Star of Palestine conferred on President Mahinda Rajapaksa:

Highest honour by Palestine for bravery

By Manjula Fernando

Last week Palestine President Dr. Mahmoud Abbas conferred the Star of Palestine, on President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the highest honour the State of Palestine bestows on its citizens for bravery.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa , First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa and Palestinian President Dr Mahmoud Abbas attend the Christmas Eve mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on January 6

President of Palestine Dr Mahmoud Abbas on behalf of the Government of Palestine conferring President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the'Star of Palestine'- the highest award for bravery of the State of Palestine

"It is a source of pride to our country," Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris told the Sunday Observer on the decoration the President was honoured with during his two -day visit to Palestine as part of an official tour to the Middle East.

The Palestinian cause for President Mahinda Rajapaksa had always been a priority in his, almost, entire political career. He had been a staunch advocate and activist committed to the Palestine cause since the 1970s as a young MP.

"The award was conferred in honour of his consistent support", Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said.

The Palestinian struggle for statehood is the oldest political conflict in modern times. Many countries, especially the socialist states and the Non Aligned Movement was behind Palestine in its struggle to end Israeli occupation.

Sri Lanka was among the first states to recognise the state of Palestine in exile, in 1988.

President Rajapaksa was instrumental in establishing the Sri Lanka Solidarity Committee with Palestine in 1975. He was not just one of the founding members of the solidarity committee but headed the Movement since its inception four decades ago until he was elected into the office of Prime Minister in 2004.

Nevertheless, he continued to be a vociferous advocate of their cause making it a priority to extend his solidarity and voice support whenever appropriate. During all his addresses to the United Nations General Assembly as Head of State, eight in total, he dedicated a few minutes to call for international solidarity and support for Palestine.

Last year, UN member states voted in favour of an independent State of Palestine, based on a UN resolution for a two-state solution.

" The people of Palestine and the Leaders are aware of this support. In 2007 the road in front of the Sri Lanka's representative in Ramallah was named after President Rajapaksa in recognition of this support," Samaranayake said.

During the state visit to the Middle East, President Rajapaksa arrived in Palestine on Tuesday after a two- day tour of Jordan.

President Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, along with the Sri Lankan delegation were warmly received by a Palestinian delegation led by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos 111of the Church of the Nativity of Bethlehem hosted President Mahinda Rajapaksa, First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Palestinian President Dr Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to dinner. Local and foreign dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

One of the first things President Rajapaksa did after arriving was to visit the mausoleum of the former Palestine President Yasser Arafat in Ramallah to lay a wreath and pay his respects to the late leader. The late leader visited Sri Lanka in 1997.

The two leaders conducted a one-on-one meeting where the Palestine leader had briefed about the Peace Process with Israel among other issues.

They had also engaged in extended bilateral discussions with their respective delegations and the two leaders observed the signing of the agreement on the establishment of Sri Lanka-Palestine Joint Commission and the MOU on establishment of the Mahinda Rajapaksa Vocational Training Centre.

The President and First Lady attended a memorable midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad Al-Maliki, introduced President Rajapaksa as the 'Special,Special, Special Guest'.

He repeated the word 'special' emphasising the importance Palestine leaders paid to his state visit.

Maliki said relations between the two countries had hit a new high since President Rajapaksa came into power.

President Rajapaksa was the first head of State from Sri Lanka to visit Palestine. After Palestine he departed for Israel on January 8. This visit will also go down in history as the first by a Head of Sri Lankan state to Israel.

The President and the delegation returned to the country after his successful Middle East tour on Friday morning.

External Affairs Minister Prof. Peiris, Monitoring MP of the Ministry of External Affairs Sajin Vass Gunawardena, Parliamentarians Ms. Kamala Ranatunga and Roshan Ranasinghe, UNP National List MP John Amaratunga, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Jordan Gamini Rajapaksa comprised the Sri Lankan delegation.