Unofficial Transcription
ABDOU SALAM DIALLO, Senegal, Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People
November 29, 2012
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

ABDOU SALAM DIALLO, Senegal:  I declare open the 347th meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.  Ladies and gentlemen, this is a special meeting today to observe the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.  In accordance with the provisions of General Assembly resolution 32/40B of 2, December, 1977, it is my honor and pleasure to welcome His Excellency Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Vuk Jeremic, President of the General Assembly, Mr. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. -- Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri, President of the Security Council, permanent representative of India, Mr. Kohona, Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, and the permanent representative of Sri Lanka and Mr. Jeffrey Feltman, Undersecretary General for Political Affairs.  
I also wish to welcome representatives of member states, intergovernmental organizations and representatives of civil society organizations and all those who have accepted the committee's invitation to participate in this special meeting.
Our special thanks go to Mr. Roger Waters, singer/songwriter and founding member of Pink Floyd, who has kindly accepted our committee's invitation to participate in this meeting and to deliver a message on behalf of civil society organizations active on the question of Palestine.  
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me at this point to make a statement on behalf of the committee.  Your Excellency, President Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Vuk Jeremic, President of the General Assembly, Mr.  Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, President of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Palitha Kohona, Chair of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories, Mr.  Jeffrey Feltman, Undersecretary General for Political Affairs, ladies and gentlemen.  As we officially open this solemn meeting the new tragedy which has struck Gaza and its surrounding areas is still fresh in our minds.  On many occasions we have drawn the attention of the Security Council to the dangerous situation in the territories.  Yet the international community has not been able to find the means for a new impetus to restore peace in time.
Our committee has strongly condemned the violent attacks launched by the Israeli army against Gaza, which has already endured so much suffering.  Our committee has also denounced just as strongly the indiscriminate rocket fire originating from Gaza.  Never has peace been more essential for all the peoples of the region, yet never has it seemed so far out of reach.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are meeting here once again to mark the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, commemorated on the anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations partition plan in 1947.  The day invites us to review the decades which have passed, during which almost everything has been tried in vain to establish a definitive piece.
The promises to bring justice to all the peoples of the subregion, including the Palestinian people, have languished year after year to the greater stress of the 5 million refugees who still await in exile a solution to their tragic fate.
The year 1967 marked the beginning of the Israeli occupation, which will soon have lasted 50 years.  During the 1990s, the Oslo Accords brought hope by laying the foundation for a transition that was to be completed by 2000.  The roadmap of the quartet for its part predicted that the two-state solution would be in effect by 2005 at the latest.  Nothing of significance came out of these deadlines in which the Palestinians placed great hopes.
The peace initiatives evaporated one after another.  In the meantime, settlements, which at the beginning numbered a few dozen settlers, have grown to over half a million inhabitants, leaving less and less room for the future Palestinian state.  Palestinians feel cheated.  They are tired of promises not kept, dulled by soothing speeches, weary of awaiting their hour.  The Palestinians need their own state here and now.
Every year they are asked to be patient because international diplomacy has almost reached the decisive step that will change their lives.  They will not and cannot wait any longer.  Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the public institutions that the Palestinians have built with the help of the international community are disintegrating from lack of funding.  The sealing off of territories and withholding of tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority have had disastrous consequences for the functioning of those institutions.  We'd like to take this opportunity to urge donors to continue to provide assistance and to intensify this as a matter of urgency.  
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to turn to the question of the admission of Palestine to the United Nations as a nonmember observer state.  Although some member states could be dubious about the wisdom of the change in strategy by the Palestinians concerning the modification of their status at the UN, no one can doubt, no one can dispute the legitimacy of this step.
The right of Palestinians to self-determination, independence and national sovereignty in their own state is undeniable.  The General Assembly has confirmed this year after year by an overwhelming majority.  I would like to invite you to consider the new request by the Palestinians, while bearing in mind all that I have just recalled.
The United Nations has obligations regarding the question of Palestine, member states as well; some more than others for historic reasons.  I ask you, furthermore, to show your solidarity by voting in favor of the four draft resolutions that I will submit to the General Assembly this afternoon, under the agenda item Question of Palestine.
The committee will continue to fulfill the mission entrusted to it by the General Assembly as long as the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people are not being fully respected.  We will remain mobilized in favor of a definitive settlement to the conflict based on the two-state solution, which will be just and durable and will allow Israel and Palestine to live side-by-side in peace and security.  Thank you.