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to the United Nations Pteasecnedcaglinst dehuery Statement by H.E. Mrs. Hayati Ismail Amb assador/Repres entative of M alays i a on Agenda Item 15: euestion of palestine at the Plenary of the 6oth session of the General Assemblv New York, T[esday, z9 November 2oos Mr. President, At the outset,my delegation would like to associate itself with the statement made earlierby H.E. Paul Badji, PermanentRepresentative Senegal the United Nations in his capa.ity u, of Yr.. !o Chairmanof the Committeeon the Exercise the InalienableRights of the palestiniunfuopt.. of We thank the Committeefor its report as containedin document"A/6olg5. We also thank the 'contained Se.c1etary-General his report submitted under agendaitem 15 as for in document A/6o1ffi,g. We continue to.greatly-appreciate thJ inaispensable work carried out by th; Committee,the Secretariat's Division for PalestinianRightsind other organs within the United N-ations systemconcerningthe questionthat is beforeus-. We highly comirend the commitment, efforts and contribution of the-Secretary-General his Office tniq regard..we hope-lnuttn.y and F will persevere with their mandatesand tasks until peaceis achievedin tie region unh-. State of Palestine created is with EastJerusalem its capital. as 2. We are commemoratingtoday the International Day of Solidarity with the palestinian People. The Prime Minister of- Malaysia in hif capacity as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement(NAM) has transmitteda message that occasion, for which outlinesthe concerns and. as.pjrations NAM on the questionof Palestine.This statementshould be read in coniunction of with that message. Mr. President, 3. The reports of the Committeeand the Secretary-General continueto contain very disturbing accounts,revelationsand stark realities about the situation on the ground. There hive certainl| been too many de-aths, too Tany injuries, too much destructionand indescribablesuffering, especially among the Palestinians, a result of repressive as policies,practicesand measures b"y Israel. All these are contraryto Israel'sobligationunder internationailaw, internationalhuman rights law and international humanitarianlaw. The international community rnurt prevail upon Israel to resp_etit: legal obligationsjust as other Statesare expected do. We have a duty hur. to at the United Natiols to. stop all the continuing atrocities anh abhorrent policies and prictices committedby Israel againstthe Palestinian population. We should not considerthe casualties and destructionon both sides on the basis of numbersor percentages alone. The life of each human .bging--man, woman or child-- is sacred. and.precio_us thal it must be protecied. a"y and act of violenceinflicted upon innocent civilians in this conflict, be they Palestiniu* ot Israelis,ii unacceptable deserves and equalcondemnation all of us. by
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4. The period under reviewhas seenseveralmeasures and effortsby both the Palestinians and the Israelis towardp-eace within the frameworkof the Road Map. i{o*errer, the path towards peace remains a difficult and complicatedprocess. This could be surmounted by stronger political will all -aTo-ng parties concerned. In this connection,my delegation.o*id..s Ih. resumption of dialogueat the highest level betweenPalestinianand Israeli leadersas well as renewed efforts by- Members of the Quartet as a very encouragingdevelopment. We also commendEgyptand Jordan for their role in facilitatingthe peace process.We are confidentthat all partiesconcerned persevere their important efforts. We ilso consider withdrawalby will in the Israel from the GazaStrip and parts of the northernWestBank last September a positivemove. as However,w strongly opposethe expansion and plannedexpansion Israeli settftmentsin the of West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Theseare contraryto Israel'sobligationsunder the Road three days ago of the Rafah ciossings--a cruciallink Yup. We welcomethe historic reopening betweenthe GazaStrip and the outsideworld. This positivedevelopment haJprovided the r.3 million mostly impoverished Palestiniansin that area with noi only u.i.5 to varioui humanitarian needs in neighbouringErypt and offering them the opportunities for greater economicactivitiesand employment, mogtimportantlythe eventma.kbdthe regainingly the but Palestinianpeopleof an important part of their freedomand control of its own b6rd.ers-in that areaafter38 yearsof Israelioccupation. 5. .The ongoing constructionby Israel of the SeparationWall in the Occupiedpalestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, seriously endangersthe prospect for comprehensive peacein the region. The impact of the Wall on all aspectJ Palestinian of lives in the areasconcerned, documented severalreportsby the United Nations, is overwhelming. as in The Wall threatensthe territorial integrity of a future Staie of Palestine, envisaged Securiiy as in CouncilresolutionLggT(zooz) and upheldin the RoadMap. The Wall is one of tlie most visiblb signs of ,the transformationof the Territory into a vast open-air prison, somethingwhich is unprecedented our modern history. The Wall is a visible ind clear act of"territorial in by gn19x-ation Israel under the guiseof self-defense security. And as we are all aware,the and Wall has been declaredcontrary to international law by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the princip-al judicial organ o{the United Nations, in its Advisory Opinion renderedon 