Mideast situation/settlements – GA debate – Press release

Fifty-second General Assembly

Plenary

59th Meeting (PM)

ASSEMBLY IS TOLD SETTLEMENTS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

CAUSE DETERIORATION IN MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS

Islamic Conference Observer Says Adherence to Agreements Promises

`Immeasurable Benefits' of Peace for People of Both Palestine and Israel

Continued construction  of Jewish  settlements in East  Jerusalem and  the occupied territories by the Israeli Government  had led to the deterioration of the Middle East peace process, the General Assembly heard this afternoon as it continued  its consideration of the  question of Palestine.  Speakers said peace could be accomplished only  through full Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab  territories and  the scrupulous  observance of  Security Council resolutions.

The representative of Syria said that in a short period of time, the Likud government had cancelled out six  years of progress and  international efforts to achieve peace on the  basis of justice and the restoration of rights  to those  people who  deserved them.   Prime  Minister Netanyahu had replaced the logic of peace with the language of war and settlements.

The representative of Botswana said that as long as  the  settlements continued spreading in the occupied territories,  men of violence would feel justified  in sowing death and mayhem in Israel.  The illegal settlements made it impossible for the Palestinian  leadership to deal effectively  with their anti-peace process fanatics, and were a boon to terrorism.

The  Permanent Observer for the Organization of the Islamic Conference said the virtual stalemate in the peace process was the result of Israeli violations of the  peace agreements  and its blatant and renewed acts of aggression against the Palestinian people, especially by  the new Government.  If Israel implemented the peace  accords with the same sincerity and vigour shown by Palestine, it would bring the immeasurable benefits of peace for the people of both Palestine and Israel.

Statements were also made by Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen, Pakistan, Iran, Botswana and Gambia.

The Assembly will meet again at 10  a.m., tomorrow, 3 December, to elect the Executive  Director of the United Nations Environment Programme  (UNEP) and begin consideration of the situation in the Middle East.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this afternoon  to continue its consideration  of the question of Palestine.  It had before it draft texts on the programme of work of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian  People; on the Division for  Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat; on the special information programme on the question  of Palestine; on the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine; and on full participation of Palestine in the work of the United Nations.  It also had before it a letter from the Permanent  Representative of Namibia.  (For further information see Press Release GA/9366 issued on 1 December.)

By the terms of  a 21-Power text  on the Committee on the Exercise  of the Inalienable  Rights of the Palestinian People (document A/52/L.49), the Assembly would endorse the Committee's recommendations contained in  chapter VII of its report (document A/52/35).

The Assembly would authorize the Committee to continue to exert efforts to promote the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, and to mobilize support and  assistance for the Palestinian  people.  The Assembly would ask the Committee to keep the question of Palestine under review and to report and make suggestions accordingly  to the Assembly or the Security Council.  It would also ask the Committee to extend its cooperation to non-governmental organizations for heightening international awareness of the facts  relating to the question of Palestine and promoting support and assistance to meet the needs of the Palestinian people.

The  United Nations  Reconciliation Commission for Palestine and other relevant United Nations bodies would be asked to cooperate fully with the Committee.  The Secretary-General  would be requested to circulate the Committee's report to all competent  United Nations bodies, and to urge them to take appropriate, necessary action.

The sponsors of the draft are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt,  Guinea, Indonesia, Jordan,  Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritania, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,  Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, United  Arab Emirates, Viet Nam and Yemen.

By the terms of a 20-Power draft on  the Division for Palestinian  Rights of  the Secretariat (document A/52/L.50), the Secretary-General would be asked to provide the Division with the necessary resources, including for the further development of the United  Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine,  and to ensure the  cooperation of the  Department of Public Information (DPI) and other Secretariat  units  in  enabling  the Division to perform its tasks.

All governments and organizations would be invited to cooperate with  the Committee and the Division in the performance of their tasks.  The  Assembly would note with appreciation the action of Member States to observe on 29 November  each  year  the  International  Day  of  Solidarity  with  the Palestinian People.

The sponsors of the text are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt,   Guinea, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritania, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,  Senegal, Tunisia, United Arab  Emirates, Viet Nam and Yemen.

