The foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority, Farouk Kaddoumi, yesterday made an impassioned plea for Europe and the US to turn from talk to action to solve the Middle East crisis.
Speaking to reporters at the Palace, in Valletta, shortly before a courtesy call on President Guido de Marco, he was pessimistic following the re-election of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"We don't want to interfere in the internal affairs of any country but we are not optimistic because (Mr) Sharon has no ideas about political solutions.
"He is continuing his atrocities against the Palestinian people. We would have expected the broker, which is the US, should have done something about the peace process but, unfortunately, they are focusing on other problems.
"(Mr) Sharon has no ideas that could lead to peace. We were ready to negotiate but (Mr) Sharon's government was not. They will continue the attacks and violence against the Palestinian people. That is what we expect from Sharon.
"We ask the international community to stop all these atrocities against the Palestinian people."
When asked about the fact that the Israelis had just re-elected Mr Sharon in spite of the destruction and killing, he became more emotional.
"Unfortunately, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated when he was a peacebroker with the Palestinians. This means the overwhelming majority of Israelis are extremists and that is because they receive support from the US. It is up to the United States, which supports the Israelis with military and economic assistance, and the European countries, to stop what is going on... It is not sufficient to make statements, we need action."
Mr Kaddoumi expressed the appreciation of the Palestinian people for all that Malta and Prof. de Marco, in particular, had done on their behalf.
Prof. de Marco said Mr Kaddoumi had been linked to the Palestinian cause for many years. He said that in Malta, there was political consensus on the Palestinian issue, based on the UN Security Council resolutions, namely that the Israelis and the Palestinians should peacefully live alongside each other in two states in full respect of their sovereignty.