CEIRPP meeting – Summary record

COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS

OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 129th MEETING

Held at Headquarters, New York,

on Monday, 17 March 1986, at 3 p.m.

Chairman:  Mr. ORAMAS-OLIVA (Cuba)

CONTENTS

Adoption of the agenda

Report on the NGO preparatory meetings

European regional seminar, Istanbul, 7-11 April 1986

Report on the DPI journalists encounter

Other matters

     This record is subject to correction.

     Corrections  should  be  submitted  in  one  of  the  working  languages.  They  should be  set  forth  in  a  memorandum  and  also  incorporated in a copy of  the  record.  They should  be  sent  within  one  week  of  the  date  of  this  document to the Chief, Official Records  Editing  Section,  Department  of  Conference  Services,  room  DC2-0750,  2  United Nations Plaza.

     Any  corrections  to the  record  of  this  meeting  and  of other  meetings  will be issued in a corrigendum.

The meeting was called to order at 3.30 p.m.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

1.   The agenda was adopted.

REPORT ON THE NGO PREPARATORY MEETINGS

2.   Ms. KUNADI (India) said that she had represented the Committee at two meetings of NGO Co-ordinating Committees serving as Preparatory Committees for the North American NGO Symposium and the International NGO Meeting.  The meeting of the North American Interim Co-ordinating Committee had taken place at Headquarters on 24 and 25 February 1986.  At that meeting, the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People had outlined the Committee's programme of work and had pointed to areas of convergence between that programme and the Declaration of the Non-Governmental Organizations adopted at the 1985 NGO Symposium.  In discussing the proposed agenda for the North American Regional Symposium to be held at Headquarters from 11 to 13 June 1986, the Committee delegation had expressed the view that the format, roles of experts and aims of workshops were generally the same as at earlier symposia.  It had been agreed that additional non-governmental organizations desiring to participate should be sent questionnaires in order to determine the nature of each organization and its commitment to the question of Palestine.

3.   The draft agenda for the North American Regional NGO Symposium on the question of Palestine was contained in Working Paper No. 2.  That Working Paper should be viewed within the context of the Committee's decision to combine the North American Seminar and Symposium.  The Committee, therefore, might wish to make suggestions regarding the format and panelists for the Seminar when it took a decision on the proposed agenda.

4.   The International Co-ordinating Committee had met in Geneva on 6 and 7 March to carry out preparatory work for the International NGO Meeting.  Nineteen members had been present.  The two representatives of organizations from the occupied territories had been prevented from attending by the Israeli authorities.  The Committee delegation had discussed with the International Co-ordinating Committee the details of its proposed agenda and had sought to determine the scope of its proposed panel on United Nations resolutions.  The International Co-ordinating Committee had stated that it wished to clarify the objectives of United Nations resolutions aimed at bringing about a political solution to the question of Palestine, particularly those adopted since 1967, and had expressed the hope that the panel would be chaired by a member of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.  The draft agenda of the International NGO Meeting to be held at Geneva from 11 to 14 August 1986 was contained in Working Paper No. 3.  The names of persons nominated as experts would be submitted to the Committee in the near future after consultations were completed.

5.   At both preparatory meetings the non-governmental organizations had sought to draw up action-oriented programmes.  Their recognition of the importance of covening an International Peace Conference on the Middle East and their efforts to reach out to new constituencies had been very encouraging.

6.   Mr. MANSOUR (Observer, Palestine Liberation Organization) said that that was not the first time the Israeli Government had denied persons from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip permission to participate in meetings organized by the United Nations.  Earlier protests against such actions had been of no avail.  He proposed that the Committee should communicate its very strong protest to the Secretary-General so that he could use his good offices with the Israeli Government in order to persuade it to desist from disrupting United Nations conferences.

7.   The CHAIRMAN said that, if he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee agreed to the proposal of the observer for the PLO.

8.   It was so decided.

9.   The CHAIRMAN said that, if he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt Working Paper No. 2 containing the draft agenda of the North American Regional NGO Symposium on the Question of Palestine and to authorize the Secretariat to invite the experts referred to.

10.  It was so decided.

EUROPEAN REGIONAL SEMINAR, ISTANBUL, 7-11 APRIL 1986

11.  The CHAIRMAN drew the attention of the members of the Committee to Working Paper No. 1/Rev.2, which contained a list of the panelists for the Thirteenth United Nations Seminar on the Question of Palestine.  The representative of Turkey had communicated to the Committee the names of the four experts nominated by his country.

