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

Third Committee

Summary record of the 29th meeting

Held at Headquarters, New York, on Monday, 5 November 2012, at 3 p.m. 

 Chair:  Mr. Mac-Donald  ………………………………………. (Suriname) 

 later:  Ms. Šćepanović  ………………………………………. (Montenegro) 

Contents 

 Agenda item 68: Rights of peoples to self-determination (A/67/276 and A/67/349) (continued) 

42.  Ms. González Loforte (Cuba) …

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43.  Cuba would again be presenting a draft resolution on the use of mercenaries, in support of the exercise of peoples’ right to self-determination. Since the exercise of that right was a pre-condition for the enjoyment of all human rights, Cuba supported the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent sovereign State.

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45.  Mr. Yahiaoui (Algeria) …

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46.  The right to self-determination was crucial for the full enjoyment of all rights enshrined in international law. Its violation was a violation of all rights and a form of discrimination. Isolated attempts to reinterpret that right violated people’s right to choose their fate. The United Nations had gradually built up a right to decolonization and had striven to apply it. The destiny of the Palestinian people and those who lived in the 16 remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories, including the Sahrawi people, lay with the international community. 

47.  Ms. Niang (Senegal) said that self-determination and racism were among the most important issues facing the international community. The Occupied Palestinian Territory had suffered the imprisonment and collective punishment of its people, the construction of a separating wall, the destruction of goods and infrastructure and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. Her delegation called on the Israeli Government to resume its cooperation with the Human Rights Council. Violations of Palestinians’ rights should be condemned internationally as discrimination. Senegal reasserted its attachment to the land-for-peace approach, in connection with a two-State solution.

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49.  Ms. Šćepanović (Montenegro), Vice-Chair, took the Chair.

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52.  Mr. Fiallo (Ecuador) …

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53.  The Government of Ecuador reiterated its solidarity with the Palestinian people and urged other Member States to join it in recognizing their right to self-determination in an independent State. 

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56.  Mr. Zeidan (Observer for Palestine) called on the international community to take effective measures to eliminate racism and all forms of intolerance. The Palestinian people had suffered from racist policies and practices since 1948, as Israel had continuously been expelling indigenous Palestinians from their homeland and replacing them with Jewish settlers. For 45 years, Israel had seriously violated international humanitarian and human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. It continued to destroy Palestinian homes and evict their inhabitants, entrenching its occupation rather than seek a peaceful settlement, despite international efforts to bring about peace based on the two-State solution.

57.  A recent poll of Israelis had shown 58 per cent believing that Israel already practised apartheid against the Palestinian people, with 75 per cent in favour of such policies. Israel was in persistent violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. In recent years, there had been a rise in settler attacks against Palestinian civilian, property and crops. Israeli settlers committed hate crimes against Palestinian mosques, churches and cemeteries under cover of night, with the protection of Israeli forces. Sites had been burned, and slurs and slogans had been written in the ashes. He called on the international community to muster the political will to rid the world of racism and racial discrimination, work for a future of tolerance and cultural understanding and end Israel’s occupation, in fulfilment of its international obligations. Israel must allow the Palestinian people to live without oppression in an independent State with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

58.  Ms. Al-Fawwaz (Jordan) said that the Palestinian cause was the core issue in the Middle East. A just and comprehensive solution to the conflict must ensure restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, including their right to self-determination and the setting up of an independent State on their national soil. Jordan supported the initiative of the League of Arab States to achieve a just peace based on the two-State solution. Instead of responding to such calls for peace, Israel had continued to violate human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories through its settlement activities and other practices in violation of international law. King Abdullah II of Jordan had urged an end to the long delay in granting self-determination to the Palestinian people. 

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