PAUL BADJI (SENEGAL):  Mr. President of the General Assembly, Excellencies, ladies and gentleman, ambassadors, ladies and gentlemen.  In order to express their unswerving support for the Palestinian people in its quest for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the question of Palestine, many representatives of member states, observer states, intergovernmental organizations, agencies within the UN system, and civil society organizations this morning responded to the invitation of the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and participated in the solemn meeting that was organized, as we do each year on the 29th of November, to observe the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.  
As Chairman of the committee, I should like to thank all of you for the key interest shown and the staunch support you have demonstrated, as well as for your active participation in the quest for a peaceful settlement to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Mr. President, before I introduce the four draft resolutions that were submitted by the committee under item 37 of the agenda of this 60th regular session of the General Assembly, I should like to make a few brief comments about the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and about developments in the political process.
This last year has been marked by promises and by hopes, as well as one development in the situation on the ground which has further complicated efforts to revive the political process for the implementation of the road map.  
The passing more than a year ago of the national leader, Yasser Arafat, has been a real challenge for the Palestinian people and for its institutions.  The transition has been democratic and peaceful, and following free, just elections, free and fair elections, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas was elected President of the Palestinian Authority.
With the assistance of the international community, and particularly with that of Egypt, the first summit meeting for a long time was held in February of 2004 in Sharm El-Sheikh between the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Ariel Sharon, and the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas. 
The commitments undertaken by the two parties, particularly with regard to the cessation of all acts of violence and the return to the control of the Palestinian Authority of five Palestinian towns on the West Bank and the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners, have created a new momentum conducive to the resumption of the political process.
Last September, the committee welcomed the withdrawal by Israel from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the Northern part of the West Bank.  The Committee deemed this withdrawal to be one of the most significant political developments of recent years in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and recognized the resolute efforts made by the Palestinian Authority to coordinate the withdrawal with the Israeli side in order to ensure smooth management of this new situation that was thus created.
This positive development was helpful for a resumption of security coordination between the parties and this gave rise to hope, which could be used and built on for better cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians.
Broad segments -- very broad segments of the international community deemed that the withdrawal from Gaza was a promising stage which could help re-launch negotiations within the framework of the road map and advance the political process, which has been deadlocked for so long.
Committee members believe that the withdraw from Gaza should be complete and irreversible, and that it should enable the Palestinian Authority to exercise control over the borders of Gaza, over its air and sea spaces, as well as over the transit points between this part of the territory and the rest of Palestinian.  
It was also essential, they thought, to obtain from Israel guarantees concerning the unimpeded circulation of persons and goods from Gaza and going towards Gaza.  The building and use of a maritime port, as well as an airport and the establishment of a permanent geographic link with the West Bank are absolutely crucial for Gaza's economy.
It is precisely for these reasons that we welcome the agreements that were concluded on the 15th of November between Israel and the Palestinian Authority relating to movements and access from and to Gaza.  It is now crucial that these agreements be scrupulously implemented and promptly implemented in order to give Palestinians and Israelis a feeling of hope and progress following the positive development that has been seen in recent months.
Furthermore, the committee remains profoundly concerned at the intensification and expansion of settlements in the West Bank including in East Jerusalem and a speeding up of the building of the illegal wall in the occupied Palestinian territory.  
Activities relating to settlements have been accompanied by disturbing information about plans to establish permanent links between several settlements in the West Bank, particularly in Jerusalem and in the environs of Jerusalem.  All of this runs counter to Israel's obligations pursuant to the road map, which calls for a freeze on settlement building.
Israel's policy, and the facts that it has created on the ground, are also a violation of international law and a violation of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.  Furthermore, the continuation of Israeli incursions in urban and rural centers, Palestinian centers throughout the year, extra-judicial executions, the demolition of houses, arrests and other actions, as well as the violence that this provokes, including four suicide bombings, jeopardize the hope for any speedy return to the political dialogue.  
These actions have also had a harmful effect on the positive momentum created by Israel's withdraw from Gaza and the agreements concluded in Sharm El-Sheikh by the Palestinian and Israeli sides at the beginning of the year.
At this critical juncture, on behalf of the committee, I should like to call upon the government of Israel to refrain from any action that might further destabilize the situation.  Israel must, in particular, give up its policy of developing settlements and must halt the construction of the wall on the West Bank.
It is to be hoped that Israel will facilitate the preparations for and the holding of the upcoming elections of the legislative Palestinian council set for January 2006.  The Palestinians of East Jerusalem must be able to fully participate in those elections.
Furthermore, Israel must take steps significantly to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians by lifting curfews and by reducing restrictions imposed on the circulation of people and goods.
The fact that the international community is prepared to help the parties in this complex process leading to a resumption of direct negotiations has been encouraging.
The committee welcomes the efforts made by the Quartet, each of its members, to help the parties to move towards implementation of the road map.  The appointment of Mr. James Wolfensohn as the special envoy of the quartet was crucial to facilitate economic and logistic measures that are crucial in order to improve the daily lives of the Palestinian population of Gaza.  In particular, we recognize the personal contribution made by Mr. Wolfensohn in this area.  
International donors have pledged substantial financial contributions in order to improve the economic and social situation in Gaza following the Israeli withdraw.  The European Union is prepared to provide a third party presence at the Rafah Terminal.  
Our committee firmly believes that the United Nations, for its part, should continue to exercise its permanent responsibility over the question of Palestine until this question is effectively resolved in all of its aspects
Finally, it is the implementation of UN resolutions, in particular resolutions 242, 338, 1397 and 1515 of the Security Council which will make it possible to arrive at a permanent solution assisting in the creation of two states and based on the 1967 borders and the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to independence and national sovereignty.
This month, the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People commemorated the 30th anniversary of its establishment by the General Assembly.  Members of the committee are aware that some member states are questioning its raison d'être and that some of them are criticizing its activities that they deem to be imbalanced and partial.
In this respect, allow me respectfully to remind those who make this kind of criticism that the committee is the only intergovernmental body within the United Nations that deals solely with the political aspects of the question of Palestine.  It was explicitly created by the General Assembly in order to promote the exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights in order to arrive at a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the question of Palestine.
Unfortunately, progress in this area has been very slow at best, notwithstanding some positive developments.  The situation on the ground remains very unstable.  The occupation of Palestinian land with all of its consequences is still going on.
Thanks to its interaction with other principle organs of the United Nations, in particular with the Security Council and the General Assembly, and thanks to its contacts with member states and intergovernmental organizations and with the assistance of the division for Palestinian rights of the UN secretariat, thanks to its program of international meetings and conferences, thanks to its publications and its updating on the UN information system on the question of Palestine, UNISPAL, which is a unique, rich, electronic source that contains thousands of UN documents about this question, and thanks to its cooperation with civil society, the committee believes that it is doing a better job of raising international public awareness about all aspects of the question of Palestine and in promoting the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
Furthermore, as a concrete and practical means of support, the working program of the committee has since 1996 included an annual training program for officials and professionals of the Palestinian Authority, 20 young Palestinians specialized in various fields have acquired in-depth knowledge about the UN system and about work done on the question of Palestine.  This very useful program that was organized by the Division for Palestinian rights, has been greatly commended by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority.  
Since it was established, the committee has advocated a peaceful solution to the question of Palestine in keeping with the principles of international law.
It welcomed the peace process in the Middle East that was launched in 1991 at the Madrid peace conference and subsequently actively encouraged implementation by the parties of the Oslo Accords.  It gave its full support to the road map that was initiated by the quartet in order to implement the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine living side-by-side within secure and recognized borders.
At the same time, and pursuant to its mandate, the committee continues to promote the full exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and to mobilize international assistance for the Palestinian people and for solidarity with these people.
Mr. President, it is within this context that I should like now to introduce now to the General Assembly the four draft resolutions that were approved by the committee, the texts of which were circulated under item 37 of the agenda.  I refer to drafts A/60/L.28, A/60/L.29, A/60/L.30 and A/60/L.31.
Before I introduce these texts, allow me first to inform you that the Democratic People's Republic of Laos has joined the list of cosponsors of resolution A/60/L.28 and that Namibia has cosponsored the four draft resolutions, L.28, L.29, L.30 and L.31.  
The first three drafts relate to the work of the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the division for Palestinian rights and the Department of Public Information.  They reaffirm the important mandates entrusted by the General Assembly to this subsidiary body and to its structures within the secretariat. 
As it did in the past, the committee intends to see to it that the resources made available to it be used effectively for all of the tasks entrusted to it.  The three draft resolutions were accordingly updated.  
The fourth draft, which is called Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine, reiterates the position of the General Assembly concerning the essential elements of this settlement and it refers to developments in the situation over last year.
In particular, this year's draft stresses the importance of the limitation of the Sharm El-Sheikh agreements concluded between Israel and Palestine in February of 2005 and the need to put an end to Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and in certain parts of the northern West Bank.
The four draft resolutions that I have just introduced describe positions, mandates and programs that are of particular importance, particularly at this critical stage.  Here I wish to make an appeal to the General Assembly to vote in favor of these resolutions and to support the important objectives contained in them.  Thank you sir.