Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination – GA Third Cttee debate – Summary record (excerpts)

Third Committee 

  

Summary record of the 39th meeting 

Held at Headquarters, New York, on Monday, 4 November 2013, at 3 p.m. 

  

 Chair:  Mr. von Haff (Vice-Chair)  …………………………………………………….. (Angola) 

  

  

  

Contents 

  

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Agenda item 68: Right of peoples to self-determination (continued) 

 

  


In the absence of Mr. Tafrov (Bulgaria), Chair,

Mr. von Haff (Angola), Vice-Chair, took the Chair.

 

  

  

The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m. 

/…

  

Agenda item 68: Right of peoples to self-determination (continued) (A/68/318 and A/68/339)  

  

1.  Mr. Kafou (Libya) said that, since the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, new forms of xenophobia and racism based on religion, language and culture had emerged, causing daily suffering worldwide. Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance must be eliminated through global action. The worst form of discrimination had been suffered by people of African descent, who had been enslaved and taken across the Atlantic to be sold, but it also continued to be endured by those living in occupied territories. His delegation called on all nations that had suffered colonization, occupation and slavery, most of which were in Africa, to demand material reparations from the occupiers and enslavers, as Libya had done. In turn, present-day occupying and colonizing powers should assume their responsibilities. The Israeli occupying forces in the Palestinian territories were depriving the Palestinian people of all their human rights, including the right to life, in flagrant violation of the international human rights instruments.

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3.  Ms. Gunnarsdóttir (Iceland) …

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4.  A long-standing advocate of the right to self-determination, Iceland supported the realization of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations. Iceland also supported all efforts undertaken under the auspices of the Secretary-General to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution with regard to Western Sahara. 

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6.  Ms. Salman (Malaysia), recalling that the principle of self-determination was clearly enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, said that her delegation wished to reiterate its unwavering support for the Palestinians’ inalienable right to self-determination, self-rule and sovereignty. The Secretary-General’s report highlighted the effects of Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Her Government had always believed in a two-State solution, based on the June 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Condemning Israel’s unlawful annexation and demographic manipulations in East Jerusalem, which had created fundamental threats to the Palestinian right to self-determination, she said that the only way forward was to ensure that Palestinians were afforded their basic rights as human beings, including their right to an independent State. 

7.  Mr. Diallo (Senegal) said that self-determination and the fight against racial discrimination were, respectively, the basis of the emancipation of all peoples and the only guarantee of mutual understanding and global peace. In reference to the former, he underlined the right of the Palestinian people to decide their own destiny for themselves, recalling the human rights violations perpetrated in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, such as the collective punishment of its people, the construction of a separating wall, the destruction of goods and infrastructure, impeded access to water and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. Recalling the 2012 General Assembly decision to confer observer status on Palestine, he called on the United Nations and its Member States to bring about the swift realization of Palestine’s right to self-determination. Senegal welcomed the renewed negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis under the auspices of the United States of America, and called on the international community to support the process. He encouraged the leaders of both parties to continue along the difficult road of diplomacy and dialogue, while urging against the dangerous pursuit of Israeli settlements. 

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23.  Mr. Lasso Mendoza (Ecuador) …

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24.  The Government of Ecuador reiterated its solidarity with the Palestinian people and urged the United Nations to support the swift realization of their right to self-determination. 

25.  Mr. Reyes Rodríguez (Cuba) …

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27.  The enjoyment of the right to self-determination was a requirement for the enjoyment of all human rights. He expressed his country’s support for the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and their right to live in peace and freedom an independent State. It was impossible to speak of human rights in cases of peoples under foreign domination and occupation. 

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29.  Mr. Elbahi (Sudan) …

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31.  In conclusion, he reaffirmed Sudan’s support for an independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital. 

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34.  Ms. Al Dosari (Qatar) …

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35.  Israeli military occupation and settlement construction were undermining the enjoyment of human rights by Palestinians. Her delegation called for an independent State, in line with the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to freedom and self-determination, as the only means of finding a solution to the Middle East conflict. The rights of the people living in Gaza, in particular, needed to be respected. 

36.  Mr. Rajeeve (India) …

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37.  India had led the historic struggle for decolonization and the movement to secure the right to self-determination so that those under alien subjugation, domination and exploitation could freely determine their own political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development. He warned against attempts to reinvent some of the basic principles of the Charter of the United Nations, such as self-determination, and to apply them selectively for narrow political ends. The right to self-determination must not be used as an instrument to promote subversion and erode the political cohesion or territorial integrity of Member States. Ethnic and religious segregation and chauvinism could not be legitimized on the ground that societies must be constituted on homogenous lines. As the first non-Arab country to recognize the State of Palestine, India had maintained unwavering support and solidarity for the goal of Palestinians’ right to self-determination. There must be an early negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue resulting in an independent State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. …

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41.  Mr. Eshraghi Jahromi (Islamic Republic of Iran) said that the Palestinian people had an inalienable, permanent and unqualified right to self-determination. However, their exercise of that right continued to be denied by the occupying Power, which moreover had denied them all their human rights by means of the killing of civilians, arbitrary detentions, collective punishments and other restrictions. Massive violations of human rights and international law by the occupying Power continued unabated in Palestinian occupied territories. The international community bore a historic responsibility, through the United Nations, to support the just struggle of the Palestinian people to establish a national homeland but the measures taken to date had been inadequate. The Palestine question, which lay at the core of the Middle East conflict, must be dealt with to save the credibility of the United Nations and end regional instability and tension. A durable peace could only be secured by terminating the brutal occupation of Palestinian lands and enabling all Palestinians to enjoy their inherent rights to self-determination. 

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44.  Mr. Kandeel (Egypt) said that the right to self-determination was a fundamental right enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and was essential for the promotion and protection of all human rights for all peoples. Despite all the efforts of the United Nations and its organs, the people of Palestine still did not enjoy their right to self-determination, which tarnished the credibility of the United Nations human rights agenda. The international community had a moral and legal responsibility to end foreign occupation in Palestine. In that regard, Egypt supported the Special Rapporteur’s proposal calling for the International Committee of the Red Cross to convene an international conference to draft a convention for occupations exceeding five years or for an international commission of inquiry to be set up to examine issues related to prolonged occupations. His delegation welcomed the resumption of the Middle East peace process and stressed the importance of concluding the negotiations quickly in order to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. 

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The meeting rose at 5.25 p.m. 

  

This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be sent as soon as possible, under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned, to the Chief of the Documents Control Unit (srcorrections@un.org), and incorporated in a copy of the record. 

Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org/). 

 


2019-03-11T21:18:45-04:00

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