Middle East situation – GA general debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly
Sixty-second session

8th plenary meeting
Thursday, 27 September 2007, 9 a.m. 
New York

The meeting was called to order at 9.10 a.m.

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The Acting President: On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. José Ramos-Horta, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Ramos-Horta (spoke in Portuguese; English text provided by the delegation): …

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I now turn to the situation in Palestine. As a small and newly independent nation and a friend of Israel, Timor-Leste cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of the Palestinian people, who have many times been victims — victims of Israel’s obstinate policies of occupation and discrimination, victims of manipulation by regional Powers and victims of their own sectarian division and violence. While Timor-Leste does not subscribe to the many one-sided anti-Israel resolutions adopted over the years in various United Nations bodies, the facts on the ground show a whole people living on the edge of desperation as a result of decades of humiliation, exclusion and violence. Timor-Leste joins the rest of the international community in calling for the implementation of the Road Map, leading to the formal establishment of a viable Palestinian State.

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The Acting President: On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Kikwete: …

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The crisis inside the Palestinian territories is unfortunate; it is a matter of great concern to many of us. Tanzania remains supportive of efforts aimed at creating two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side and at peace with each other. This presents, in our view, the best hope for sustainable peace in the region. We applaud and welcome the renewed international interest and efforts being expended in line with the relevant United Nations resolutions.

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The Acting President: On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Biya (spoke in French): …

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In many regions around the world, peace and security continue to be seriously threatened. For years now, the unrest in the Middle East has been a serious threat to international peace and security. The evolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict causes deep concern. It is paramount that Israel and the Palestinian Authority resume a constructive dialogue. That is the only way, in the opinion of my country, to move forward toward a settlement. Cameroon is convinced that only the efforts of all concerned parties, supported by the Great Powers and based on the principle of two States — Israel and Palestine — coexisting in peace and security, will make it possible to reach a definitive, fair and just settlement to this conflict.

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Agenda item 8 (continued)

General debate

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The Acting President: I now call on His Excellency Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait.

Mr. Sheikh Al-Sabah (Kuwait) (spoke in Arabic): …

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The Middle East crisis has been stagnant since the middle of the past century. The plight of the Palestinian people continues: their rights are violated, their lands are occupied and Security Council resolutions are frozen — despite intensive international and regional efforts to revive the Middle East peace process. The Israeli Government, instead of putting confidence-building measures in place, continues to create obstacles that serve to increase tensions and violence and that hinder the establishment of a climate conducive to moving the peace process ahead. Do continuing settlement activities help to achieve peace more quickly? Do the policies of detention, land confiscation, curfews, closures and restrictions of movement promote an environment of trust and stability? The answer is definitely no. Who could think that this conflict is subject to the principles of a zero-sum game? Anyone who thinks that Israel will achieve security for itself at the expense of the security of the Palestinian people is making a serious mistake. Security must be for everyone. There will be no security except through the implementation of resolutions of international legitimacy.

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The meeting rose at 12.40 p.m.

This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room C-154A. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum.