UN Asian Meeting on the Question of Palestine (Hanoi) – Press release

SPEAKERS DISCUSS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF

PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AT ASIAN MEETING ON QUESTION OF PALESTINE

HANOI, 2 March (Division for Palestinian Rights) — At the afternoon session of the second day of the Asian Meeting on the Question of Palestine being held in Hanoi from 1 to 3 March, the representative of Turkey told the Meeting that with the general election in Israel last May, a new atmosphere had emerged and the peace process had began to move forward. It was important that an atmosphere of confidence be created. This would require adherence to previous commitments made in the Wye River Memorandum and the Sharm El-Sheikh Agreement.

Turkey welcomed the resumption of talks between Israel and Syria that had began on 15 December 1999 in Washington. It was understood that there would be some difficulties on the way to the third round of talks. Turkey hoped the Syrian and Israeli sides would overcome these difficulties, and that the Israeli-Lebanese track would be resumed shortly. The Israeli-Palestinian track should not be side- stepped as a result of these other peace initiatives. With the meeting of the Steering Committee in Moscow, the multilateral peace track had resumed. Turkey stood ready to make its contribution to this track of the peace process.

Adam Keller, Spokesman for Gush Shalom (The Israeli Peace Bloc), Tel Aviv recounted the actions of peace activists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Israel. For the past three years, he and other activists have been campaigning against Israeli zoning and land development laws, which discriminated against Palestinians. Such actions had included calling attention to the situation via the media, organizing demonstrations, and carrying out acts of civil disobedience, such as immediately rebuilding Palestinian houses that had been demolished by Israeli forces. This had resulted in the slowing down of the demolition of Palestinian housing, and had forced the Barak Government to have all future demolitions authorized by the respective Ministry.

He noted that other participants at the Meeting had called for the creation of an independent Palestinian State by September 2000. He cautioned that any such action would be more effective if it occurred within an agreement with Israel rather than as a unilateral action, as this would no doubt create further confrontation with Israel. He suggested that international organizations and governmental delegations should consider what they might do at this time on the international level to assist in this transition. The United States, Israeli's traditional ally, held veto power in the Security Council. Perhaps, a campaign should be launched in the United States to encourage that country to abstain from any vote over a declaration of a Palestinian State, rather than vote against it.

He urged the organizers of the Meeting to consider holding future meetings on the situation in the Middle East in the Palestinian territories. This would enable many Palestinians and Israelis, who were not able to travel to other venues in Europe or North America because of financial constraints, to participate.

Andrew Vincent, Director of the Centre for Middle East and North African Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, examined Australia's involvement with the Question of Palestine in detail. If the Question of Palestine were a litmus test, he said, Australia would be seen to be a “bystander to a road accident rather than a passer-by who runs to give assistance”. In his opinion, this was due to Australia's firm alignment with the United States. It could not be relied upon to diplomatically oppose Washington, at least on the issue of Palestine.

Evidence for this could be seen in the levels Australia's foreign assistance to the Palestinians. The amount of aid from Australia, which was never large, was declining. When the issue of Palestine was off the international or American agenda, Australian aid dropped. But when the United States was brokering agreements in the harsh spotlight of the international media, as with Wye River Memorandum, then Australia's involvement rose as well.

This represented, in his view, an Australian desire to support the United States on Arab-Israeli issues. Australia was unlikely to take any major initiative or even increase its level of aid unless it was given a green light from the United States. Australia's stance on the Question of Palestine was also very much subject to domestic issues, such as trade and the influence of its powerful Zionist lobby. In the end, he concluded, Australia remained a small to middle ranking power that tended to avoid international headlines and concern itself mainly with domestic and regional issues.

There were more than a dozen Japanese citizen groups advocating for the rights of Palestinians, Mr. Eisuke Naramoto, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Economics, Hosei University, Tokyo, told the Meeting. Despite their relative small size, through the years, they had managed to arouse some sympathy among the Japanese public for the plight and struggle of the Palestinian people. The Japanese people were still unfamiliar with Middle East issues in general and Palestine in particular. The Government had not become interested in the problem until the outbreak of the October war of 1973. Interest in the Middle East and Palestine among the Japanese had dropped dramatically with the end of the oil crisis, especially after the Gulf War.

In one of the rare cases when the Japanese Government took a different stance from the United States, in 1979 Japan declared that the Palestinians had the right to establish an independent State. It was in the 1980s that Japanese NGOs supporting Palestinian cause emerged. Several prominent NGOs had evolved from ad hoc citizens groups that had spontaneously begun activities to offer immediate aid to Palestinians in extreme hardship. There was substantial support for the Palestinian people in the areas of medicine and heath, social welfare, agriculture, culture, and exchange programmes.

Despite their small size and weak financial base, which consisted of individual donations from members and supporters, Japanese NGOs believe it was necessary to continue and develop their activities. He was sure that Japanese citizen groups supporting the Palestinian people would continue to play an important role until the day when the Question of Palestine was finally resolved.

After months of secret negotiations in Oslo and almost 50 years of blood and tears, in 1993 the Palestinians and Israelis had reached an agreement to mutually recognize the other's right of existence, Li Guofu, Director, Division for South Asian, Middle Eastern and African Studies, China Institute of International Studies, Beijing, said. At the same time, the parties had committed themselves to resolving their conflicts through peaceful negotiations based on relevant United Nations resolutions. This agreement was known as the Declaration of Principles or DOP, and it opened a new chapter in the Palestinian's struggle to restore their national rights.

The DOP had outlined the concept of a five-year plan during which time the Palestinians would establish a self-governing authority in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians also pledged to cooperate with the Israelis on security measures. Since the DOP was signed, there had been many ups and downs. With the election of Mr. Barak, the peace process had regained momentum but neither a major breakthrough nor progress on the Palestinian-Israeli or the Syrian-Israeli tracks had been made.

He believed that wisdom, courage and resourcefulness on the part of the heads of State in the region, and efforts by the international community, were essential to achieve a fair and sustained peace in the Middle East.

Nguyen Quang Khai, Head of Western Asia and Africa Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, said he believed that a genuine peace in the Middle East would never exist so long as the Palestinian issue was unresolved and the Palestinian people did not enjoy fundamental national rights. Tension and violence would continue unabated until all parties concerned found reasonable solutions to such key issues as the status of Jerusalem, territorial border delimitation, refugees, distribution of water resources, and especially the issue of Palestinian statehood.

He reaffirmed his Government's wholehearted support of the Palestinian people's struggle for fundamental national rights, including self-determination and a Palestinian State in its homeland. He welcomed every initiative and effort by regional and international communities to untangle deadlocks, remove obstacles, and accelerate the Middle East peace process. The international community, in his view, should ensure close and effective coordination in adopting different modalities and measures aimed at speeding up the peace process. The United Nations should participate and play a greater role in securing a fair solution, ensuring the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and a lasting peace in the Middle East while mobilizing every source of material and spiritual support. In this way, the Palestinian people and other countries in the region, could erase the painful memories of war and join forces in building a Middle East of peace and stability. As a nation that had experienced long years of living in exile without statehood, the Jewish people above all should understand the suffering of the Palestinian people. There was a time when Palestinians and Jews lived together on the same land. He believed that with good will and determination and the support of the United Nations, the question of Palestine would soon be resolved and the people in the region would enjoy a life of peace, stability and development.

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* Reissued to correct symbol of press release. It had been previously issued as PAL/1882. – 2 – Press Release GA/PAL/823 3 March 2000