Visit By Palestinian Ambassador

Mr Izzat Abdulhadi, the Canberra-based Palestinian Ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, will visit Wellington on 6 and 7 February. As well as participating in Waitangi Day celebrations, Mr Abdulhadi is coming to New Zealand to facilitate the establishment of an umbrella network for organizations that are currently working in support of Palestinians and Palestinian issues.

Mr Abdulhadi has been Ambassador to New Zealand since 2006 during which time he has actively engaged with the government on key Palestinian issues, including Palestine’s bid for non-member observer state status in the United Nations General Assembly last November.

“I was so pleased that New Zealand voted in favour of Palestinian statehood in the United Nations”, he said. “The New Zealand Government has demonstrated that it has an independent foreign policy, based on fairness and justice, and it is not beholden to the agendas of others. New Zealand is very well respected in the Middle East for that reason, and for its continued constructive and balanced approach to regional issues.”

It is that sense of fairness and justice within New Zealand that he knows is so strong amongst this country’s civil society groups. “I know there is a lot of support for the Palestinian cause in New Zealand, and I am interested to meet with a range of organisations during my time in Wellington, including non-governmental organisations, labour unions, academics, Iwi groups, faith-based organisations and of course the Palestinian diaspora,” he said.

In Australia he has already succeeded in establishing a network called the ‘Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network (APAN)’, and hopes that he can facilitate something similar here.

ends

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