CEIRPP meeting – Summary record

COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS

OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 187th MEETING

Held at Headquarters, New York,

on Wednesday, 29 April 1992, at 10.30 a.m.

Chairman:                       Mr. CISSE                      (Senegal)

CONTENTS

Adoption of the agenda

Report  on  the  Preparatory  Meeting  for  the  Sixth  United  Nations European Regional NGO Symposium and the Ninth United Nations International NGO Meeting on the Question of Palestine, held at Geneva on 30 and 31 March 1992            

United Nations North American Seminar on the Question of Palestine,           

22-23 June 1992, New York                                       

United Nations European Seminar on the Question of Palestine              

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, Office of Conference Services, room DC2-750, 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 10.45 a.m.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

1.   The agenda was adopted.

REPORT ON THE PREPARATORY MEETING FOR THE SIXTH UNITED NATIONS EUROPEAN

REGIONAL NGO SYMPOSIUM AND THE NINTH UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL NGO MEETING

ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE, HELD AT GENEVA ON 30 AND 31 MARCH 1992

2.   The CHAIRMAN said that he had headed the Committee's delegation to the

Preparatory Meeting for the Sixth United Nations European Regional NGO

Symposium and the Ninth United Nations International NGO Meeting on the

Question of Palestine, held at Geneva on 30 and 31 March 1992.  The delegation

had also included the Permanent Observer for Palestine.

3.   At the Committee's invitation, the 22 members of the International

Coordinating Committee for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on the

Question of Palestine, as well as 5 of the 10 members who comprised the

European Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine, had

been present at the Preparatory Meeting.  The five remaining members of the

European Coordinating Committee had attended the Meeting at their own expense.

4.   The International Coordinating Committee had included four NGO

representatives from the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as three

Israeli representatives.  That had enabled the participants at the Meeting to

exchange useful information on their experience and to express interesting

points of view, which had facilitated preparations for the International NGO

Meeting and the European Symposium.  Moreover, the presence of the chairmen of

the regional coordinating committees had provided additional perspectives.

5.   The members of the International Coordinating Committee and those of the

European Coordinating Committee had held joint and separate meetings in order

to consider and complete draft programmes for their respective meetings.  The

proposed programmes had subsequently been considered by the delegation of the

Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

and the two coordinating committees and revised in the light of the comments

made by the delegation of the Committee.  The Division for Palestinian Rights

had prepared two working papers (Nos. 2 and 3) that reflected the results of

those deliberations.

6.   Working Paper No. 2 contained the provisional programme of the Ninth

United Nations International NGO Meeting on the Question of Palestine, whose

theme was entitled "Protection and Statehood".  The International Coordinating

Committee had requested the Committee to invite Mr. Yasser Arafat, President

of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and

other eminent personalities to make introductory statements at the opening

meeting of the International NGO Meeting.

7.   The International NGO Meeting would include three plenary sessions.

Plenary session I, entitled "Protection", would begin with a multi-media video

or slide presentation, which would be followed by reports on land, water and

settlements; human rights; the role of the United Nations and sanctions; and

refugees.  Plenary session II, entitled "Statehood", would include topics on

political initiatives; Palestine institution-building; regional security and

disarmament; and Jerusalem.  Plenary session III, which dealt with the NGO

process, would consider reports from the regions and would discuss NGO

networking.  It had been proposed that 12 working groups and task forces

should be established.

8.   Working Paper No. 3 contained the provisional programme for the Sixth

United Nations European Regional NGO Symposium on the Question of Palestine,

whose theme was "Working for peace – European coordination".  Two plenary

sessions had been recommended.  Plenary session I would deal with the

responsibilities of European governmental and non-governmental bodies towards

the Palestinian people, and plenary session II would consider the report on

the activities of the European Coordinating Committee during the past year

(August 1991 to August 1992).  In addition, two workshops and three

information groups would meet.

9.   If he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee approved

Working Papers No. 2 and No. 3.

10.  It was so decided.

UNITED NATIONS NORTH AMERICAN SEMINAR ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE,

22-23 JUNE 1992, NEW YORK

11.  The CHAIRMAN said that the provisional programme for the United Nations

North American Seminar on the Question of Palestine was contained in Working

Paper No. 4.

12.  If he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee approved in

principle the provisional programme for the Seminar.

13.  It was so decided.

UNITED NATIONS EUROPEAN SEMINAR ON THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

14.  The CHAIRMAN said that the Government of Malta had generously offered to

act as host for the United Nations European Seminar on the Question of

Palestine, which would be held at the end of July 1992.

15.  If he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee decided to

accept the offer made by the Government of Malta.

