ROBERT O'BRIEN (UNITED STATES):  Thank you Mr. President.  The United States remains firmly committed to achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.  We welcome the successful withdrawal of Israeli settlers from the Northern West Bank and Gaza earlier this year.  US efforts continue to focus on sustaining momentum on economic and security issues after disengagement in order to make progress along the road map toward President Bush's vision of a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The November 15 agreement on movement and access between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is an important step forward.  For the first time since 1967, Palestinians will control access between -- at the Rafah Crossing, which opened on November 25. 
We will continue to work via the quartet, special envoy and US security coordinator missions on economic and security agenda and maintain the momentum for disengagement.  
The quartet's recent decision to extend the special envoy mission through March 2006 and the President's recent nomination of Major General Keith Dayton to serve as our new Security Coordinator in the region, highlight our continued commitment in this regard.
All parties have obligations they must fulfill in order to achieve the objective of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security.
While the United States shares concerns about the hardship facing the Palestinian people, the resolutions of the General Assembly that the General Assembly will consider today and tomorrow neither reflect the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict nor the need for both parties to take steps to advance the goal of peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
The General Assembly is being asked to view events in the region through the distorted lens of one-sided perceptions.
Endorsing resolutions that condemn Israeli actions but that fail to address Palestinian actions or inactions have real consequences.  One-sided resolutions, such as these we have before us today undermine the ability of the United Nations to play a constructive role in furthering peace.  Specifically, in the view of the United States, the 1975 mandate establishing the Committee on the Exercise of Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the 1977 mandate establishing the division of Palestinian rights within the secretariat perpetuate a skewed and biased approach to the Middle East conflict.
These bodies reflect a cold war era gone by and have long since outlived whatever usefulness they may have once had.  Member states should eliminate these bodies and seek ways to invigorate the United Nations as an even-handed partner in seeking peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians committed to the road map and the realization of a two state vision.
During this 60th General Assembly, as the United Nations considers historic steps to reform itself and its institutions to better face the challenges of a new century, it must examine old mandates such as these with a critical eye and confront the reality that the time for these bodies is past.
The United States would welcome a draft resolution that reflected a balanced and pragmatic approach consistent with the quartet.  Unfortunately, it appears that we will be considering text that put the General Assembly in the position of attempting to prejudge and prejudice the settlement of final status issues.
To achieve a just and lasting peace, these issues must be decided through negotiations between the parties themselves, consistent with their past agreements, and with relevant Security Council resolutions.  Therefore, we will not support these unbalanced resolutions that do nothing to further the cause of peace between Israel and the Palestinians and we urge other member states to withhold their support as well.  Thank you Mr. President.