Written by via middleeasteye.net
China has backed the right of the Palestinian people to use armed force to combat Israel’s occupation of their land, calling it an “an inalienable right well founded in international law”.
The comments on Thursday were made by the Chinese ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, during the fourth day of public hearings held by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands.
Representatives of 52 countries are addressing the ICJ on Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land.
Beijing’s envoy said there were “various people (who) freed themselves from colonial rule” and they could use “all available means, including armed struggle”.
He described the Palestinian use of armed resistance as legitimate and not an act of terrorism.
“The struggle waged by peoples for their liberation, right to self-determination, including armed struggle against colonialism, occupation, aggression, domination against foreign forces should not be considered terror acts,” Zhang Jun told the court.