General Assembly general debate – Egypt/Palestine statements – Press release (excerpts)

CONVENTION TO REPATRIATE AFRICA'S ILLEGALLY TRANSFERRED CAPITAL

CALLED FOR BY NIGERIA'S PRESIDENT IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADDRESS

Assembly Continues Debate; Hears Three Heads of State, Two Foreign

Ministers, Monaco's Crown Prince, President of Palestinian Authority

/…

The  President  of the  Palestinian  National  Authority,  Yasser  Arafat, addressing the Assembly for the second  consecutive year, told the Assembly, "The rights  of people  do not  diminish with the  passage of years  or with oppression, and our people have proven they deserve life and freedom and an independent State".  The right of the Palestinians to  establish their independent  State, with Al-Quds  Al-Sharif, or Jerusalem, as its capital, would provide the definitive guarantee for permanent peace in the Middle East and validate  the Charter, as well as numerous  United  Nations resolutions over 51 years.

International sponsorship for the Middle East peace process was the guarantee for its  definite success, he continued.  The absence of the international role would reverse the fragile situation in the region to zero.  The international community must accelerate its  push to revitalize the peace process on all tracks.  A just and comprehensive permanent  peace in the Middle East would endure if  guarded by international legitimacy and by efforts to implement the resolutions regarding all its aspects.

/…

Assembly Work Programme

/…

AMRE MOUSSA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Egypt, … In the Middle East, he said, the  peace  process, which was of central importance for the restoration of stability  and  the establishment of a comprehensive peace throughout the region, was now heading towards a new and positive stage.  He hoped that would lead to a comprehensive peaceful settlement, which would establish the Palestinian State, put an end to the occupation of the Syrian and Lebanese territories and ensure security for all.  He maintained, as always, that a comprehensive peace meant Israel's withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied  in 1967, the establishment of the State of Palestine with Jerusalem  as its  capital, the achievement  of security for all, and the establishment of normal  relations between  the Arab States and Israel.   He had hoped that the Arab-Israeli conflict would come to  an end before  the end  of the twentieth century.  That hope  was still alive.

He said  that Arab-Israeli conflict was  not the only  problem in that  vast region.   There were other problems such as  the Western  Sahara in North Africa, and the question of  Sudan, which was high on Egypt's list of diplomatic priorities.  Also, the  situation  of  Iraq raised numerous questions, which did not have a bearing on  the Government alone, but rather on the plight of its people and the suffering  of its children.  An objective and positive review of the  situation of that important brotherly country had become necessary.   That review should proceed from the premise that there were no everlasting sanctions and that people had a right to move on from the  mistakes of the  past.  Indeed, Iraq made a  grave mistake when it invaded Kuwait.  A mistake, however, could not be corrected by a policy that would  lead to the collapse of an entire society.  Thus, he was following closely  the efforts aimed at  the suspension of sanctions, which should be a first step towards the lifting of sanctions.

/…

YASSER ARAFAT, President of the Palestinian National  Authority, called on the  United  Nations to continue  its role in eliminating all forms of occupation and  strengthening the foundations of peace throughout the world.  The coming Millennium  Summit should represent a  decisive deadline for achieving peace in the Middle East.  He looked forward to Palestine's participation as a Member State of the United  Nations and looked forward to welcoming  all  to  the  Bethlehem 2000 celebrations as the Palestinians marched toward peace with their new partners in the region.

International sponsorship for the Middle East peace process was the guarantee for  its definite success, he  continued, extending  thanks to the European, Middle  Eastern, United  States and  United Nations envoys.  The absence of the international role would reverse the  fragile situation in the region to zero.  The international community must  accelerate its push to revitalize  the peace process on all tracks.  A just and comprehensive permanent peace in the Middle East would endure if guarded by international legitimacy and  by  the  implementation of  resolutions concerning  all  its aspects.

The catastrophe that had uprooted the  Palestinian people from their  home 51 years  ago had been one of the greatest tragedies of  the century,  he said.  The  question of Palestine refugees was the oldest refugee question in the contemporary world.  Four  million  Palestinian refugees lived in exile and refugee camps,  deprived of their  legitimate right  to return to their land.  The right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent  state, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif, or Jerusalem, as its capital, would  provide the definitive  guarantee for  permanent peace in the Middle East.  It would  also validate  the Charter  of the United Nations and its numerous  resolutions over  51 years,  beginning with  resolution 181, which had called for two States to be established in Palestine, one Jewish, which was Israel, and the other Arab, which was  Palestine.  "The rights of people do  not diminish  with the  passage of years or with oppression, and our people have proven they deserve life and freedom and an independent state.

He said there were two requirements for peace to be  complete.  One was to reach  a  final settlement on all tracks and the other was to gain international support for achieving  a better economic situation toward prosperity in the region.  The Palestinian economy needed to be lifted out of the miserable situation in which it had lain  during the years of occupation.

Further, he  added, those stepped-up efforts to achieve development during the coming  new  millennium were needed all over the world to boost reassuring positive developments.  There was  tangible progress on the great African continent in  conflict resolution, economic and social development.  International attention had been given to the  Balkans and  the statute of the  International Criminal Court had been  adopted.  Nevertheless, the prevailing problem  remained, that of extreme  poverty and  the widening gap between the haves and have-nots, at individual, country and regional levels.  "We must seek creative means beyond hasty  and temporary remedies", he said, calling for  a new North-South partnership in which the people of the South strove to achieve those remedies while those of  the North accepted partnership and a realistic, just willingness to share.  There should be one set  of criteria and one  standard for all cases and all  places.  That would lead to  a credible  system, he  concluded, wherein the incentive to commit wrongs  was lessened and the  collective capability  to prevent those wrongs enhanced.            

* *** *