Today, 33 years ago, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat declared from Algiers the independence of the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"In the name of God and in the name of the Palestinian Arab people, the National Council declares the creation of the State of Palestine on our Palestinian land with noble Jerusalem as its capital," declared Arafat on November 15, 1988, at a meeting of the Palestinian National Council, the Palestinian parliament in exile, which convened in the Algerian capital.

With this declaration, which was a turning point in the history of the Palestinian national liberation movement, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) confirmed Palestinian acceptance of the two-solution for the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Despite the declaration of  the Independence; the Palestinian people are still suffering of the occupation. Israel continues its crimes against the Palestinian people, continues its settlements, practices its racist policies by continuing to build settlements, works to Judaize Jerusalem, displaces its people and demolishes their homes, commits war crimes, and continues the siege of the Gaza Strip.