MAGED ABDELFATTAH ABDELAZIZ (EGYPT):  Thank you Mr. President.  Mr. President, the General Assembly convenes once again to discuss the question of Palestine, an international question at which the international community has failed to settle for more than a half century. 
Our discussions today acquire a special importance.  They coincide with the time while we are observing the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the organization and at a time when we all strive to implement its final document.
In order to establish a more effective organization that is capable of upholding the principles on which it was based, which also represents the basis for the creation of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world, particularly upholding the principles of justice and equality and the rights of people suffering under colonial control and foreign occupation so that they can enjoy the right to self-determination.
Proceeding from this, the spirit of the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations should extend to include resolutions that are adopted annually by the General Assembly on the question of Palestine, calling upon Israel to withdraw from all Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 and the restoration of the full rights of the Palestinian people, foremost of which the right to return of the Palestinian refugees and the right to self-determination and the rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on their own land with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the right to put an end to all transgression on human rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to life.
Mr. President, the spirit of our tireless work should also extend to include the implementation of the final document of the 60th Anniversary to include Palestine.  We should apply the principles and values that we have all reaffirmed regarding this question.  We should strive to enhance the values of justice and equality, and we should deepen the understanding of the concept of Israel's responsibility as an occupying power until the Palestinian state is established.
We should also intensify our efforts for the establishment of a Palestinian state that lives side-by-side with Israel in peace and security.
Similarly, our search for the deepening of respect to human rights and for moving away from selectivity, politicization and double standards require us to put an end to all aggression against the Palestinian people.  We should deal with the rights -- with the human rights of the Palestinian and the Israeli individual on an equal and just basis.  We should put an end to the inhumane practices against the Palestinians due to the policies of siege, closure, continued settler activities, confiscation of land, demolition of agriculture and the construction of the separation wall within Palestinian territories in a clear violation of the legal and moral value of the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice.
Furthermore, our work to enhance the system of collective security requires us to enhance the security of the Palestinian people within the borders of its occupied territories.  We should put an end to the policy of assassinating activists, and we should provide the Palestinian authority with a full opportunity to practice its [inaudible] in control of the security situation on Palestinian lands without interference.
And in upholding its authority, in order to realize the security aspired to by the Palestinian people and its territories, proceeding from the same basis, the United Nations should maximize its use of the peace-building committee when it is established so that it can take the Palestinian people economically and socially to a new level that would enable that people to realize its wishes and aspirations to a better life, and to move it away from a stage of occupation to a stage of freedom and stability within the framework of effective international support and based on the democratic practices that will be crowned with the elections to be conducted in 2006 in total freedom and without interference.
Similarly, our work in the field of institution reform should be based on the promotion and activation of the work of all committees bodies and secretariats in charge of guaranteeing the full exercise by the Palestinian people of its rights.  This should not be replaced by attempts to limit the activities of the United [inaudible] in this important field for one reason or another.
We would therefore call upon all member states to endorse all draft resolutions submitted under this item.  Proceeding from our strong belief in the pivotal role of the United Nations together with other international bodies, Egypt strongly supports the special role played by the international Quartet to guarantee the success of efforts aimed at the application of the road map on the path to the negotiations on the final status, and we call upon the United States to make every effort in this regard until our objectives are realized.
We would also like to reiterate that we will make every possible effort in any field where they are required until the independent Palestinian state is established.  In this context and at the time when we welcome the Israeli withdraw from the Gaza Strip and some Palestinian cities in the West Bank, and the opening of the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, we call upon the Israeli government to proceed further by withdrawing from all occupied Palestinian territories and to implement all its obligations under the road map so that we can achieve our common objective, and that is the establishment of two independent states, Palestine and Israel living side by side in peace and security.
Within the framework of upholding a number of principles and values, most important of which that the Israeli withdrawal should be a part of implementing the road map and should be followed by other steps, such as the withdrawal from the remaining Palestinian territories in the West Bank and from Holy Jerusalem and to achieve an agreement on the final settlement.  
This withdraw should also include all crossings, seaports and airports, and should guarantee the full rights of the Palestinian people, including the non-recurrence of Israeli policies of incursion and assassination or in besieging the Gaza Strip and targeting its population for any reason whatsoever.
Mr. President, the international consensus on the promotion of the international -- the multilateral regime should contribute in the realization of the vision of the two states in an equitable and just manner in accordance with the stipulations of the road map, and without selectivity or bias, and through the creation of a genuine partnership among the major parties at the international scene, foremost of which the Quartet, in order to achieve a just and comprehensive settlement of the question of Palestine.  
Only then can we recognize that the United Nations has achieved its objectives in terms of respect for values and principles and in terms of guaranteeing security and respect for human rights.  And when all international efforts to assist people to build a better future will also be realized and we hope that will be as soon as possible.  Thank you sir.