President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian people cannot be eliminated or dissolved, and the Palestinian cause cannot be liquidated.

The President said, on Sunday evening, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the martyrdom of the symbolic leader Yasser Arafat, that our people in the Gaza Strip are being subjected to a second catastrophe and a war of genocide that history has never witnessed, and the occupation has turned the Strip into an uninhabitable area.

The President stressed that the displacement plan will not pass and we will not allow it to pass with the steadfastness of our people and the support and backing of our brothers and friends in the world, stressing that the leadership will not stop making every effort to stop the criminal war of extermination, until the last soldier withdraws from the Gaza Strip, so that the Strip returns to its natural place in the Palestinian state, and we heal the wounds of our people and rebuild it better than it was.

The President pointed out that the Palestinian issue is going through a difficult phase with the presence of the extreme right-wing government in Israel. The Gaza Strip is not the only one being subjected to a war of extermination and a plan for annexation and displacement, as the West Bank is being subjected to the same plan.

The President stressed that the Palestinian people will remain on their land and will not leave it, and this is the will of Yasser Arafat and all the martyrs of our people, foremost among them the martyrs of the Central Committee of the Fatah Movement.

The President said: We are committed to the option of peace, and we will continue to work to achieve it, stressing that security and stability cannot be achieved except by eliminating the occupation and achieving sovereignty and independence on the land of the Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the 1967 lines, and finding a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees on the basis of the Arab Initiative and Resolution 194.

The President reiterated his rejection of the occupation's decisions to ban UNRWA from operating in Palestine, stressing that the State of Palestine will confront these decisions in coordination with the countries hosting Palestinian refugees.

The President said: Thanks to the steadfastness of our people and their defiance of the occupation's liquidation plans, we will continue to move towards freedom and independence, and the occupation will be held accountable for its crimes and aggression against our people, our land and our holy sites, in international courts.

The President stressed that we are on the path to achieving our national unity under the banner of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of our Palestinian people, and the owner of the independent national decision.

The President stressed the commitment to the legitimate and internationally recognized national goals and rights, pledging to the masses of our great people to continue on the path of freedom and independence, for which our best sons and daughters sacrificed their lives. He stressed that our people and their leadership will not rest until the prisoners gain their freedom.

The President concluded his speech by saying: “Yasser Arafat’s legacy remains in us and we will not deviate from it. We will remain rooted in this land because we are its owners, and the truth of the Palestinian people cannot be obliterated or ignored.”

The following is the text of the President's speech:

O masses of our steadfast Palestinian people, who are standing with pride and dignity on the homeland in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and in the diaspora across the world.

Today we commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the martyrdom of the symbolic leader Yasser Arafat, who carried the banner of the Palestinian national struggle for decades for freedom and independence. Perhaps the most important lesson from the path of this exceptional leader, and the path of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is that the Palestinian people cannot be eliminated or dissolved, and the Palestinian cause cannot be liquidated, and that our people have an ancient homeland upon which they built their history and civilization, this civilization that presented to humanity the message of love and peace.

This anniversary comes while the Palestinian people are going through harsh and difficult circumstances. There is a second Nakba in the Gaza Strip, as our people are being subjected to a war of genocide that history has never witnessed before, hundreds of thousands of martyrs and wounded, comprehensive destruction, displacement, hunger, diseases and epidemics. The occupying state has turned the Strip into an uninhabitable area, and what is happening today in the northern Gaza Strip is the best evidence of that. The sword of forced displacement is still hanging over the necks of the people of Gaza. We say here with all clarity and firmness that this plan will not pass and we will not allow it to pass with the steadfastness of our people and with the support and backing of our brothers and friends in the world. In the West Bank and Jerusalem, our people are facing continuous attacks on them, our land, and our Islamic and Christian sanctities by the occupation forces and terrorist settlers, who are practicing crimes of ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination.

Allow me on this occasion to address in particular the steadfast and steadfast masses of our people in the Gaza Strip, to tell them that we will not stop making every effort to stop the criminal war of extermination, until the last occupying soldier withdraws from the Gaza Strip so that the Strip can return to its natural place in the Palestinian state. We will also not rest until we heal the wounds of our people in the Gaza Strip, and rebuild it better than it was.

Oh, masses of our great people

The Palestinian cause is going through a difficult phase with the presence of the extreme right-wing government in Israel. The Gaza Strip is not the only one being subjected to a war of extermination and a plan for annexation and displacement. The West Bank is being subjected to the same plan, and the right-wing government believes that the conditions are favorable for implementing its expansionist goals at the expense of the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights.

We tell them and others that we have been the sons of this land for thousands of years. We will remain here and will not leave. This is the will of Yasser Arafat and all the martyrs of our people, foremost among them the martyrs of the Central Committee of the Fatah Movement. We assure them all that we will remain faithful to the covenant and that the banner will remain raised.

We have always adhered to the option of peace, we have adhered to it in all difficult and complex circumstances, and even when the other party abandoned it. We do not view peace as a passing phase. We seek to establish a just and lasting peace, and we believe that this peace, and that security and stability, can only be achieved by ending the occupation and achieving sovereignty and independence on the land of the Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the 1967 lines, and finding a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue on the basis of the Arab Initiative and Resolution 194. In this regard, we affirm the existence and strengthening of the work of UNRWA and reject the decisions of the occupation authorities to ban its work in Palestine, which we reject and will confront in coordination with the countries hosting Palestinian refugees.

Our heroic people

Thanks to your steadfastness and your confrontation of these crimes and liquidation plans, we are moving towards freedom and independence. International recognition of the State of Palestine is continuing, especially in the European arena, and the occupation is being dragged to international courts, and for the first time it will be held accountable for its crimes and aggression against our people, our land and our holy sites. Today, there is an international coalition of more than a hundred countries that was established through the commendable efforts of the Arab Islamic Committee, the European Union and sister and friendly countries in order to embody the State of Palestine and obtain full membership in the United Nations.

Here we must appreciate the positions of the peoples and countries of the world that support us and work with us in international forums. We also assure you that we are on the path to achieving our national unity under the banner of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of our Palestinian people, and the owner of the independent national decision.

On the twentieth anniversary of the martyrdom of the symbolic leader Abu Ammar, we affirm to the masses of our great people our adherence to the legitimate and internationally recognized national goals and rights, and we pledge to them that we will continue with the same determination on the path of freedom and independence, this path for which the best sons and daughters of the Palestinian people sacrificed their lives, and the heroic prisoners sacrificed their freedom in the prime of their youth, and I tell them that your people and your leadership will not rest until you achieve your freedom.

Yasser Arafat's legacy remains in us and we will not deviate from it. We will remain rooted in this land because we are its owners.

The reality of the Palestinian people cannot be obscured or ignored.

Long live Palestine

Long live the Palestinian people, free and proud

Glory to our righteous martyrs, foremost among them the martyr, leader and symbol Abu Ammar.

Healing for our wounded and freedom for our heroic prisoners

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.