16.  It was so decided.

OTHER MATTERS

17.  Mr. TLILI (Chief, Anti-Apartheid, Decolonization and Palestine Programmes

Section, Department of Public Information) reaffirmed the Department's

commitment to carrying out the activities mandated by the General Assembly,

most recently expressed in resolution 46/74 C, with respect to the question of

Palestine.  Within the framework laid down by that resolution, the Department

was endeavouring to further the understanding of the question of Palestine and

to promote the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination through a

combination of multi-media activities focusing on public opinion in Europe and

North America.

18.  The draft of a booklet, on the life of the Palestinians under Israeli

occupation, intended for wide distribution, had just been submitted to the

Department of Political Affairs for clearance.  It would be based on

information from United Nations sources, including reports on the work of the

Committee.  A booklet entitled "Prospects for Peace in the Middle East:  An

Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue", based on the discussions on the convening of an

international conference on the Middle East held at the International

Encounter for European Journalists on the question of Palestine in June 1991,

was now in the production stage.  An updated edition of a booklet on the work

of the Committee would also be published.  Finally, a poster designed by

French artist Michel Granger promoting self-determination as an inalienable

right of the Palestinian people would be released soon.

19.  The first in a programme of national and international encounters for

journalists on the question of Palestine would be held in Dublin, Ireland in

May 1992 on the theme "Preparing for Peace:  the Imperative for Interim Relief

in the Occupied Palestinian Territory".  Palestinian and Israeli panelists and

Middle East experts from the European Communities Commission and other Irish

experts had been invited to participate.  Issues relating to obligations under

the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in

Time of War and practical approaches to Europe's role would be explored.

Other such encounters were planned for Prague, Czechoslovakia, and Lisbon,

Portugal.  An updated version of the Headquarters photo exhibit on Palestinian

rights highlighting recent developments was also planned.

20.  The 1992 programme would end with a fact-finding news mission to the

Middle East.  In that regard, the in-house production of a publication,

impressive in both volume and scope, based on the news reports resulting from

the previous fact-finding mission, was nearly complete.

Applications of NGOs for accreditation to the Committee (Working Paper No. 5)

21.  The CHAIRMAN drew attention to Working Paper No. 5, containing

information on 80 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which had indicated

that they wished to participate in NGO meetings held under the auspices of the

Committee.  All the requests for accreditation had been approved by the

International Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine or

the various regional coordination committees.  Furthermore, all requests had

been studied carefully by the Secretariat and approved by the Bureau.

22.  If he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to

approve the requests for accreditation contained in Working Paper No. 5.

23.  It was so decided.

24.  Mr. AL-KIDWA (Observer for Palestine) said that the twenty-fifth

anniversary of the Israeli occupation was approaching, and that sad occasion

was a reminder that the United Nations as yet had been unsuccessful in

achieving its objectives.  That date could serve, however, to draw attention

to the activities of the Committee, and his delegation would be submitting to

the Bureau several proposals for programmes to commemorate that anniversary.

25.  Turning to the political situation, he noted that bilateral talks between

the Arab parties and Israel were currently under way in Washington, D.C.

Frankly, little progress was expected since Israel's position indicated that

it was not serious about the negotiations.  Settlement in the occupied

territories was continuing, and Israel had offered only general ideas on

elections in an attempt to evade the Palestinian position on transition, which

was based on ending Israeli settlement and organizing general elections in the

occupied territories as early as possible.  Acts of repression and reprisals

by Israeli death squads must be ended.  Since December, special Israeli Army

units had killed more than 35 people, and messages had been sent to the

President of the Security Council and to the Secretary-General calling for an

immediate end to their activities.

26.  With regard to the multilateral talks proposed by the co-chairmen of the

negotiations, five working groups were to meet in five different capitals

during May 1992.  Palestinian participation in such talks must reflect the

unity of the Palestinian people, even though Israel was attempting to treat

the matter as a local issue rather than a national question.  Greater and more

effective coordination among the Arab parties – Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and

Palestine – had resulted in a series of negotiations held recently in Beirut.

Continued coordination would be required to maintain the pressure on Israel.

27.  The United Nations should continue to play an important role, first and

foremost by protecting the Palestinian people in implementation of Security

Council resolution 681 (1991).  His delegation would continue to insist on a

primary role for the Organization in order to give legitimacy to the

negotiations under international law.  The Secretary-General should insist

that the United Nations should be issued a separate invitation for full

participation in all stages of the settlement process.  Security Council

resolution 242 (1967) and all other Security Council resolutions were binding

on all Member States.

                        The meeting rose at 11.30 a.m.