By the terms of a 20-Power draft on the special information programme on the question of Palestine (document A/52/L.51)  the Assembly would note with appreciation  the action  taken by DPI in compliance with its resolution 51/25 last year.  It would consider the  special information programme on the question of Palestine of the Office of Communications and Public Information  useful in raising the international awareness of the complexities of the question, and the Middle East situation in general, and in  contributing effectively  to  an  atmosphere conducive to dialogue and supportive of the peace process.

The Assembly would request  DPI, in  cooperation with the Palestinian Rights Committee,  to continue its special information programme on the question of Palestine for the  biennium 1998-1999, with  particular emphasis on public opinion in Europe and North America.  The DPI would be asked to disseminate information  about United Nations system  activities  on  the question  of Palestine; to issue and update publications on the various aspects of the question, including those concerning recent peace prospects; to maintain production of its  audio-visual material on the question; and to organize fact-finding  news  missions for  journalists to the area, including  the territories  under the  jurisdiction  of the  Palestinian Authority  and the occupied territories.

The draft would further request that DPI organize international, regional and  national  seminars/encounters for journalists; and continue media development assistance to the   Palestinian people, particularly to strengthen the training programme for Palestinian   broadcasters  and journalists initiated in 1995.

The sponsors of the text are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti,  Egypt,  Guinea, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritania, Qatar,  Saudi Arabia,  Senegal, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Viet Nam and Yemen.

By the terms of a 23-Power text on the peaceful settlement  of  the question of Palestine (document A/52/L.52), the  Assembly would call on the concerned parties, the co-sponsors of the peace process, interested  parties and  the international  community to  exert all the necessary efforts and initiatives to bring the peace process back on track  and ensure its success.

Member States would be urged to  provide economic and technical assistance to the Palestinian people during this  critical period.  It would express its full support for the peace process, emphasizing the importance for  the United Nations  to play a more active,  expanded role in the process and in the implementation of the 1993 Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements.

The Assembly would stress the need for commitment to the "land for  peace" principle and the implementation of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338  (1973), which form the basis of the  Middle East  peace process,  as well as  the need  for immediate,  scrupulous implementation of the agreements  reached between the  parties, including  the redeployment of Israeli forces from the West Bank and the start of  negotiations on  the

final settlement.

The  sponsors of the text are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti,  Egypt,  Guinea, Indonesia, Jordan,  Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritania,  Oman,  Qatar,  Saudi  Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Viet Nam and Yemen.

By the terms of a 20-Power draft resolution (document A/52/L.53)  on the full  participation  of  Palestine, the General Assembly would decide to confer on Palestine  the same rights  and  privileges of  participation in Assembly sessions  and work, and  United Nations international conferences, as those conferred on Member States, except for voting and candidature.  The Assembly would  authorize  the  Secretary-General  to  implement   the provisions of the draft as expeditiously as possible.

The  sponsors of the  draft are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab  Emirates, Viet Nam and Yemen.

The letter from Namibia (document A/52/704) dated 1 December, states that Namibia  wishes to become a member of the Committee  on the Exercise on the Inalienable Rights  of the  Palestinian People, to reaffirm its solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Statements

HERMAN de SILVA (Sri  Lanka) said hopes  for a peace  settlement had  not materialized;  the situation had taken on  a gloomy  aspect and  the chill winds of despair  were blowing again. Israel's construction of a settlement in Jabal  Abu Ghneim  called Har  Homa to the  south of  East Jerusalem  had brought new tensions, heightened the sense of  crisis and impeded the peace process.  Terrorist bombings in Israel were to be deplored and could not be condoned as they aggravated the situation.  Yet, Israel could not disclaim its share  of blame, because  such desperate acts were to be expected when oppression  increased and hopes were blasted.  Those unfortunate occurrences might have been avoided if Israel  had heeded international concern as expressed in repeated Assembly resolutions.  Israeli actions revealed a determination  to carry out  its policies,  regardless of  admonitions, in a unilateral fashion violating all principles of international law that regulated the conduct  of an occupying Power.  They  also indicated an unwillingness to honour  agreements and  a  resolute  attempt to  alter the status and demographic character of Jerusalem.

He said the United Nations had a moral obligation to ensure the restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinians.  Sri Lanka did not share the view  that the Organization  was not  the best  forum for the resolution of the dispute, although it  welcomed every effort, from whatever quarter, to achieve a peaceful solution.  Israel should  adhere to the basic principles  reflected in  Security Council resolutions 242  (1967) and 338 (1973) and the fundamental principle of exchanging land for peace.  It should complete  its withdrawal from areas B and C of the occupied  West bank.   He called  on all  parties concerned  to help  reactivate the  peace process in the interests of the whole Middle East region.  It was futile to pay lip service to  the peace agreement while  systematically seeking to erode  its efficacy by creating conditions on the ground that were at variance with the foundations of peace.

