Questions related to information/DPI’s work on the question of Palestine – GA Fourth Cttee debate – Press release (excerpts)

Sixty-sixth General Assembly

Fourth Committee

12^th Meeting (PM)

DELEGATION IN FOURTH COMMITTEE HERALD UNITED NATIONS AS 'ONLY CREDIBLE ADVOCATE'

FOR PEACEFUL WORLD, FORWARD TWO DRAFTS ON INFORMATION TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

‘Ambitious But Not Impossible’ to Transmit ‘Voice’ of Organization

In All Official Languages, ‘Giving Locally What Is Happening Globally’

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Background

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this afternoon to conclude its consideration of questions relating to information.  [For more information, please see Press Release GA/SPD/486.]

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BASO SANGQU (South Africa), aligning his statement with that of the Group of 77, said the United Nations remained the only credible advocate for a peaceful, free and just world, and its voice must be heard clearly and loudly in every corner of the globe and by all its peoples.  He said the Organization’s membership was edging towards 194 as the membership of Palestine was being considered, an addition which he welcomed.

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AMINE CHABI (Morocco), aligning his statement with that made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, …

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He commended the Department for its work in addressing the situation in Palestine.  That question, if not resolved, would remain as a critical issue within the United Nations.  The programmes of the Department to raise awareness on the question of Palestine sought to build capacities in the area of journalism, and provided an important component by allowing Palestinian journalists to build their capacities and talents through training.

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YADH BOUSSELMI ( Tunisia), aligning with the Group of 77 and China, … thanked the Department of Public Information for its meritorious efforts in the question of Palestine, and said it should keep developing efforts, such as the regional seminars, which provided information on the subject.

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YUSSEF KANAAN, Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, aligning himself with statements made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said Palestine stressed the importance of the Public Information Department’s Special Information Programme on the Question of Palestine, in accordance with relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, the latest being resolution 65/15, which had been adopted on 30 November 2010 by an overwhelming majority.

He said that the adoption of those resolutions reflected the broad international support for that programme, which was instrumental in raising and promoting the international community’s awareness of the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East, and in raising awareness of and support for the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination.  The programme also broadened support for regional and international efforts to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peaceful settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole.

Palestine commended the Department for its valuable efforts in launching, on 18 October, the revised and updated permanent exhibit on the Question of Palestine at United Nations Headquarters in New York, he said, also reaffirming the importance of the Department’s work in the development of the film archives on the subject.  Also important was the continued provision of assistance to the Palestinian people in media development through the annual training programme for Palestinian broadcasters and journalists from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

He called on the Department to undertake the other activities requested by the General Assembly, including the organization and promotion of fact-finding news missions for journalists to the Occupied Palestinian Territory and East Jerusalem, and Israel, and to expand the Department’s collection of audio-visual materials on the question of Palestine.  He hoped that the Palestinian Section in the Department would receive sufficient funding and staff to enable it to fully implement its mandate vis-à-vis the question of Palestine.

The Palestinian leadership, through the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology, attached great importance to the strategic role of that sector and its development, despite Israeli control of the communications sector in Palestine, including the Palestinian frequency spectrum, he said.  That deprived the Palestinian people of their right of direct access to communication services and information technology.  In the framework of building State institutions, the Palestinian leadership worked tirelessly to build the communications and information technology networks to reach their people everywhere in Palestine and to help them overcome the geographical and physical impediments to normal life and development caused by the illegal settlements, the apartheid annexation wall, and the suffocating and deliberate siege and closures.

He said that the Palestinian leadership was also exerting efforts to protect journalists and guarantee that they worked freely and safely.  In that, a new TV and Radio law was being drafted with the participation of media professionals and freedom of speech activists.  Also, relevant Palestinian Government agencies had been training their staff on how to deal with the media, the rights and obligations of journalists under the law, and the protection afforded to them.

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For information media • not an official record