9 July 2oo4. The GeneralAssembly has consequently adoptedby overwhelmingmajority ResolutionES-rolry outlining severalimportant follo*-up and conirete measures,"intei alia, dem.anding Israel to stop the constructionof the Wall, dismantleand removethe completed sectionsof the Wall, and pay reparations all those affected the constructionof the Wall to by in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. We renew our call on Israel to take all necessary measures comply with the-ICJ Advisory Opinion and GeneralAssemblyresolutionES-ro/rj. to We find it -highlyregrettable that the SecurityCouncil has not been able to look into this specific question of the SeparationWall in accordance with its functions and powers under Article z4 of the United Nations Charter. Mr. President, remainshiSh on the agendaof both the Non-AlignedMovement 9. The que$ion of Palestine (NAM) and the Organizationof the Islamic Conference (OIC). Malaysiaas Chair of NefU and the Tenth OIC Summit has initiated severalhigh-levelinitiatives relating to the questionof Palestine this year. Someof theseinitiativesare asfollows: . First, Malaysiancivil societyorganisations under the sponsorship Peace of Malaysiahad successfullyconvened a World Civil Society Conferenceon Peace in Palestine in Putrajaya, Malaysia from z8 to go March 2oo5. The Conference, which was held pursuant to a decision by NAM and attended by representativesof civil society organisationsfrom many parts of the world, including lsrael, agreed, inter-alia, t; establishan InternationalCentreon Palestine Civil Societyin thJSouth to be located for in Malaysia. The International Centre would serve as a focal point in the global civil society campaign in support of Palestine. It is the Movement's hopJ that this
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internationalcampaignwill be able to mobiliseinternationalpublic opinion againstthe continuedIsraeli occupationand illegal constructionof the Wall and sittlements, and in supportof the early realisation an independent of and sovereign Stateof Palestine. Secondly,the Foreign Ministers of NAM who met in Doha in June and in New york in September, the ForeignMinistersof OIC who met in Sana'a June and in New york and in in September, had, inter alia, expressed their solidarityand supportfor the Palestinian pe9nl9as well as the needfor the Membersof the Quartetto fulfil their responsibilityto lully implement the Road Map for the viable creation of an independentand sovereign Stateof Palestine. . Thirdly, the ForeignMinistersof the NAM Committeeon Palestine who met in New york on 19 September had agreed a number of measures be taken by NAM in the context on to of the Movement'sstrong support for the Palestiniancauseaimed at moving the peace process forward. Finally, the NAM and OIC Ministerial Delegationson Palestine had met with their counterpartsfrom the Quartet and PermanentMembers of the Security Council at the margins of the High-LevelPlenaryMeetingand the Generfl Debateof the 6othSession of the GeneralAssembly. During those meetings, they conveyed the position of NAM and the OIC on the urgencyof pushingthe peaceprocessforward, beginning with salvaging the Road Mup, as well as the concerns of both organisationson the continuoui constructionof the Separation Wall and the Israeli settlements OccupiedPalestinian in territory.

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Mr. President, 7. It is incumbent upon Israel to demonstrateto the international community that it is genuinelycommittedto a peaceful solution rather than a military one. Israel must realizethat there can never be a military solutionto the conflict. Similarly,the Palestinian Authority, with from the international community, should continue with efforts to reform its relevant assistance institutions and improve its security apparatus. My delegationcommends the Palestinian Authority for what it has achieved this regard despitevarious constraints. We urge both sides in to continue to create, on the basis of and in compliancewith the Road Map, the necessary environmentthat would enablenegotiations take place. The objectiveof a permanenttwoto State solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peaceand securitywiihin secureand recognised bordersis achievable. The internationalcommunityhas a collective role to play in this regard. We must all work together to facilitate and redouble our efforts to attain a just, comprehensive lastingsettlement the Israeli-Palestinian and of conflict. B. The United Nations, including the General Assembly and the Security Council, has a permanentresponsibility towardsthe questionof Palestine until it is resolved all its aspects in on the basis of the Charter and the relevantresolutionsof the GeneralAssemblyand the Security Council. The question should also be resolvedin accordance with internationallaw. In that connection,my delegationreaffirms its support for the important efforts of the Quartet and other concernedparties in pursuing the difficult and complicatedpath towards peace. The General Assemblyis the last bastion of hope for the Palestinian people.The Assemblymust uphold the rule of law and the purposesand principles of the Charter. In that connection,Malaysiais pleased to join other delegationsin sponsoringthe four draft resolutions initiated by the Committee on the Exerciseof the InalienableRights of the PalestinianPeople,which have been presentedby the Chairman of the Committeefor consideration the Assembly under this by important agenda item. Thankyou, Mr. President.