Sixty-sixth GA annual general debate continues/Palestine question – GA press release (excerpts)

Plenary

15^th, 16^th & 18^th Meetings (AM, PM & Night)

IN YEAR OF CLARION CALLS FOR REFORM IN MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA,

WORLD LEADERS IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY URGED 'NOT TO LOSE OUR NERVE' IN SUPPORTING NEW FREEDOMS

Speakers Ask Organization to Heed Opportunity Presented by Momentous Social,

Political Convulsions to ‘Speak Out and Act’, Stand Up against Persecuting Regimes

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Background

The General Assembly met today to continue the general debate of its sixty-sixth session.

Statements

DEMETRIS CHRISTOFIAS, President of Cyprus, …

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Turning to the dispute in the Middle East, he said it was vital to resume the peace process on the basis of principles outlined in United Nations resolutions.  Israelis and Palestinians alike deserved a peaceful, stable future within the framework of two independent States.  He supported a free and independent Palestinian State alongside Israel within the 1967 borders.  In other areas, he supported international efforts to end terrorism and the implementation of such measures in the context of convention on international terrorism.  The ongoing global financial crisis recalled the need for a new economic model, with an emphasis on the fair distribution of social goods, such as education.  Priority must also be given to unemployment, crime and marginalization, all of which caused social tensions.

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HAMAD BIN ISSA AL KHALIFA, King of Bahrain, …

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Today, he continued, the international community was offered a “propitious opportunity” to do justice to the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate aspirations by recognizing their independent Palestinian State on their own national territory, with East Jerusalem as the capital.  That move would put an end to the era of bitter Arab-Israeli conflict, subjected to a complete Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories to the lines of June 1967 in Palestine, the occupied Syrian Golan and the occupied territories in southern Lebanon.

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ROZA OTUNBAEVA, President of Kyrgyzstan, …

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…  Concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict, Kyrgyzstan had joined the appeal made by the Secretary-General to Israel and Palestine to return to the negotiating table.  The two must become good neighbours, with both enjoying peace and security.  …

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SHEIKH NASSER AL-MOHAMMAD AL-AHMAD AL-SABAH, Prime Minister of Kuwait, …

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Noting the fiftieth anniversary this year of Kuwait’s independence, he said that also marked the twentieth anniversary of its liberation from Iraqi occupation.  That was one of the most outstanding successes of the United Nations in its endeavours to deter aggression and remove its effects.  However, after six decades, the United Nations was still unable to find a solution to the Palestinian question and putting an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories.  The international community was required to continue its efforts to pressure Israel to enable Palestinian people to obtain their right to self-determination.  He renewed his country’s full commitment and support to the Palestinian Authority’s bid to obtain membership in the United Nations as an independent and full Member State.

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DAVID CAMERON, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, addressing the Assembly for the first time, said last week he had been in Tripoli and Benghazi, where he had witnessed the hunger of a people eager to get on with writing a new chapter of freedom and democracy for their country.  “This has been the most dramatic episode of what has been called the Arab Spring,” he said, arguing that such events showed that the United Nations required a new way of working.  The Arab Spring was a massive opportunity to spread peace, prosperity, democracy and security, “but only if we really seize it”.  Events had presented a challenge to Europe to reform its aid strategy; to the African Union to meet opportunities of this century with the same courage that had won its liberation in the past; to Israelis and Palestinians to take bold steps to come to the table for peace; to Iran and Syria to give their peoples the freedoms they deserved; and to the United Nations.

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HERMAN VAN ROMPUY, President of the European Council, speaking on behalf of the European Union, …

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The Union’s position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was well known:  it included references to the 1967 borders with territorial swaps acceptable to both parties, he continued.  Moreover, the Union was financially supporting the State-building process by the Palestinian Authority.  “Now is the time for dialogue,” he stressed.  “There are political risks, but you need to take them,” he said of both parties, warning that “history is a severe judge for short-sightedness”; over time, it only rewarded political courage and statesmanship.  From the European experience, “a lasting compromise is grounded in mutual sacrifice and trust.”

