A file photo for Mashanni addresing last year's forum

By Mudar Abdulghani, IOL Correspondent

MEXICO CITY, November 30 (IslamOnline.net) – The U.N. Information Center in Mexico held Saturday, November 29, a forum marking the world day for solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Addressing the audience, the Palestinian ambassador to Mexico, Fawzi al-Mashanni, condemned the aggressive Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, including the assassination of activists, the desecration of Muslim and Christian holy places, the demolition of houses, the devastation of lands and the monopoly of water resources.

Mashanni further lashed out at the Israeli separation wall, which cuts deep into vast swathes of the occupied West Bank despite mounting world criticisms.

The 700km-long wall will further cut occupied Jerusalem off from the rest of the West Bank and could cost up to $2.2 million a kilometer or a total of $1.8 billion, even though the Israeli economy is in dire straits.

A U.N. report underlined last September that the separation wall marked illegal annexation of Palestinian territory and must be condemned by the world community.

On Friday, November 28, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the wall is a setback for the peace process, saying that it is a "deeply counterproductive act" in violation of International Law.

The Palestinian diplomat in Mexico further called for sending multi-national monitors to the occupied Palestinian territories and criticized western media for impairing the image of the uphill Palestinian struggle as a kind of "terrorism", while turning a blind eye to the incessant Israeli crimes.

He also urged the international community to rally behind the Palestinians in facing the mounting Israeli aggression and the racist occupation.

The meeting was attended by media people, rights activists and foreign diplomats in Mexico.

It also coincided with the opening of an exhibition for traditional Palestinian handcrafts and a photo gallery for famed Belgian photographer Bronco Stevens, who portrayed the daily sufferings of the Palestinians.

The Palestinian movie 'Jenin, Jenin', which depicts the attrocities commited by the Israeli army in the West Bank town of Jenin in April, was also screened in the Mexican University.

Israel banned the movie last year, claiming that "it falsely depicted fictional events as truth".