Media statement by Liew Chin Tong in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 24^th September 2011:

DAP supports Palestinian statehood

The DAP stands in support of current efforts by Mahmoud Abbas, as leader of the Palestinian Authority, to seek full membership for a Palestinian State at the United Nations.

But we also believe that the quest for statehood through legal means must be accompanied by actual concrete changes on the part of the Israeli authority.

Thus, the DAP also calls for the immediate cessation of any settlement-building beyond the 1967 border, as was mandated by United Nations Security Council Resolution 465 which was passed in 1980.

The resolution called Israel to "dismantle the existing settlements" while emphasizing that all attempts to alter the geography and demography of the occupied territories in 1967 have "no legal validity" and are thus in direct violation of International Law. It should be enforced by all means available as soon as possible.

The Palestinian struggle for statehood must proceed through legal and formal means but real progress cannot occur without similar gestures of goodwill from Israel as a long time partner in the peace process. It can demonstrate its goodwill by playing its part to concretely enforce UNSC Resolution 465.

It is the collective responsibility of this generation to see through peace in Middle East.

* Liew Chin Tong, DAP International Secretary & MP for Bukit Bendera