ALI HACHANI  (Tunisia) said the  international community affirmed  through Security Council resolutions  that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was  the core of the  Middle East conflict.  The  General Assembly had expressed the hope that the peace process would reach a  settlement which included a just and lasting solution  to the question of Palestine.  However, the Assembly's call for full implementation of  the agreement between the  two parties went unheeded, and today the peace process was blocked because of  the policies of Israel.   It was not  respecting the agreed  timetable for redeployment, and had stepped up settlement activity despite appeals from the Assembly  to cease from doing so.

He said Israel must end its intransigence, its illegal acts in Jerusalem and  the occupied Palestinian territories, its  attempts to change their demographic composition and its blockade against the Palestinians.  It must engage in negotiations and keep to the agreed timetable.

The international community must pressure Israel to respect its commitments, including the exchange of land for peace and the observance of Security  Council resolutions  242 and  338.  The Assembly's historic responsibility to the Palestinian people must be shouldered until their legitimate rights were realized.  The United  Nations must continue its economic and social support, and donors must  continue reconstructing  the Palestinian  economy.  The international community must also pressure Israel to withdraw from the Golan.

VOLODYMYR YEL'CHENKO (Ukraine) said  peace in the Middle East could be achieved  only by implementing the agreements  reached in  the framework of the Madrid  peace process, Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), and the land for peace principle.   Ukraine welcomed efforts by  the peace  process  co-sponsors, the  European Union and other  international bodies and  prominent political  figures to  bring the parties back to the negotiating table.  It also condemned  all acts of terrorism, whatever their motivations. Although any  terrorist attack required retaliation,  vengeance should not be a guiding principle and measures should not be excessive.

All parties must refrain from actions that would undermine the fragile peace, he  said.  They  must return to  the negotiating table — any other option would lead nowhere.  A  peaceful settlement was impossible without economic development of territories under the  Palestinian Authority's control, and assistance  from the  international donor community was  vital.  The United Nations should continue mobilizing international economic support and  financial assistance to the Palestinians.  It should also ensure the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including self-determination.  The United Nations  should be involved in the settlement of the Palestinian question and prove it had enough authority  to influence the process.

DAUDI N. MWAKAWAGO (United Republic of Tanzania) said there had been significant  movement towards the achievement of a lasting peace in the Middle East in the last six years; the Oslo accords, the Madrid Peace Conference, and the Washington Declaration stood  as testimony to that important movement.  The agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Government of Israel leading to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Hebron was welcomed.

The turn of events following the Hebron agreement  was a matter of  public record and  it  was profoundly disappointing that Israel reneged on its negotiated commitments and took measures which seriously  undermined the progress towards regional peace and stability.  In  spite of two emergency Assembly sessions, and a series of  other meetings, the confidence shattered by the actions of the Israeli authorities had yet to be recovered.

He said the current stalemate in the  Middle East peace process was not in the interest of any of the parties and augured badly for world peace.  The Palestinian people, as well as the Israelis, had an inalienable right to live in peace and security in a homeland of their  own.  Peace could come only as a product of justice, and not from war or the  unilateralism of one of the parties.  The parties must recommit themselves to working for  peace based on justice for all without exception.

The Assembly and the international community, he went on, had a stake in preserving the integrity of the process while both parties should also be encouraged to sustain it.  The  Israeli Government had a particular responsibility in that regard and should not be allowed  to flout the international  community with impunity.  It was the  responsibility of the international community and the co-sponsors of the peace process to ensure that Israel complied with all its commitments.  The Assembly could not, and should not, condone any actions which sought to deny the Palestinians of their rights or undermined the peace process.       

IBRAHIM SAID AL-ADOUFI (Yemen) said the  General Assembly had been taking up this  item for the past five  decades  and adopted  many unimplemented resolutions.  What made this  session unique was that it was taking place following  the tenth emergency  special session  on illegal  Israeli acts in East Jerusalem and the occupied territories.  Yemen supported what was said at the  special session, particularly  the call  for  the convening  of  a Conference of the High Contracting Parties  to the Fourth Geneva Convention.

