His Excellency, Abdullah M. Abu Shawesh is the Ambassador of Palestine to Nigeria. In this Exclusive Interview with Diplomat Nigeria Newspaper, the Envoy says Nigeria can utilize its political weight to full capacity and play a crucial role in putting an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

If anyone doubts that the US is fully complicit in the textbook genocide against the Palestinian people, then we really need a practical definition of complicity or to remove the word complicity from the dictionary

How would you describe Nigeria’s position in the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza?

Let me start by saying that Nigeria has a heavy political weight not only on the African continent, but also around the globe. If we believe that no one is safe until everyone is safe, this means that justice for the Palestinians people will benefit the entire word and Nigeria for sure.

Also if we believe that the jungle law is a devastating recipe and will bring everyone to his knees sooner or later,  then this means that Nigeria will benefit from peace in the Middle East. We believe that Nigeria can play a crucial role in putting an end to this genocide, the reconstruction after the war, and in the peace process. We look to Nigeria to utilize its political weight in full capacity.

Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria

Abdullah M. Abu Shawesh

What can ECOWAS/African Union do differently?

The African Union is one of the most respected intergovernmental organizations in the world. Palestine has observer status in the AU and HE President Abbas or HE Prime Minister both used to attend the annual summit in Addis Ababa.

Recently some African countries tried to push for Israeli to have observer status in the African Union and many other countries refused this petition for a very simple reason, and that is because Israeli, the occupying power, should not be rewarded for its abuse of power. No one should encourage the Israeli occupation to continue.

The AU, who have a real interest in security, stability and peace in the Middle East in general and in Palestine in particular, can also play a crucial role by exercising political, diplomatic and economic pressure on Israel and its supporters who are hardly reacting to the annihilation of Gaza. This could happen via legal and nonviolent attempts towards pushing Israel to abide by international law and the UN resolutions. This for sure will benefit African countries in the short and long run.

ECOWAS as part of AU member countries can also play strong roles like the AU. Normalization with the occupying power is for sure against the principles of the ECOWAS member countries. Economic relations with the occupying power should be guided by international law and for sure by the UN Security Council resolution 2334 that stresses in its operational paragraph 5 that it “calls upon all states to distinguish in their relevant dealing between the territory of the state of Israeli and the occupied Palestinian territories.” Add to that the UNHRC has blacklisted of 112 companies that are entrenching the footprint of the Israeli settlements by working and making business on the settlements in grave violation to international law. ECOWAS serves as an economic development tool for 15 African countries and as an economic block, as well as for countries that have a mutual interest in abiding by international law. There are opportunities with this unity to dismantle the Israeli prolonged and brutal occupation.

How would you describe the UN’s position towards the realization of peace in Palestine?

The question of Palestine was brought before the UN in 1947 when the General Assembly adopted the 181 resolution called the partition Plan of Palestine. In this resolution the GA gifted the European Jewish 54% of our historical land of Palestine. After the “catastrophic” Al Nakba in 1948 when the Jewish military gangs succeeded in ethnically cleansing the majority of the Palestinian people by expelling them, and forcing them to live in refugee camps, the GA attempted to pass resolution 194, calling for the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes but Israel refused to implement this resolution.

The UN accepted Israel as member state under one condition and that was to accept resolutions 181 and 194 and after it became a UN member, Israel refused to abide by this condition.

The UN adopted around one thousand resolutions on the realization of the peace process in Palestine and that has been accompanied with complete negligence by anyone from the Israeli side.  This shows that the UN has had little ability to implement these resolutions if they relate to Israel and that in some way, it has a status of being above international law. The UN Security Council, as very powerful body of the UN, has as its main mandate, the obligation to keep peace and security around the globe has become completely paralyzed when the question of Palestine is on its table due to the USA’s veto power.

The UN consists of 193 Member States and 2 other observer states, and nearly 84 other sub-bodies and entities covering all aspects of human needs and securities. This body has unlimited tools that if they are utilized, this will put an end to the Israeli occupation and bring justice to Palestine and security and peace to the Middle East, but as long as the Israeli Occupation club are sparing no effort to protect and sustain the occupation, this body will continually regurgitate the same repetitive language and lips service with zero implementation on the ground. The UN is still short of implementation on the practical level.

How would you describe the role of the Arab and the Islamic world?

Both of them have many powerful, peaceful, legal, political, diplomatic and economic tools that if they are utilized, will immediately put an end to the current text book genocide and also will pave the way for a lasting peace and security in the Middle East. They did not yet play all their cards.

Do you think Nigeria can play a role in the South African genocide case in the Hague?

Every country can align itself with the South Africa case. They can also issue a statement to welcome SA’s legal actions and stance and move to support it. Once the court starts its discussion of the case after the provisional measures, every country can stand before the court to submit evidence regarding the Israeli genocide. Every country has the right to present their stance before the court in support of the SA case. We encourage all the peace lovers around the globe to do so. That said, Nigeria and all other countries can play a crucial role in the case discussed in Hague.

Do you think the US, and Europe has a role to play in the Peace process?

We need first to differentiate between the US and Europe. I am not reveling a secret when I say that its cluster clear to everyone that US is part of the brutal occupation. This unfortunate fact did not need a fortune teller to know that. US is spare no effort to entrench the Israeli occupation on the practical level on the ground, just on the last escalation the US is proved its complete complicity on the current textbook genocide.

In his fifth official visit to the region during the last three months, US Secretary of State Blinken said at a press conference following a separate meeting with top Qatari officials in Doha, “Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. They cannot, they must not be pressed to leave Gaza.”

Elaborating further, I would like to comment on his trip with the following points:

First: Last December, Secretary of State Blinken had informed Congress of a second emergency determination, authorizing a $147.5 million sale of equipment, including fuses, charges, and primers, necessary for the functioning of 155 mm shells previously purchased by Israel. Many argue that the United States is a significant contributor to the problem, rather than the solution, and there is ample evidence to support this claim.

Second: Instead of calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israeli brutal hostility, his main concern was to verify that Israel started the third stage of war. This will surely result in the loss of thousands of innocent lives.

Third: He has spoken about the possible return of Gazans to their homes in the north, but he intentionally forgets to mention that their homes have already been leveled and the entire landscape has been completely changed. So, if these civilians are not forcibly removed, they will find nothing to support their basic needs for a dignified life as humans, and they might voluntarily leave the destroyed Gaza.

Fourth: He said in his press release with King Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, “Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. They cannot, they must not be pressed to leave Gaza.” The question is, when will he put pressure on Israel to create conditions that allow for this?

We should judge people based on their actions, not their words. We should judge people based on their actions, not their words. If anyone doubts that the US is fully complicit in the textbook genocide against the Palestinian people, then we really need a practical definition of complicity or to remove the word complicity from the dictionary.

An additional element of the current situation, are European countries and their people. Many Europeans participate in visits and the pilgrimage season conducted by the European top officials to support the Israeli military aggression at the very begging of the latest escalation. yes we know that many of them start taking steps back of their blind support to the Israeli genocide but some still unequivocally support it. Germany out of guilty feeling, for example stand with the Israeli occupation on ICJ leave aside its military support that lead to the quick and early ending the lives of thousands of innocent Palestinians.

European countries can do more towards the peace process. They can abide by the UNSC resolution 2334, and this means that the products of the Israeli illegal settlements in the occupied Palestine territories should not be offered on the shelves. These are peaceful, legal, legitimate, nonviolent, and diplomatic tools that can shorten the timeline the occupation. If these actions are taken, these are ways to protect the lives of the people of Palestine, and global security in the long run.