PALESTINIANS HOPE OBAMA CHANGES U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia
Abdelaziz Aboughosh said he hoped that United States' President-elect Barack
Obama who spoke of hope and change would change US foreign policy with regard to
Palestine.

He said current US foreign policy favoured Israel and was unfair to the
Palestinians, and asked the US administration to find a solution for Israel.

"He (Obama) said he is a president of hope and change. We Palestinians are a
hopeful people and we hope that he will change US foreign policy. We hope that
he will help stop the cycle of genocide," Aboughosh told reporters after being
interviewed on the Traxx FM radio station on the current situation in
Israeli-invaded Gaza.

"We hope that he (Obama) will help give relative justice to Palestinians,
aid us with getting East Jerusalem as our capital and give us the right of
return.

"Right now, there are five million Palestinians in Palestine and five
million outside of Palestine who cannot come home," he said.

At the interview with Traxx FM, Aboughosh refuted claims that there was a
chasm between Muslim and Palestinian Christians living in Gaza.

"There is no such distinction. You cannot distinguish one from the other.
Since time immemorial, since the time of Umar al-Khattab, we have been tolerant
and stand united.

"The only difference is the factions that we have which makes us divided. We
must stand united against Israel to win. And Israel does not care or distinguish
between factions or religions, they bomb us all," he said.

Commenting on claims that Egypt was unhelpful in the Palestinian cause,
Aboughosh defended the nation stating that Egypt was the one which helped to
bring about the cease-fire.

"Some governments, due to political anti-propaganda, point fingers at Egypt
for their own purposes. But without Egypt, there would be no cease-fire. Without
Egypt, 220 Egyptian doctors would not be there. Without Egypt, we would not have
any medical supplies," he added.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Israeli troops had begun to withdraw from
the Gaza Strip following a tentative truce with Hamas after the three-week war.

Since Israel launched its brutal onslaught on Gaza on Dec 27 last year, more
than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and about 5,100 wounded.
-- BERNAMA