UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN SUPPORT OF ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE European Parliament, Brussels 30 and 31 August 2007 _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Note by the Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People is grateful to the leadership of the European Parliament for providing a venue for the holding of the United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace on 30 and 31 August 2007. Conferences like this one have been organized annually under the auspices of our Committee in accordance with a specific mandate given by the United Nations General Assembly. It is regrettable that in the course of the past several weeks, some news organizations have published reports in which this event was labelled as “anti-Israeli”. Also, some parliamentarians, including members of the Knesset and some Israeli officials appear to have misunderstood the role and the mandate of our Committee. The Bureau would like to state most unequivocally that this Committee is not anti-Israeli, nor are its activities. It was established by the General Assembly in 1974 with a mandate to promote the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty, and the right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced and uprooted. These are universally recognized national rights that have been achieved and enjoyed by most peoples of the world living in their own States. In order to promote international support for and assistance to the Palestinian people, as well as heightened international awareness of the question of Palestine, the Committee convenes international meetings and conferences in various regions of the world, bringing together representatives of Governments, intergovernmental and civil society organizations, United Nations system entities, parliamentarians, academics, the media and others. It is important to emphasize that our Committee has a consistent record of support for the Middle East peace process. It welcomed the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference that launched the Middle East peace process based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and the principle of “land for peace”. We demand ending the Israeli occupation and strongly support the objective of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within pre-1967 borders. The Committee welcomed the Quartet’s Road Map and has called on the parties to implement it. The forthcoming Conference will provide a most timely opportunity to discuss the situation on the ground, with particular attention given to the role of elected representatives in advancing the cause of Middle East peace in concert with civil society. The Committee is very well aware of the direct involvement of Members of the European and many national Parliaments in efforts to support the Palestinian people, be it through monitoring elections or through fact-finding missions. We took note of the European Parliament resolution on the Middle East, adopted on 12 July, which we fully shared. We are also gravely concerned about the developments on the ground, in particular the dire and continually worsening situation in the Gaza Strip. Our Committee called upon all Palestinians to unite behind the elected President of the Palestinian Authority and to solve their differences peacefully. Our Committee repeatedly condemned indiscriminate attacks against civilians by either side. It also called for the release of all former Palestinian ministers, members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and mayors, as well as the Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit. We welcomed the renewed Arab Peace Initiative and the reinvigorated efforts by the Quartet to resume a meaningful political process. We are looking forward to an interesting conference engaging all layers of civil society, parliamentarians and diplomats for the benefit of a peaceful solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. -----   2 Word.Picture.8