Embassy of the State of Palestine

The Palestinian Authority has officially become a member of the International Criminal Court two months after signing its treaty, and is marking the momentous occasion with a low-key ceremony at the court's headquarters.

The Palestinian Ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, Mr. Izzat Abdulhadi, visited New Zealand from 28 March to 2 April in order to conduct bilateral talks with the New Zealand government and to participate in an academic seminar hosted by the New Zealand Centre for Global Studies

PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi said:

“On March 30, 1976, as thousands of Palestinians inside Israel protested Israeli plans to steal 60,000 dunams of land in the Galilee, six Palestinians were killed and hundreds were injured and arrested.

Thirty-nine years later, in the face of the brutal military occupation imposed by Israel, the Palestinian people still remain steadfast in their struggle to defend their inalienable rights to independence, freedom and justice.

PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi said:

“On behalf of the Palestinian leadership and the people of Palestine, we express our great appreciation and gratitude to the members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) who assumed a principled, courageous and just stand and overwhelmingly voted in favor of three UNHRC resolutions regarding the occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, at the 28th regular session of the UNHRC.”

“For so long, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was provided with the full immunity to create havoc and to do so much damage on the ground at the expense of Palestinian lives, lands and resources, and as a result, he has destroyed the two-state solution. However, the U.S. is finally coming to the realization that Israeli actions are no longer acceptable.”

Together with Counsellor Suheir Gedeon, on the 20th of March 2015 the Ambassador of the State of Palestine met with Mr. Grant Morrison and Paul Raouche from the Department of International Assistance in the Department of Foreign Affairs and trade (DFAT)

PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi said:
“The results of the Israeli elections are the natural outcome of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies throughout his previous tenures of generating fear, hostility and distrust, as well as shifting the whole terrain of political discourse to the racist extreme.

The Australian Labour Party weighed in on the Palestinian Israel issue at its 2015 National Conference reaching an agreement on the subject that may see Australia acknowledging a Palestinian state based on two aspects– no deal formed at the next round of peace talks and a successfully elected Federal Labor Government.

After the diplomatic stalemate with Israel over the appointment of an Ambassador to cover both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in February 2015 a resolution was found, with Sir Jim McClay being appointed New Zealand’s Representative to the Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr. Malki recently met with the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs the Hon Julie Bishop at her office in Sydney. The Palestinian Minster explained to his counterpart the latest outstanding issues regarding the Israel- Palestine conflict, in particular the Palestinian attempt to end the Israeli Occupation through the Security Council.