Palestine is last existing colony – politician

The so-called Middle East peace quartet is making another effort to restart stalled Israel-Palestine negotiations. Former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath told RT he hopes Palestine will finally cease being “an Israeli colony."

“The whole world gave up colonization, and there are no colonies anymore except in our case,” Shaath said. “The Israeli prime minister does not want to give up the West Bank and Gaza, this is what makes it difficult. It is sad to see Israel can get away with things no other occupier can.” The former Palestinian foreign minister also said that the US could help resolve the conflict, but the current US president has not yet managed to fulfill the promises he has made.“President Obama is an interesting man,” Shaath said. “He started with very positive ideas. Unfortunately, his promises – which included stopping all settlement activities and producing an independent Palestinian state before September 2011 – have not been turned into reality so far. If he gets reelected, he might have a little more influence and time to give our cause the priority it deserves.”The decades-long conflict, however, may take a turn in September, when the Palestinians are expected to unilaterally call for their state's official recognition by the UN. Shaath has no doubts the country will be recognized.“We have 116 counties that have recognized the independent Palestinian state; one of them is Russia,” he said. “Adding another 20 is not difficult. Never in the past have we had more than three or four countries voting against us. The US, Israel, the Marshall Islands vote against. Two-thirds have always been assured.”