During an intense visit to Stockholm, Varsen Aghabekian wants to convey hope for a future after "the incomprehensibly catastrophic war".
She is the foreign affairs spokesperson – in practice, the foreign minister – of the technocratic government that is preparing a future for a Palestinian state in a two-state solution, which would include parts of the West Bank occupied by Israel, East Jerusalem, and the shattered Gaza.
I am a two-state advocate, I am convinced that it is the only solution, she says.
She sits in a chair with a straight backrest but curved armrests at the Palestinian embassy in Stockholm, and notes that Sweden was the first EU country to recognize a Palestinian state under the then Social Democratic Foreign Minister Margot Wallström.
Two-state solution far away
The contacts during Aghabekian's visit to Stockholm show that the sitting government does not have the same open doors for the Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives as before. Her small delegation returns from meetings with parliamentary groups, organizations, and institutes.
I hope to meet everyone I can, I have messages that I want to convey – and I am grateful if I can do so, says Aghabekian.
A two-state solution is, however, far away, amidst ongoing war and political winds that counteract such a solution.
Moreover, demands are being made that the PA – where the umbrella organization PLO is a cornerstone – must be renewed, rejuvenated, and gain clearer popular support.
I am part of this. We have the people (in the government), but we lack money since Israel withholds tax revenues that belong to us – and we must get international support.
Gaza under Palestinian Authority
And she is clear about the need to distance herself from terrorist-stamped Hamas.
The future of Gaza is built on it being under the Palestinian Authority. The PA must gain power. No other development is acceptable.
Aghabekian also sees the importance of supporting the UN court ICJ (International Court of Justice) and the International Criminal Court ICC.
I would like to ask the Prime Minister (Ulf Kristersson) to listen to them: if you are a peace-loving country and you believe in international law – then you must take the courts' rulings seriously, she says.
Then Aghabekian, who is an Orthodox Christian of Armenian origin, turns the reasoning around:
We Palestinians have been victims, but we do not want to be in a victim role. We have much to offer, we must be given the opportunity to develop. Desperation and helplessness do not help us.
The foreign affairs spokesperson has made an academic career in the USA, but is now resident in Ramallah on the West Bank, like several of her children and grandchildren.
