President Mahmoud Abbas inaugurated today the activities of Bethlehem as the Capital of Arab Culture, an initiative taken by the Arab League under the UNESCO Cultural Capitals Program to promote and celebrate Arab culture and encourage cooperation in the Arab region.
In a televised statement celebrating the occasion, President Abbas affirmed that “the Palestinian people are continuing their national struggle to achieve justice, dignity, freedom and the embodiment of our independent state on the land of our ancestors.”
“We will remain steadfast in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and all of Palestine until the occupation ends, and until freedom, hope and peace are achieved and the sun of the independent State of Palestine rises upon its eternal capital, East Jerusalem,” he said.
The President congratulated the Arab and Islamic worlds on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan and the Easter.
