Candidacy of Israel for a vice-chair post on the Special Political and Decolonization Committee – Letter from the Chair of the Arab Group

Letter dated 11 June 2014 from the Chair of the Arab Group
for the month of June 2014 addressed to the Chair of the Fourth Committee

On behalf of the Arab Group and in my capacity as Chair of the Arab Group for the month of June 2014, I wish to refer to the upcoming elections of the President of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly and the Chairs and members of the Bureaux of the Main Committees of the General Assembly, which are scheduled to be held on 16 June 2014.

In this regard, I wish to convey the firm rejection by the States members of the Arab Group of the candidacy of Israel, on behalf of the Western European and Other States Group, for one of the Vice-Chair posts of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee). The Arab Group deems as totally unacceptable and absurd the candidacy of Israel, an occupying Power for the past 47 years, for the post of Vice-Chair of the Fourth Committee, the Main Committee tasked with addressing decolonization issues and other critical and sensitive issues, including those related to the Palestine refugees, peacekeeping and human rights, and the work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.

We question the credibility and eligibility for Bureau membership of a Member State that stands in flagrant and deliberate violation of all of the United Nations resolutions relevant to it, including countless resolutions adopted by the Fourth Committee and the General Assembly regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the question of Palestine as a whole, and that consistently acts in blatant disrespect and violation of the Charter of this Organization. Moreover, its negative voting record against the majority of resolutions under the agenda items specific to the Fourth Committee, as well as its repeated, provocative statements in past deliberations of the Committee, are glaring indications of the contempt that Israel has for this Committee and the work and role of the Assembly as a whole, particularly in connection with the question of Palestine.

In my capacity as Chair of the Arab Group, I respectfully request the circulation of the present letter to all Member States for their immediate and valuable consideration.

(Signed) Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani
Ambassador
 Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations
 Chair of the Arab Group for the month of June 2014