Mideast situation/Palestine question – Report of the Chair on NAM activities to the Ministerial meeting in New York (excerpts) – Non-UN document

Report of the Chair on the Activities of the Non-Aligned Movement to the Ministerial Meeting, New York, 18 September 2002

INTRODUCTION

The Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement has the honour to present this Report to the Ministerial Meeting of the Movement, convened in the context of the 57th Session of the General Assembly (UNGA57) in New York, September 2002. The activities of the Movement featured in this Report cover the period from the Ministerial Meeting of the Co-ordinating Bureau, held in Durban, South Africa, 28-29 April 2002, to the present.

INTERNATIONAL SITUATION

Palestine 

a) Follow-up of Mandates 

Pursuant to the mandate received from the meeting of the Committee on Palestine in Durban, April 2002, Minister Dlamini Zuma, in her capacity as Chair of NAM at Ministerial level, headed a NAM Ministerial delegation to Ramallah in an expression of solidarity with President Arafat and the people of Palestine. The Ministerial delegation was comprised of the Minister of State of India, the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the Secretary- General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Jordan. 

As a follow-up of the mandate the Chair received from the Committee on Palestine meeting held in Pretoria, May 2001, to interact with forces influential in the Middle East conflict, and pursuant to the Spier consultations, the South African Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs met with representatives of several European countries holding leadership positions at the moment. The consultations were aimed at achieving a durable and comprehensive peace, which will enable the Palestinian peoples to exercise their inalienable rights in freedom and sovereignty in an independent homeland. 

b) General Assembly: 

On 7 May 2002, the Chair of the CoB participated in a meeting of the Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly on "The Illegal Israeli Actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory", which was resumed in response to Israel’s refusal to comply with the provisions of Security Council Resolution 1405. The debate, which was convened at the request of Sudan (on behalf of the Arab Group) and South Africa (on behalf of the NAM), focused on Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. The Chair of the NAM CoB, and other speakers expressed dismay at the inability of the Security Council to enforce its resolutions against Israel. 

Following the continued crisis in the Middle East, the Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly reconvened again on 5 August 2002, in response to a request by Oman (on behalf of the Arab Group) and South Africa (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement). The Chair of the NAM CoB and a large number of NAM Members participated in the debate focusing on the Secretary-General’s Report on the Jenin incident and Israel’s failure to co-operate during the drafting of the Report. 

c) Security Council: 

On 13 June 2002, the Chair of the CoB made a statement in the open debate of the UNSC condemning Israel’s military incursions and expressed deep concern over the humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 

The Chair of the CoB also participated in a Security Council open debate held on 24 July 2002. The statement on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement condemned all acts of violence, but also questioned the use of sophisticated weapons to eliminate individual suspects, killing innocent civilians, including children in the process.