PERMANENT OBSERVER MISSION OF PALESTINE TO THE UNITED NATIONS
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Statement bv Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, Minister o' Foreisn Af' '*s, before the (Jnited Nations Genqral Assemblv, Aeenda item l5: O"'stion of Palestine, 29 November 2005, Nei yorh (Original: Arabic, Check Against Delivery)

Mr. President, A few weeks ago, the Committee on the Exercise of the InalienableRights of the Palestinian People commemoratedthe thirtieth anniversaryof its establishment the General Assembly of the by United Nations. This occasionencapsulates many of the aspects so regardingthe questionof Palestine it points to the permanent responsibilityof the United Nations towardsthe questionuntil it is resolvedin all its aspectsand it points as well to the commitment of the Members of the Commiftee to fulfill the mandateentrusted them. But it also points to the tragic reality that the Palestinian to people,despitethe passage all theseyearsand despitethe positionsof the UnitedNations and its different organs,are still of being denied their inalienable rights, particularly their right to self-determination ind national independence, as a result of Israel's rejection of the will of the internationalcommunity and of all internationallaw and its continuousattempts colonizethe Palestinian to land. It is difficult, if not impossible, imaginea similar casein which an entire peopleis either living to in exile for 57 yearsor living under occupationfor 38 yearsand subjectto an effectivecolonial settlement campaign, while the occupying Power continues to reject the implementationof any of the many resolutions of the United Nations and continuesto violate international law, including international humanitarianlaw and humanrights law. We wish to expressour deep appreciation the Chairmanof the Committee and its Members, to and we call upon the Member States the United Nationsto continuetheir supportin the face of Israel,s of intransigence and rejection in order to solve the questionof Palestine and achievea real peace,basedon two-Stateson the basisof the 1949Armistice Line or what is commonly referredto as thi 1967borders, with East Jerusalem the capitalof Palestine. as For this to actually happen, the central task before the international communify is the achievement a real cessation the colonizationof the Palestinian of of land, which is being carriedout via the construction and expansion the settlements the construction the Wall on the Falestinian of and of land. including in and aroundEastJerusalem. Israel continues to construct the settlementsdespite the provisions of international law and despiterelevantUnited Nations resolutions, including SecurityCouncil resolutions, and despitethe peace processand the provisionsof the Road Map. Israel is continuingto build.the Wall despitethe Advisory Opinion of the InternationalCourt of Justiceand the resolutionsof the 1Oftemergency ipecial session of the GeneralAssembly. It continuesto carry out its illegal measures and aroundEast Jirusalem,which in aim to Judaize and de facto annex the city despiteall of the above. Israel is thus working relentlessly to create conditions on the ground, which, if allowed to continue, threaten to close ih. window of opportunity to achievethe two-Statesolution. Israel alone will be responsiblefor the collapseof this

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solution, but we will all pay the price, beginningof coursewith our Palestinian people. It is incumbenton us all - upon the international community - to prevent this from happeningand to safeguardthe two-State solution, beginningwith stoppingthe settlements, Wall and the Israeli measures EastJerusalem. the in Mr. President, This past September Israel carriedout its disengagement plan in the Gaza Strip and in parts in the northern West Bank. We considerthis to be an important development,and we considerthe cessation and the reversal of the colonization of part of our Palestinianland through the dismantlementof the settlementsand the departureof the settlersas well as the departureof the Israeli occupying forces from within the Gaza Strip to constitutea positive developmentthat could open the door to other positive developments. The disengagement plan, however, remainedunilateral and Israel, while implementing this, causedvast destructionin the settlementareasand left many issuesunresolvedfor some period ol time, such as the crossingpoints,the airport,the seaport, rubble resultingfrom the destruction the and the connectionbetweenthe West Bank and GazaStrip. Despite all this, agreement was reachedon some of these issues, most important of which was on the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which we hope will be implementedproperly and will lead to an agreement all remainingissues. This on is a crucial maffer for the improvement of the living conditions of the population of the Gaza Strip - this small, poor place which is the most denselypopulatedin the world. We are also in urgentneed for more assistance for the expeditiousdelivery of this assistance and in order to enable us to confront the additionalburdensin the Gaza Strip as well as in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Here we wish to commend the efforts of the Quartet's Special Envoy, Mr. JamesWolfensohn,to securethis assistance and for his efforts to assistthe partiesto reach appropriate solutions. What is important now, in addition to the above, is to guaranteethat things will not stop at the Gaza Strip. It is important that there be a real opportunity to return to the Road Mup, beginning with the implementationof the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings, including the withdrawal from cities and areas towardspre-September 2000 positionsand the release the prisonersand detainees. of I come back to statethat, irrespectiveof whether or not we succeedin returning to the Road Mup, we must under all circumstances ensurethe real cessation settlement of activitiesand the construction of the Wall and the measuresin Jerusalem. This is required by internationallaw and is required for the preservation the prospects peace. For this, we are in needof specific and practicalpositionsby the of for and an agreementon measuresby Member States. We are in need of action from everyone, Quartet including the Secretariat the United Nations, which should, for example,implementthe resolutionof of the GeneralAssemblyregardingthe registerof damages caused the Wall. by Mr. President, The Palestinianpeople,the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinianleadership find themselves facing the responsibilitiesof fulfilling post-conflict tasks, while they are not only still under foreign occupation,but subjectto the continuingcolonizationof their land and direct oppression.This has never happenedand there is no precedentto draw lessonsfrom. In spite of this, we are exerting extraordinary efforts to succeed and we haveachieved reasonable resultsdue to the steadfastness our peopleand their of creativity and to international political support and foreign aid. We are exerting efforts to build State institutions, to achievethe rule of law and to strengthenthe social fabric of our people. We are also in the processof filling the big vacuum left behindby the passingof our leader,President Yasser Arafat,and we have managedto achievea smoothtransitionof power and to hold presidentialelections,which resulted in the electionof President MahmoudAbbas.

We are now in the process of holding of our second legislative elections, and we wish to emphasizeour opposition to any interferenceby Israel or by any other party in this election,which should be truly democraticand opento all Palestinians to all political groupsand shouldbe held in the entire and OccupiedPalestinianTerritory, including East Jerusalem.The participationof all partiesand groupswill contributeto the enhancement the democraticprocessand to the enhancement the rule of law and it of of should be combined with and followed by measuresand laws that will enhancethe political system, including in the areasof weaponsand other security issues. Israel should not createobstacles any of to these important political processes,particularly with regard to the freedom of movement and the participation of Jerusalemites.We have been able, through a responsible national dialogue,to reach an agreementon unilaterally "calming down" the situation,which is important,and we understand that we needto take this stepsforward and believethe electionswill have a positive impact in this regard. Mr. President, We, as part of the international community, reaffirrn our condemnation of terrorism in all its forms, including the latestterrorist attacksin the fraternalcapital of Amman (one of the victims of which was a colleagueof ours from the Foreign Ministry). We must enhanceour collectiveefforts to confront this phenomenon,and we must fortifu our will, basedon a clear and strong legal basis supportedby everyone. We must all agreethat any targetingof innocentcivilians, anywhere,anytime,and regardless of the reasons, constitutes condemnable a terrorist act and we must fight it. We must also all agreethat, in accordance with existing internationallaw, situationsof armed conflict, including foreign occupation, are governed by internationalhumanitarianlaw. We are convinced of these positions and will work seriously to achievegeneralcompliancewith them everywhere,including in our region. We also hope that this will contribute to the achievementof a consensus among us to concludethe Comprehensive Conventionto CombatInternationalTerrorism. Mr. President, We pray to God to save our region from additional confrontation and storms,and we are working hard to ensurethat the Palestinian elementis a positive one. In this context,we wish for the success and prosperity of fraternal Lebanon and we reaffirm that Palestiniansthere are not part of any internal issues and they are not above the law. We also hope that fraternal Syria will be able to solve the problems related to United Nations Security Council resolution 1636 in a way that helps the investigationand preservesSyrian dignity and sovereigntyon the basis of respectfor that resolution. Naturally, we look forward to Iraq returning to normalcy and to ending the violence and terrorism,while at the sametime preservingIraqi unity and sovereignty and its territorial integrity. Mr. President, There are many unusual developmentsoccurring in the region, including in our country and in Israel as well. We hope that these developmentswill enhancethe potential for a speedy return to negotiationsand the actual implementationof the Road Map towards the achievement peacein two of States, Israel and Palestine, betweenthem, in the region,and the world as a whole. I thank you, Mr. President.