ILEANA NUGEZ MORDOCHE (CUBA):  Thank you Mr. President.  The topics that we're analyzing today at this joint debate are of particular significance in this month of November, both because of the facts that have occurred recently in the Middle East, but also
 because of the historic dates that we are commemorating today.
Only a few days ago on 11 November, we commemorated the first anniversary of the passing of Yasser Arafat, the historic leader of the Palestinian people died before seeing his and his peoples' dream come true; the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital remains a distant dream.
Furthermore, today we're celebrating the international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, a date on which all governments of good will offer support to these heroic people for its effort to achieve independence and self-determination.
On the other hand, instability still prevails in the Middle East, an area characterized by the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the continued foreign occupation of Iraq and threats against Syria taking advantage of opportunistic conjurations in the bosom of the Security Council.
Mr. President, in the past, we had an opportunity to apprise ourselves of the situation actually prevailing in the occupied Arab territories thanks to the dedicated and valuable work of the various bodies created by this organization to investigate the activities that have been committed against the Palestinian people.
The figures speak for themselves.  Between January 1 and August 19, in only 7.5 months, 146 Palestinians died in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  Since the beginning of the second Intifada, 3,662 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.  The destructive fury of Israeli bulldozers have evicted more than 16,000 Palestinians from their homes over the past year. 
It is obvious that a whole people is being massacred in a flagrant, massive and systematic manner.  Mr. President, despite its pullout from the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to occupy and control in an illegal manner great expanses of Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territory while turning a deaf ear to a large number of resolutions adopted by this assembly and the Security Council that demand the return of these territories.
In this context, Cuba wishes to reiterate the need for full compliance with all the resolutions adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly on the situation in the Middle East with no exceptions and no discrimination, and in particular the Council's resolutions 242, 338 and 425.
This is also a timely moment to recall that the Council has experienced continued obstruction on this issue by the United States.  In particular during the last five years of a Republican administration, 29 vetoes and many more threats of a veto has been the outcome of the Security Council's work whenever an attempt was made to adopt a draft resolution that would contribute to put an end to the massacring of an entire people.
This customary application of double standards and the aforementioned exercise or threat of a veto has simply created stagnation within the Council as regards this issue.
Mr. President, as we have said before, the recent unilateral Israeli troop withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of the settlements in this area should not confuse us.  We should not think that this is the beginning of the end of Israel's genocidal policy in the area or a way towards a definitive solution to the Palestinian issue.  
Israel continues to control the air space, the land borders and the sea.  Israel continues to be the occupying power exercising control over this area.  At the same time, Israel continues to build the illegal separation wall by which it is seizing Arab land from the future Palestinian state while preventing free circulation.  This wall has left more than 20,000 Palestinians without a means of making a living and has deprived them of their personal assets.  
It has taken away thousands of hectares of land and deprived the West Bank of countless water wells, which is tantamount to the de facto seizure of about 60% of the territory, including the east of Jerusalem.  Entire Palestinian localities have been deprived of vital primary services, such as education, health and employment.
Resolution A Res. ES10/2.15 of the General Assembly, which says The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around East Jerusalem and its associated regime are contrary to international law.  This ruling has been ignored.  
Mr. President, the United Nations should continue to work to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region.  The international community and this organization owe the Palestinian people their own state, and have done so for a long time.  
And any amount of time and effort dedicated to achieving this will be little if we compare it to what this heroic people have suffered.  In this endeavor, as necessary as it is urgent, Cuba offers its usual constructive contribution and its support in solidarity to the UN and to the international community.
Our own country that has been blockaded for over 45 years by the United States is convinced that there will be no wall, fence or enclosure, any type of repression, however violent or inhumane it may be, that is capable of breaking the will or eliminating the longing for sovereignty and independence of the Palestinian people.  That is the reason why, thanks to the experience accumulated over more than 45 years of resistance, that Cuba supports a peaceful and negotiated solution to the Palestinian initiative.
Cuba also wishes to reiterate its strong support to the Palestinian peoples' inalienable right to establish an independent and sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital, while at the same time, it demands the unconditional return of all occupied Arab territories and reaffirms the illegal character of all Israeli settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan.
Finally, Mr. President, Cuba calls upon all delegations to vote in favor of the draft resolutions presented under these two items and thus to express their resolute support to the cause of the Palestinian people.  Thank you.