CHAIRMAN (H.E. MR. PAUL BADJI):  I declare open the 290th Meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.  
Today the Committee is holding a solemn meeting to observe the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in accordance with the provisions of General Assembly Resolution 32/40B of the 2nd of December 1977.  It is my honor and my great pleasure to welcome -- to warmly welcome His Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson, President of the General Assembly; His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations; His Excellency, Mr. Andrey Denisov, President of the Security Council.  I would also like to especially mention the fact that His Excellency, Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, is here and we warmly greet him.  I would also like to thank His Excellency Mr. Mohd Radzi Abdul Rahman, the Alternate Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations, here on behalf of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, and His Excellency Mr. Tuliameni Kalomoh, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs.  
I would also wish to welcome all representatives of the member states of the United Nations, representatives of intergovernmental organizations and civil society organizations, and all those who have accepted the Committee's invitation to participate in this solemn meeting.  Your presence here honors the Committee and, above all, is an expression of your commitment to the promotion, the protection and the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.  
Now I invite everyone present to rise and observe a minute of silence in memory of all those who have given their lives for the cause of the Palestinian people and the return of peace between Israel and Palestine.
[SILENCE]