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN, Prime Minister of Turkey, …

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The United Nations should be the personification of the ideal that peace prevailed over conflict and that human conscience, rather than simple self-interest, prevailed, he said.  The greatest impediment to the realization of that ideal remained the Arab-Israeli conflict.  The fact that it remained unsettled, for the sake of political balance, was the greatest blow to the ideals of the Organization.  Israel had violated 89 legally-binding Security Council resolutions, as well as numerous General Assembly texts.  Noting that the United Nations had not taken steps to end the humanitarian crisis affecting the Palestinian people, he pointed out that it had imposed sanctions in other conflicts around the world — why not in the case of Palestine?  The international community must act urgently to heal the “bleeding wound” that was the ongoing Middle East conflict.

In that vein, no sanctions had been placed on Israel, which used phosphate bombs and had atomic bombs, whereas the possible emergence of a “whiff” of such activity elsewhere in the region would be prevented.  In fact, the fault for the conflict lay with the Israeli Government, which continued to build new barriers to peace and to use disproportionate force.  The ongoing blockade of Gaza persisted, despite the calls of the international community and the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — which forbade the isolation of a people, such as in Gaza.  Real security for Israel could only be achieved through a lasting peace; nothing else would substitute.  Today, the “newly flourishing political geography” in the Middle East meant that Israel would not be able to carry on in a state of conflict.  Turkey deemed it necessary for the United Nations to put pressure on Israel to achieve peace and show it that it was not above the law.

Recognizing the just demands of the Palestinian people to a State, and allowing them to take their place at the United Nations, was foremost among the path towards peace, he continued.  Turkey’s support for the State of Palestine was unconditional; it would continue to work actively towards that goal, as well as towards the lifting of the illegal blockade imposed on Gaza.  When an attack by Israel had taken place in international waters, Turkey could not remain silent.  Its reaction to Israel had been a reflection of its position on Gaza; otherwise Turkey had never strayed from its principle of friendship and cooperation with any country, including Israel.  However, in the case of the flotilla incident, Israel must apologize, pay compensation to the families of those who had been killed and lift the Gaza blockade without delay.  Turkey’s position would not change until those demands were met.  “We do not have a problem with the people of Israel,” he stressed, but with the aggressive policies of the Israeli Government.

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BRONISŁAW KOMOROWSKI, President of Poland, …

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… Mediation was an irreplaceable way to a lasting and just peace, a notion that applied also to solving difficult problems in relations between Israel and its neighbours, and with the Palestinian Authority.  He urged the Secretary-General to actively use that means of building trust and peace between peoples, cultures and different social groups.  A spirit of solidarity should permeate the Organization.

MWAI KIBAKI, President of Kenya, …

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… On the issue of Palestine, he called for realization of the two-State solution, in which Palestine’s 1967 borders were upheld, while the peace and security of Israel was guaranteed.  He added his hope that Palestine be welcomed into the community of nations “with full membership in the United Nations”.

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OLLANTA HUMALA TASSO, President of Peru, …

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Warning that extreme interpretations of some values could lead the world to greater confrontations without advances in liberty or equality, he urged the international community to strengthen fraternity as the path to peace.  In that context, he added his voice in support of the Palestinians.  …

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ROBERT GABRIEL MUGABE, President of Zimbabwe, …

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… Zimbabwe also fully supported Palestine’s right to statehood and membership in the Organization.  “The UN must become credible by welcoming into its blossom all those whose right to attain sovereign independence and freedom from occupation and colonialism is legitimate. …

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ALI BONGO ONDIMBA, President of Gabon, …

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…  Turning to the Palestinian issue, which he said affected the entire global community, he expressed the desire to see a Palestinian State living side by side with Israel, soon.  He hoped that the mediation efforts of the Arab League would, with urgency, reach a peaceful and democratic settlement.

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JOSEPH KABILA KABANGE, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, …

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The Israeli-Palestinian question was another major concern for the Organization, which needed to find a legitimate solution, bearing in mind the interests and security of both parties for a fair and lasting settlement, he said.  …

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IDRISS DEBY ITNO, President of Chad, …

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Continuing, he said there was a need for international consensus regarding the inalienable rights of the Palestinians.  For his Government, that meant that a State of Palestine must live side by side with Israel, and he called for all peace-loving countries to commit themselves to that goal. 

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ZALMAI RASSOUL, Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, …

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…  Developments were also hugely influenced by events in the wider world, and Afghanistan was anxiously watching the situation in the Middle East, particularly developments in Libya, where he urged inclusivity and safeguarding of the unity of the Libyan nation.   Afghanistan also called for an immediate end to the suffering of the people of Palestine and stood firmly behind efforts aimed at their full membership in the United Nations.

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For information media • not an official record