The government recently offered to donate US$1 million to the Palestine government to help rebuild the Gaza Strip that was severely damaged by Israeli airstrikes. (image: Kobizmedia/Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — A diplomat representing the Korean government has been officially dispatched to Palestine. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 28, Park Woong-cheol, the newly appointed representative to the State of Palestine, began working around the clock at the office in Ramallah, the de facto administrative capital, from the 25th with one local employee.
Although the Korean government opened a representative office in Palestine in 2005, there was no full-time diplomat and instead a counselor at the Korean Embassy in Israel crossed the border twice a week to perform the necessary work. The main reason the government assigned a full-time diplomat in Palestine separate from Israel has to do with the fact that it is aware of the increasing importance of the Arab World to Korea in terms of trade opportunities other than energy.
The government recently offered to donate US$1 million to the Palestine government to help rebuild the Gaza Strip that was severely damaged by Israeli airstrikes. A foreign ministry official said, “The support for Palestine is to gain the hearts and minds of the Arab countries. It also has the effect of raising our presence in the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member.” Currently most nations run separate representative offices in Palestine and Israel. Before sending the representative to Ramallah, the Israeli government also welcomed the decision.
By Sean Chung (schung10@koreabizwire.com)
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This article reminds me of something Jewish Israeli peace activist, Miko Peled, wrote in his book about the 1982 Lebanon War. He wrote, “A great deal has been written about the massacres that took place in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla west of Beirut. It was 1982, Sharon had a plan to ‘clean up’ the Palestinian presence in Beirut and allow the pro-Israeli Christian militia, the Phalangists, to take control. The Israeli Army sealed the two camps and allowed the Phalangists to enter, illuminating the dark night with flares that lit up the sky. They killed indiscriminately for hours in full view and with the logistical support of the IDF command. Later on it became clear that young Israeli soldiers and officers who realized what was going on tried to alert the chain of command, were assured that everything was under control. Arabs were killing Arabs, and it was not our problem.”
You’re not anti-Semitic, racist or a self-hating Jew for disagreeing with Israeli policy, just a person with a good heart, a conscience and morals.