Mideast situation – GA general debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly

Fifty-ninth session

15th plenary meeting

Wednesday, 29 September 2004, 10 a.m.

New York

    The meeting was called to order at 10.05 a.m.

 …

Agenda item 9 ( continued)

General debate

  The Acting President (spoke in French ): I now call on His Excellency Mr. Cyril Svoboda, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

 Mr. Svoboda (Czech Republic): …

…

 As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we believe that the role of the international community lies in providing a trusted frame of reference. It is crucial that both parties to the conflict make a sincere effort to implement their obligations in order to achieve the vision of two States living side by side in peace and security and in a peaceful and secure neighbourhood.

…

  The Acting President (spoke in French ): I now call on His Excellency The Honourable Samuel R. Insanally, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guyana and former President of the General Assembly.

  Mr. Insanally (Guyana): …

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  For Guyana, as for the rest of the international community, the situation in Iraq continues to be a source of preoccupation. We would wish to see peace and stability quickly restored to that country and its people. Similarly, we urge an end to the suicidal conflict between Israel and Palestine and a return to negotiations leading to the creation of an independent Palestine and peaceful co-existence between the two States.

…

 The President (spoke in French ): I now call on His Excellency Mr. Momodu Koroma, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

 Mr. Koroma (Sierra Leone): …

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  In speaking of old challenges and threats, the question of Palestine comes to mind. It has been on our agenda for far too long. We know that that is a complex issue. However, the longer it remains unresolved, the greater the risk of unending cycles of violence. Sierra Leone firmly believes that an equitable solution, in particular the establishment of an independent Palestinian State side by side with Israel within secure borders, would be a giant step towards peace and security, not only in the Middle East but also in the rest of our troubled and unsafe world.

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 The President (spoke in French ): I now give the floor to His Excellency Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, Secretary for Relations with States of the Observer State of the Holy See.

 Archbishop Lajolo (Holy See): …

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  Regional armed conflicts are so numerous that there is no time to list them all. However, there are some that I cannot omit to mention. Above all there is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That conflict is not simply contained within the narrow territorial boundaries of the region itself. Those directly involved are the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority, and they have the grave duty to demonstrate their desire for peace. With this end in view, a road map has been drawn up and formally accepted by both parties; may they proceed along it with determination and courage.

  But that conflict is also followed with intense interest and often with passion by large sections of humanity. The Catholic Church, present in Palestine for 2,000 years, invites all concerned to turn their backs on any action likely to destroy confidence and to utter generous words of peace and make bold gestures of peace. And if peace is the fruit of justice, let it not be forgotten — as Pope John Paul II has reminded us — that there can be no justice without forgiveness; indeed, without mutual forgiveness.

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 The meeting rose at 12.50 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.