Permanent

tfission

of

frIaIay.ria
to the United Nations

fs
tI

$ . A .tJ

ffi

cs

Message from The fronourable Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Prime Minister of Malaysia and Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement on the occasion of the rnternational Day of solidarity with the Palestinian people on 29 November 2oo5

on the occasion the International of lay of Solidaritywith the palestinianpeopleI have the honour to extend on behalf of Malaysia una ifr. Non-Aligned Movement, our warrnest greetingsto His ExcellencyMr. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the palestinian National Authority, as well as all our Palestinianbrothers and sistersand to expressour solidarity with them. we are commemorating this Daf oi souaarity with the palestinians, a day that continuesto witness their contin"uint;ni;ion and rrn ring under Israeli occupation. on this solemn occasion, Non-AlignedMovement reaffirms the its continued and unequivocal support for and long.qlnnding soiidarity *ith ttte Palestinianpeople and their leadershipfor their legitimate an-cl .ourug".ousstrugglein their long-standing quest for the full realization of theii inalienable rightJ, to becoriE -*t.., of tfr'eir own destiny and to live freely in their own sovereigttunl independentstate of palestine, wrthin secureand recognised bordersand with nast Jerusale- us its capitai. Yet, as we observe this International Day of SolidariV, we continue to witness violence,death and sufferinginflicte,C upon the Paie.tiniunpropt. by tsrael,the occupying power' we remain firm in our condemnation the harsh poticies of unJpructicesas well as ^against the disproportionate and excessive use of force bt i;;;;i trt. iur.stinian people, the destruction of Palestinian homes and property and restriction of the freed.om of movement of p-eople the occupied Palestinianreiritory. we in urge Israel to reversethe deteriorationor tfie humanitariansituationand socio-economic .oidition in the occupied PalestinianTerritory. we stressthat there must be great.. .o-*itment and sincerity in the move towards peace. The Movement continues to be concerned at the lack of real progress in the implementation of the Road Map more than two years sinceits adoption. we take note, however, of the recent agreementbrokered by Ih; t;it*J stutrr to pt*ide accessat the border between.Gaza and Egypt. we call for iis full ilplementation * quickly as possible. we urge the United Statesto sustainthe momentum of securing fuil ir;;om for the Gaza as p-art of the steps in finding permanent solution to the falestinian-Israeli ,a conflict. While we welcome Israel's withdriwal from Gaza,theMovement insists that the measure should be seen part of the Mup, not ouiside of it, and that it should be quickly -as followed by similar stepsin theB9_ud West gank.

;'it1S Iinst 4'S'a Street Nero lbr'/c. Nl' rctotT

T'el.: (otP) 986-69ro F'ttx: (ztz) 4qo-8576

Ii - m a i I : mulng un (qtt ln. g ortt.ntg k Wreb s ite : trtr{rlo. un. in t / malag sin

We would also like to urge the Palestinianleadershipto seizethe opportunity to build upon the advancesmade thus far and work to secure more progress in finding solutionsto the questionof Palestine. Clearly,there is an urgent needfor the internationalcommunity, in particular the Quartet, to work towards ensuringthe early and full implementation of the Road Mup, with earnestnessand sincerity. It is imperative that renewed efforts by the Quartet to salvage the Road Map be further strengthenedin order to ensure its early and full implementation. The Movement remains convincedthat the Quartet can and will fulfill its role and responsibilityin this regard. Concrete stepstowardspeaceare important in order give the Palestinian people hope for the future, lest they succumb to despair and to despondency, with all its negativeramifications. The continued construction by Israel of the Separation Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has only contributed to further exacerbatingthe peace process, undermining and destroying the very foundations of political dialogue between the two sides that had been painstakinglylaid down by the Quartet. In spite of the Advisory Opinion renderedby the International Court of Justicein July 2oo4,Israel continuesto construct the wall and expand its settlementsin the OccupiedPalestinianTerritories as well as the systematicseizure of large tracts of Palestinianlands and housing in East Jerusalem. Theseprovocative actionsare certainlynot conducive the peaceprocessand to have raised questionsabout Israel'sreal intentions. The Non-AlignedMovement urgesall Member States,in particular Israel, to take all measures necessary ensure compliance to with the Advisory Opinion and General AssemblyResolution ES-ro/r5. The international community cannot deny that any further deterioration of the situation in the OccupiedPalestinianTerritory would be detrimental to the causeof peace in the whole region. The international communlty must lend its support to mend the situation, imbued in mistrust and antipathy. The time to act is now. The Israeli government cannot continue to ignore the agreements,accords and understandings arrived at between the two sides and its internationally recognized mediators. Israel must abandon terror tactics in favour of constructive dialogue and engagementwith the Palestinians. Clearly,the international community must do more to manifest its support for a just resolutionof the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The international community has a collectiverole to play in finding a solution to the Palestinian question. We must all work together to facilitate the attainment of peace in the region. The Non Aligned Movement and Malaysia as its Chairman have launched several initiatives in its continuing efforts concerning the Question of Palestine. These include the holding of the annual Ministerial Meeting of the NAM Committee on Palestine in New York last Septemberand meetings between the NAM Ministerial Delegation on Palestine and other Members of the Quartet and Permanent Members of the Security Council. In addition and mindful of the need to promote a people-based global campaign involving civil societyin support of Palestine,Malaysian civil society organizations,under the sponsorship of Peace Malaysia, had successfullyorganized a World Civil Society "Peacein Conferenceon Palestine"in Putrajaya in March 2oo5, which was attended by representativesof civil society organisations from many parts of the world, including Israel. The Conferenceagreed,inter-alia, to establishan International Centre on Palestine

for Civil Societyin the South to be situatedin Malaysia,to serveas the focal point in the global civil societycampaignin support of Palestine.It is our hope that this international campaign will be able to mobilise international public opinion against the continued Israeli occtrpation and in support of the early realisationof a sovereign Stateof Palestine. . Finally, on behalf of the Non-Nigned Movement and in Malaysia'scapacityas its Chairman, I would like to reiterate on this very important day, our firm cbmmitment towards ensuringthat a just, comprehensive and lasting peacefulsettlementis achieve,C otthe questionof Palestine its entirety. Rest assured in that the Non-AlignedMovement will strongly -slPport all initiatives and efforts to address the Palestinian question; a question which has at all time been high on its agenda. The Non-AlignedMovement will continue to cooperatewith the international community towards this end. The United Nations, including the GeneralAssemblyand the SecurityCouncil,must be seized with the question of Palestineuntil it is resolvedin its entirety on the basis of the Charter and relevant resolutions of the United Nations, international law and international humanitarian law. We look forward to the day when the international community would join the Palestinians celebrating in their independence statehoodsoon. and

3