Mideast situation/Palestine question – GA general debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly
Sixty-fourth session

6th plenary meeting
Wednesday, 24 September 2009, 3 a.m. 
New York

The meeting was called to order at 3.10 p.m.

/…

Address by Mr. Valdis Zatlers, President of the Republic of Latvia 

 The Acting President ( spoke in French ): The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Latvia.

  Mr. Valdis Zatlers, President of the Republic of Latvia, was escorted into the General Assembly Hall .

  The Acting President (spoke in French ): On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Valdis Zatlers, President of the Republic of Latvia, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

  President Zatlers : …

/…

  Achieving peace in the Middle East is another issue that remains at the top of the international agenda. The two-State idea will become a reality only when the Israeli Government sincerely works to make it one. It will become a sustainable reality only when Palestinian leaders settle their own differences in the interests of their people. This year, Latvia provided a rehabilitation programme for 18 Palestinian boys and girls. They came to Latvia to participate in our rehabilitation programme for traumatized children from the Gaza Strip. Those children came to overcome the psychological impact of the conflict they experienced earlier this year.

/…

  Address by Mr. Jalal Talabani, President of the Republic of Iraq

 The Acting President ( spoke in French ): The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Iraq.

  Mr. Jalal Talabani, President of the Republic of Iraq, was escorted into the General Assembly Hall .

  The Acting President (spoke in French ): On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Jalal Talabani, President of the Republic of Iraq, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

  President Talabani (spoke in Arabic ): …

/…

  The Iraqi Constitution sets the basic principles of Iraq’s foreign policy, which focus on good-neighbourliness, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, the peaceful settlement of disputes and establishing international relations based on common interests and respect of Iraq’s international obligations. These are the established principles of Iraq’s foreign policy.

  On this basis, we seek to establish the best possible relations with other Arab and Islamic countries and are committed to the decisions of the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Accordingly, we endorse and support the struggle of the Palestinian people to uphold their inalienable rights, including the right to establish the State of Palestine on the land of Palestine.

  We are also working to implement the legitimate international resolutions concerning the return of occupied Arab land. We consider the Arab Peace Initiative to be a practical step in the right direction towards resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to achieve security, peace and stability in the Middle East. We call for the Middle East to be made a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, so as to promote opportunities to achieve peace and security in the region.

/…

Address by Al Hadji Yahya Jammeh, President of the Republic of the Gambia

 The Acting President (spoke in French ): The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of the Gambia.

  Al Hadji Yahya Jammeh, President of the Republic of the Gambia, was escorted into the General Assembly Hall .

  The Acting President (spoke in French ): On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency

Al Hadji Yahya Jammeh, President of the Republic of the Gambia, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

  President Jammeh : …

/…

  My delegation therefore calls for a united front against this dictatorship of a few over the rest of humanity. And in the interest of our collective security, the United Nations should see to the total elimination of racism and hatred in all their forms, whatever it takes, so that we can bequeath to the generations of humanity yet unborn a very peaceful and prosperous world devoid of destitution, exploitation and marginalization.

  In this context, my delegation would like to see a speedy resolution of the plight of the Palestinians. We call on the State of Israel to accept and respect the two-State solution that the international community has so clearly articulated without preconditions. We also urge the Security Council to ensure that its resolutions are respected by all States and enforced to the letter and spirit by the United Nations, and not to allow certain States to choose not only to ignore these resolutions, but to violate them with impunity, while other States face drastic and devastating military action if such resolutions are adopted against them and they so much as ask for clarification.

  The State of Israel has ignored and violated all United Nations resolutions and conventions with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not only with impunity, but also with the support and protection of certain world Powers, while other countries have paid a very high price merely for not having fully complied with a Security Council resolution. The Council should stop employing these unfortunate double standards. The United Nations must not be turned into an “animal farm”.

/…

  Address by Mr. Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Republic of Maldives

 The Acting President ( spoke in French ): The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Maldives.

  Mr. Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Republic of Maldives, was escorted into the General Assembly Hall.

  The Acting President (spoke in French ): On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Republic of Maldives, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

  President Nasheed : …

/…

 We believe dialogue and constructive engagement serve the cause of peace better than ostracism and isolation. The new Government in Maldives will look to renew relations with Israel and to use the relationship to reiterate our support for an independent and sovereign Palestinian homeland, in conformity with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

/…

  Address by Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal 

 The Acting President ( spoke in French ): The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Senegal.

  Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal, was escorted into the General Assembly Hall.

  The Acting President (spoke in French ): On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

  President Wade (spoke in French ): …

/…

Agenda item 8 (continued )

General debate

    Address by Mr. Lawrence Gonzi, Prime Minister of Malta

  The Acting President : The Assembly will now hear an address by the Prime Minister of Malta.

  Mr. Lawrence Gonzi, Prime Minister of Malta, was escorted to the rostrum. 

  The Acting President : I have great pleasure in welcoming His Excellency Mr. Lawrence Gonzi, Prime Minister of Malta, and inviting him to address the General Assembly.

 Mr. Gonzi (Malta): …

/…

  One of the long-standing issues of which the United Nations has been seized since its inception is the question of the Middle East. Indeed, peace in the Middle East continues to evade our ongoing efforts. Malta reiterates its vision of a two-State solution, with both States living in secure and guaranteed frontiers, each recognizing the other’s sovereignty, and the right to peaceful coexistence. Malta calls in both parties to engage fully in resumed negotiations to this end, resulting in a viable Palestinian State on the basis of the June 1967 borders. This is not a view which we have adopted today. It is a vision that has been ours for decades, believing as we do that peace in the Middle East determines peace in the Mediterranean and beyond.

/…

The meeting rose at 10.10 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 U-506. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum.