the opportunity to network and explore joint actions and to support Palestinian rights.
The UN's Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, Riyad Mansour, asked civil society groups participating in the forum to play an active role in helping the Palestinian people. He said the current uprising was being shouldered by youth, as they were fed up by the humiliation of being occupied by Israel.
'Our youth are exploding out of frustration,' Mansour said. He said Palestinian young people were demonstrating courage, as they were determined to put an end to misery and to the occupation. They carried on their shoulders the responsibility of taking efforts to end the occupation to a higher level in order to finally achieve independence and freedom, he added.
'Those are your brothers and sisters. Tell their stories. Indicate your support to them. It is so inspiring to the Palestinians when they know that youth everywhere, including Indonesia, give them strength in their struggle,' Mansour said. (ebf)
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