23 November 2017•Update: 24 November 2017
By Ayse Humeyra Atilgan and Burcu Arik
ISTANBUL
Achieving regional peace is impossible with Israel having Benjamin Netanyahu as the prime minister, according to a Palestinian lawmaker.
Describing Netanyahu as "an extremist", Zuhair R. Sanduka said "everything is getting worse" under his leadership. "In my opinion, there is no chance of getting peace with such a prime minister and his party."
Sanduka also said the U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration "is one hundred percent supporting Israel."
"We can achieve no reasonable solution with them," he told Anadolu Agency on sidelines of the 10th plenary session of Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), which continued in Istanbul.
Delegations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, took part in the meeting.
The parliamentarians have exchanged views, ideas and experiences for developing common strategies for promoting peace in Asia.
The Palestinian parliamentarian stressed that the Palestine-Israel issue is "a matter of all Arabs, Turks and all Muslims."
West Bank and East Jerusalem
Stating that Israeli occupation of their land "is going on every day", Sanduka said they would "never give up their fight" for a free Palestine.
Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as the Jewish state’s “undivided and eternal capital” -- a move never recognized by the international community.
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement construction there as illegal.
He criticized the “American and European countries’ support” to Israel. "Their support turns into oppression against us."
He also recalled Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's response to Israeli President Shimon Peres at a 2009 gathering of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and said: "Turkey has historically been with Palestinian people and I cannot forget Mr. Erdogan's stance in Davos against Peres."
Nhem Tavy, a member of the Permanent Committee of Cambodia’s National Assembly, also spoke to Anadolu Agency as delegations discussed "Sustaining Peace and Development in Asia."
Tavy said the assembly’s attendance was quite "responsive" with "more than 300 people from over 30 countries."
Support to Turkey
"When Turkey took the presidency of APA, our hopes and expectations increased," he said.
Turkey took over the APA chairmanship from Cambodia after last year’s APA Plenary Session in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The APA will convene under the Turkish presidency for the next two years.
The Turkish presidency will focus on peace and development across the continent, especially in conflict zones.
"We have seen how important peace is for the continuation of development," Tavy said, recalling the developments in the late history of his country.
"Cambodia went through very bad times in early 1980s," he said, "After 90s we were able to have peace all over Cambodia."
"With all this experience, we will continue to support Turkey and play a role [in APA] even when Turkey is holding the presidency," he said.
Regarding the richness of Asia in terms of human and cultural resources, he said: "Asia has realized that if we get together through mutual understanding, peace will come and then all these resources can be used for the benefit of Asian countries."
"We want Asia to be a major player in this century," he noted.
