NEW YORK, December 1, 2009 (WAFA)- Nearly a year after Israel's military offensive into the Gaza Strip which left some 1,400 Palestinians dead and pushed an already desperate humanitarian situation into crisis, the question of Palestine was at a critical juncture, and sustained focus was needed to both revive stagnant peace talks and create conditions for broader peace in the Middle East, General Assembly delegates said, as they launched their annual debate of those and related issues.
Opening the meeting, General Assembly President Ali Abdussalam Treki, of Libya, said the question of Palestine remained the oldest unresolved issue before the world body -– a fact that weighed heavily on the United Nations. Today's observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People should 'remind us that the human cost of the Middle East conflict is borne by the Palestinian people'.
Indeed, the Israeli blockade in Gaza had forced 1.5 million Palestinian civilians into poverty, he said. The Assembly had endorsed the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza conflict earlier in November and called on Israel and the Palestinians to undertake independent, credible investigations. The Secretary-General had also been requested to report on the resolution's implementation before 2 February 2010. In due course, the Assembly would consider the Secretary-General's report and any further action.
Describing the current situation, the Permanent Observer of Palestine said more than half of Palestinians were living in exile as refugees after displacement from their homeland, with the remainder living under Israeli occupation in the Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Israel's policy of collective punishment against Palestinians was reflected everywhere -- from the complete blockade of Gaza and network of checkpoints in the West Bank, to the continued settlement activity, construction of the separation wall and imposition of residency restrictions on Palestinian inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Further, Israel's aggression in Gaza was a 'fatal illustration' of its disregard for human rights, he said, and a regrettable absence of accountability had allowed that country to revel in a 'culture of impunity'. The Palestinian leadership would adhere to the two-State solution for the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital in the Palestinian Territory under Israeli occupation since 1967. He firmly believed that the question of Palestine was a just and noble cause.
On a similar note, Egypt's delegate, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that in the year since the Assembly had last taken up the question of Palestine, Israel had not ceased its unlawful practices. It had used excessive and indiscriminate force against Palestinian civilians and had not refrained from measures that prejudiced the outcome of negotiations on the final status issues.
The situation in Gaza was unacceptable, he said. The Movement demanded that Israel immediately lift its blockade and allow the sustained opening of all border crossings to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. It also called on the Security Council to act hand-in-hand with the General Assembly to fulfil its permanent responsibility regarding the question of Palestine.
Pointing a way forward, Sweden's delegate, speaking on behalf of the European Union, underscored that both parties must take concrete measures to resume peace negotiations, respecting previous agreements and understandings. Israel must end immediately its settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including so-called natural growth, and dismantle the outposts erected since March 2001. If there was to be genuine peace, a way must also be found to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two States. 'If we fail, the responsibility will be for all of us to bear and the consequences will also be felt widely.'
To kick-start the process of bringing about a two-State solution, serious negotiations must be held on all permanent status issues while actions on the ground changed dramatically, said Senegal's representative, speaking as Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Settlements must stop, extremists must be held accountable and the rule of law must prevail. Recommendations in the Goldstone report also should be implemented.
With that, he introduced four draft resolutions on the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (A/64/L.20), Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat (A/64/L.21), Special information programme on the question of Palestine of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat (A/64/L.22) and Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine (A/64/L.23).
Also speaking was the representative of Malta, as Rapporteur of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, who introduced the report on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (A/64/35).
The representatives of Syria (on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference), Lebanon, Algeria, Viet Nam, Libya, Indonesia, Cuba, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Saudi Arabia also spoke.