He said the peace process which began when the PLO and Israel had signed the Declaration of Principles stalled because Israel had shirked from its previous commitments.   The peace process must be resumed, based on the Declaration of Principles and all subsequent  agreements.  The United Nations and the international community must continue to provide assistance to the Palestinian administration.  Israel must renounce its  policy of economic siege of  the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.  Yemen also called on States to  bring pressure on Israel to cease building settlements and seizing land by force.

He said  he was  gratified that at its summit meeting in Florence, the European Union  supported the Palestinian right to self-determination, and resumption of the final status negotiations based on the Oslo Agreements and subsequent  agreements.  Today's Assembly  meeting, he continued, coincided with new dangerous developments, such as Israel continuing to alter Jerusalem and other illegal practices against the Palestinian people.  Yemen  denounced the repeated attacks on Arabs in East Jerusalem and condemned the demolition of homes and the building  of bypass roads, for the use only of settlers,  and its refusal to  withdraw forces from the occupied territories.  There must be rapid  progress towards lasting  peace based on the Madrid Conference and Security Council resolutions 242  and 338, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian  state with  Jerusalem  as its capital.

KHALIL ABOU-HADID (Syria) said the international community recognized the danger arising from Israel's expansionist plans, which would  destroy the peace process and create tension in the Middle East.  In the wake of Ms. Albright's visit to the region, and on the  eve of tripartite negotiations in Washington, Israel had announced the confiscation of more Palestinian land.  When the Netanyahu government continued its  settlement activity, it  pursued a programmed policy  designed to thwart United States efforts, thus making it  impossible to save the peace process.  Peace could be accomplished only through full  withdrawal from  all  occupied  Arab territories, and the scrupulous observance of Security Council resolutions.

He said Syria was grateful to the Committee  on Palestinian Rights for its support of the Palestinian people in its just struggle to establish a State on its national soil.  The  Committee expressed grave concern at the situation of human  rights  in the  occupied  territories as a result of Israeli policies.  Since  1992, he  said, 194 settlements  had been  built.  Settlement activity was expected to expand in the Golan.  Earlier this  year construction of  the settlement of Jabal Abu Ghneim had  begun, and this would complete the surrounding of Al-Quds.

He said the Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of  the Palestinian People and other Arabs of  the Occupied Territories had reported that land  in the Golan was still being confiscated to build settlements.  The authorities strengthened their grip over water resources.  Expressions of nationalist feeling for the Syrian  motherland had been repressed.

All efforts to save the peace process  were facing Israeli extremism,  he continued.  Netanyahu had replaced the logic of peace with the language  of war and settlements;  the Likud government in a short period  of time  had cancelled out  six years of progress,  and international efforts to achieve peace on the basis of justice and the restoration  of rights to those people who deserved them.   

BURHANUL ISLAM (Pakistan) said that despite international  appeals  and efforts, there  had not been any substantial improvement in the situation.  Illegal Israeli practices in the  occupied territories continued unabated, vitiating the peace process initiated six years  ago.  Israel  had totally disregarded the calls of the international community.

He believed no lasting peace in the Middle East would be possible  without achieving  a  peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine; the realization of the inalienable right  of the Palestinian people and the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian  territory were essential for any meaningful progress in the peace process.  Israel must rescind its policies aimed at changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories.  Israeli action to alter  the legal status and demographic composition of Jerusalem was deplorable.  

He said Al-Quds Al-Sharif, occupied by Israel since 1967, remained central to any comprehensive settlement, and no lasting  peace in the region was possible without the return of the city and all occupied territories to the Palestinian people.  It was incumbent on the international community to salvage the stalled Middle East peace process by injecting it with a new spirit and momentum.  It must encourage the parties, particularly Israel, to faithfully implement all the agreements and accords so as to avoid any derailment of the peace process.

He said he hoped the Israeli leadership would acknowledge the realities on the ground and  resolve all pending issues with the Palestinian National Authority.  He hoped the draft resolutions would be adopted without a vote, particularly  the text relating  to the  full participation  of Palestine in the work of the United Nations system.

MAJID TAKHT-RAVANCHI (Iran) said the Assembly's recent tenth emergency special session had demanded the immediate and full cessation of an illegal activity in the occupied territories, but the Israeli response to that and other calls by the international community, reflected in numerous United Nations resolutions, had been negative.  Israel  continued to disregard those calls with impunity.  The occupation of the territory of  others, with massive violation of basic rights, constituted  the  main causes  of  the Middle East crisis.

