The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Nabil Al-Arabi, said that all the criteria for the establishment of the Palestinian State exist on account of the people, the territory and the sovereignty, as well as the existence of international documents that recognize it. In a press statement on Friday night Al-Arabi stated: “The State of Palestine must be declared in the occupied Palestinian territories, just as it was announced by President Yasser Arafat in 1988 in Algeria. The United Nations has accepted Palestine as a controlled zone, and not as a state.” Al-Arabi expressed his optimism for the coming period, claiming that the number of countries that recognize the state of Palestine will successfully be increased. He pointed to the fact that 117 nations now recognize Palestine, but emphasized that the required number was greater than this. He stressed that many nations in the Arab region need to play an active role in the League, pointing out that the Palestinian issue has existed for six decades and still exists today, despite the fact that the UN has issued binding resolutions determining how to bring about peace. He claimed that the international community has contented itself with the management of the conflict, rather than putting an end to it.