Ｉｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ Ｄａｙ ｏｆ Ｓｏｌｉｄａｒｉｔｙ ｗｉｔｈ Ｐａｌｅｓｔｉｎｉａｎ Ｐｅｏｐｌｅ ａｎｄ Ｄａｙ ｏｆ Ｃｈｉｎａ－Ａｒａｂ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ｍａｒｋｅｄ

The CPAFFC and the China-Arab Friendship Association (CAFA) jointly held a reception in Beijing on November 29， 2007 to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and celebrate the Day of China-Arab Friendship. Tomur Dawamat， president of the CAFA， Zhai Jun， assistant foreign minister， Sleiman Rassi， acting chairman of the Arab Ambassadors Council in China and Lebanese ambassador to China， and Diab N. M. Allouh， Palestinian ambassador to China， attended the reception.

President Tomur Dawamat， Ambassador Sleiman Rassi and Ambassador Diab Allouh made speeches respectively.

In his speech， President Tomur Dawamat said， today we got together with friends of the Arab countries and Chinese personages from all circles to mark the 29th International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and celebrate the first Day of China-Arab Friendship. He emphasized， as a sincere friend of the Palestinian people， China will continue to support the just cause of the Palestinian people and play a constructive role in realizing peace in the Middle East. He stated， the cooperative friendly relations between China and the Arab countries have experienced rapid development in recent years， with widening cooperation in the fields of politics， economy， culture and education and more frequent and vigorous people-to-people exchanges. In November 2006， the two sides jointly held the first China-Arab Friendship Conference under the framework of China-Arab Cooperation Forum in Khartoum. The conference decided to designate November 29 as the Day of China-Arab Friendship. This is a natural result of years of friendly exchanges between the Chinese and the Arab people， a concentrated expression of their common wish to further develop and strengthen their friendly cooperative relations.

In his speech， Ambassador Sleiman Rassi thanked the Chinese leaders， the government， the CPC and people for their long-term support on the Arab issues， and reiterated the Arab peace proposal. He believed， the traditional friendship that reflects the noble and sincere feelings between the Chinese and the Arab people will be continuously developing and get further consolidated and he was willing to work for deepening and expanding the friendship together with the CAFA.

Ambassador Allouh said， today we were celebrating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People when the Palestinian people were commemorating the 3rd anniversary of the passing away of President Yasser Arafat and the 19th anniversary of the announcement of the establishment of an independent Palestinian State. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Chinese president， the Chinese Government， the parties and the people for your unswerving stand and consistent support for the Palestinian people in their just cause of pursuing their legitimate rights and interests.

Among over 120 people present at the reception were leading members of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee， the Ministry of Culture， the Ministry of Commerce， the All-China Federation of Trade Unions， the All-China Women’s Federation and the Islamic Association of China， council members of the CAFA， representatives of the Chinese media， representatives from the representative office of the League of Arab States， ambassadors and charge d’affaires of Arab countries to China and other diplomats， Palestinians residing and studying in Beijing， and representatives of Arab media.

At the reception， artists performed Xinjiang dances and songs， adding warm and friendly atmosphere to the occasion.