12.  Mr. IRTEMCELIK (Turkey) said that his Government had nominated two university professors and two parliamentarians as experts to participate in the work of Panels I and II.  He was pleased to announce that the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey would open the Seminar.

13.  The CHAIRMAN said that, if he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee approved the substitutions proposed in part 3 of Working Paper

No. 1/Rev.2.

14.  It was so decided.

15.  The CHAIRMAN said that it had been proposed that the Committee's delegation to the Thirteenth United Nations Seminar on the Question of Palestine should be composed of the representative of Cuba, the Rapporteur, the representative of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the representative of Turkey and the observer for the PLO.  If he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt that proposal.

16.  It was so decided.

REPORT ON THE DPI JOURNALISTS ENCOUNTER

17.  Mr. AGIUS (Malta), Rapporteur, said that he had attended the European Regional Journalists Encounter held at Vienna from 25 to 28 February 1986.  The Encounter had been very well organized and had been attended by more than 15 prominent European journalists.  The panelists had made statements over the course of the four-day Encounter and had replied to questions raised by the journalists, who were well informed on the question of Palestine.  The participation of a number of representatives of Jewish publications and news agencies had made for a very lively exchange of views.  He felt that the Encounter had been very successful and had demonstrated to the journalists the need to convene an International Peace Conference on the Middle East.

18.  Mr. SAID (Department of Public Information) said that the objective of the European Regional Journalists Encounter on the Question of Palestine held at Vienna had been to promote a better understanding of the question of Palestine by bringing together prominent European figures in the mass media and experts in the field for brief, in-depth and informal discussions of the various aspects of the Palestinian problem.  More than 15 high-level and experienced European journalists, representing all regions of the European continent and various branches of the mass media, had attended the Encounter.  The agenda had been the same as that of previous ones.

19.  The Encounter had proved to be very successful.  The presentations by

panelists had covered a wide range of the aspects of the Palestinian question and current events.  The journalists had participated actively in the discussions and had stressed the need for further activities in that regard.  There had been a broad consensus among the journalists on the necessity of convening an International Peace Conference on the Middle East under the auspices of the United Nations in order to achieve a just and lasting settlement.  A questionnaire distributed to the journalists in order to obtain their views on the Encounter had showed that there had been general agreement that the presentations by the panelists had been balanced, clear and well prepared.  Most of the journalists had expressed the view that they would have preferred to have heard an official Israeli representative also.  They had agreed that the agenda had covered all the topics which they had wanted to discuss.  There had also been general agreement that the information provided had clarified a number of questions and had encouraged the journalists to gain a greater knowledge of the Palestinian question.  Most of the journalists had agreed that the publications distributed were satisfactory and pertinent and had generally felt that as a result of the information received during the Encounter they would be filing more stories on the subject in the future with a better understanding of the overall situation.

20.  DPI had also organized national journalists encounters in Copenhagen, Budapest and Athens in order to enable journalists to meet with experts for a brief discussion of the various aspects of the Palestinian question.  The three encounters had proved successful and had been attended by observers from several embassies.

21.  The Department was also undertaking preparations for the news mission to the Middle East scheduled to take place from 27 April to 14 May.  It was hoped that the mission would be able to visit Tunisia, Egypt, the West Bank, Jordan and Syria and to meet with senior officials from those areas and representatives of the Palestinian people; so far positive replies had been received only from Egypt, Jordan and the PLO.

OTHER MATTERS

22.  The CHAIRMAN informed the Committee that the United Nations Office at Vienna would be unable to host the European Regional NGO Symposium on the dates initially proposed and had suggested the period from 30 June to 2 July as an alternative.

23.  If he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee agreed to those dates.

24.  It was so decided.

25.  The CHAIRMAN informed the Committee that a letter had been received from the Chairman of the Committee on Conferences, drawing attention to the need for scrupulous implementation of General Assembly resolutions concerning the limitation of documentation and suggesting ways of reducing documentation.  He suggested that the letter should be referred to the Working Group.

26.  It was so decided.

27.  The CHAIRMAN said that he had received a communication from the

Under-Secretary-General for Political and Security Council Affairs drawing the

Committee's attention to General Assembly resolutions 40/3 and 40/10.

28.  He suggested that the Committee should take note of the communication and

authorize him to respond in an appropriate manner.

29.  It was so decided.

30.  The CHAIRMAN pointed out that information had been received from the

Governments of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic regarding the observance in those countries of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.  On behalf of the Committee, he thanked them for their efforts to promote the cause of the Palestinian people.

The meeting rose at 4.20 p.m.