He said expansion of settlements, in spite  of its  undertakings and  in contravention of United Nations resolutions, showed that the Israeli regime considered itself  above  and beyond  international law.  It continuously sought to consolidate  its occupation  through demographic and geographic changes  in the occupied territories, particularly in Al-Quds   Al-Sharif/Jerusalem.  The report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs  of the Occupied  Territories indicated that the relentless policy of  settlement was currently being  pursued by  Israel, regardless of the expression of deep concern by the international community.

The Middle East crisis could be solved, he added, only through the full realization of the rights of the Palestinian people — in particular their right to self-determination, with the return  of refugees and the liberation of all occupied territories, including  Al-Quds Al-Sharif/Jerusalem, southern Lebanon and the Syrian Golan.

LEGWAILA J. LEGWAILA (Botswana) said a  just and permanent peace continued to  elude the  Palestinian people, and the people of the Middle  East at large, including the Jewish  people.  The  Oslo Agreements and the historic Declaration of Principles had yet to bring  peace and justice to the Palestinian people.  They remained  partially implemented and  consistently violated.

He said the world community believed that  the Palestinian people and the Israelis  had an equal claim to Palestine as their common heritage.  They did not see why the Israelis could not embrace their Palestinian brethren, to put an end to the needless and unjust denial to the Palestinians of their right to self-determination.  That denial had  caused untold misery and suffering to both Palestinians and the Israelis.  As long as the settlements continued to be spread in the occupied  Arab territories,  in defiance of  the spirit of Washington and Oslo, then so long would "the men of  violence in the occupied territories  feel justified  to sow  death and mayhem in Israel."

If they were to survive and deliver peace to Israel and its Arab neighbours, the Oslo Agreements must be complied with by both parties, he said.  Each had a responsibility not only to live up to its share of the commitments,  but also to  protect and  defend those  commitments from their predators, who had struck deadly blows at every  measure of progress in  the peace process.

He said Botswana had consistently  insisted  that the  construction  of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories was a provocation that could not by any stretch of the imagination promote the peace process.  They made it impossible for the Palestinian leadership to deal effectively with their anti-peace process fanatics.  For the sake of  progress they should be discontinued.

ABODULIE A. SALLAH (Gambia) said his country welcomed the signing on 15 January of the Protocol on deployment in  the Hebron/Al Khalil, and  the various  bilateral Israeli and  Palestinian  accords.  All those gains, however, were being nullified by events, actions and ominous statements of the Israeli Government.  He cited the construction and expansion of settlements, the demolition of Palestinian houses, and various  economic measures which had resulted  in the loss  of income for Palestinians in the occupied  territories. Israeli  actions had  contravened the  principles  of international law, and ignored various resolutions of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on the crisis in the  Middle East. The peace process should be revived in  earnest and Israel should be made to adhere to Security  Council resolutions  242 (1967), 338 (1973), 425 (1978) and to the principle of land for peace.

AHMET ENGIN ANSAY, Permanent Observer for  the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said the virtual stalemate in the peace  process was the result of Israeli violations of elements of  the peace agreements, and  its blatant and renewed  acts of aggression against  the Palestinian people, especially following the installation of the new Government in  Israel.  The Palestinians within their national right, had continued to resist the Israeli aggression.  They had shown a remarkable capacity to shoulder nation-building responsibilities,  despite the hurdles put in their way by Israel, particularly relating to  their reconstruction and development efforts.  The Palestinians had been helped by concerned  members of the international community, including friendly governments and non-governmental organizations.  The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the  Near East (UNRWA) should be put on a sound financial footing to avoid the downgrading of  services to  Palestinian refugees.

He said the uncooperative attitude of the Israeli authorities was hindering much needed international humanitarian and technical assistance to the Palestinian people.  Israel was still subjecting the people of Palestine to the restrictive bureaucratic formalities that were designed to deal with people living under military occupation.  There was an urgent need for immediate change.  If Israel implemented the peace accords with the same sincerity  and vigour shown by Palestine, it would bring the immeasurable benefits of peace for the people of both Palestine and Israel.  The Islamic Conference had affirmed its full support  for granting Palestine the status and facilities accorded  to  Member States,  including its  placement among Member States in the General Assembly Hall.

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