{"id":198756,"date":"2011-09-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=198756"},"modified":"2019-03-12T17:39:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:39:43","slug":"auto-insert-198756","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-198756\/","title":{"rendered":"GA President closes general debate – Palestine bid for UN membership\/statements – GA press release (excerpts)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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General Assembly<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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GA\/11155<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tDepartment of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
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Sixty-sixth General Assembly<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n
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Plenary<\/p><\/div>\n

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28<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span>, 29<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> & 30<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> Meetings (AM, PM & Night)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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CLOSING 'HISTORIC AND UNFORGETTABLE' ANNUAL DEBATE, GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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SAYS TIME TO SHIFT GEARS TO CRUCIAL NEXT STEP, 'TURN TALK INTO REAL IMPACT'<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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World Leaders Came to Express ‘Hopes and Needs of Their Nations’,<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Salute Courage of Those Who Fought for Freedom, Dignity, Democracy around Globe<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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“It has been an historic and unforgettable debate,” said the President of the General Assembly this evening as he closed the annual event, but it was now time to shift attention to the crucial next step, “turning talk into real impact”.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Speaking in the legendary General Assembly Hall, where, since last Wednesday, representatives of 194 Member States and Observers — 100 at the level of Heads of State and Government — had come “to express the hopes and needs of their nations”, the President of the sixty-sixth session, Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser of Qatar, said “coming together is the start; working together will get us to the end”.<\/p><\/div>\n

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World leaders, he said, had called on the international community to assist in the fulfilment of their populations’ aspirations for the rule of law, transparency, prosperity, justice and human rights, including responsible freedom of expression.  As they came together to consider such timely and complex issues, the role of mediation was “clearly more relevant than ever before”, he said of the theme selected for the current session — “mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes”.  <\/p><\/div>\n

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But, he noted, claiming centre stage were the tributes paid by speaker after speaker to the hope awakened by the shifts taking place around the globe — especially the Middle East and North Africa — and the courage of those who had fought for freedom, dignity and democracy, and who had made clear that Governments could not suppress their people without accountability.<\/p><\/div>\n

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That renewal of hope and determination dominated discussion on the Palestinian issue as well, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he had submitted an application to the Secretary-General for the admission of Palestine to the United Nations.  Calling that an “historic moment”, the Assembly President said he had been impressed to hear the overwhelming majority of international leaders call for a Middle East peace resulting in two viable, sovereign and independent States — Israel and Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Background<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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The General Assembly met today to continue and conclude its general debate.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Statements<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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HAMADY OULD HAMADY, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mauritania<\/u>, …<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Israeli-Arab conflict was also a source of insecurity, and his country supported recovery of all the rights of the Palestinian people, calling on recognition of Palestine as an independent State along the borders of June 1967 with full membership to the Organization.  Mauritania also condemned Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip and acts by Israel’s military. …<\/p><\/div>\n

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DJIBRILL YPÈNÈ BASSOLÉ, Minster for Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Burkina Faso<\/u>, …<\/p><\/div>\n

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… He finally expressed solidarity with Tunisia, Egypt and Libya in their quest for freedom and democracy, and he supported the application of Palestine for membership in the United Nations.<\/p><\/div>\n

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PHAM BINH MINH, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam<\/u>, …<\/p><\/div>\n

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… He also noted that Viet Nam had recognized the State of Palestine in 1988 and had always supported the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent and sovereign State.<\/p><\/div>\n

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DATO SRI ANIFAH AMAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malaysia<\/u>, said that in a turbulent neighbourhood, mediation was the only answer for people to live in peace and security.  “Through mediation, we can determine what the security concerns of people are and take appropriate measures,” he said, recalling that year after year, there had been hope for a peaceful and just resolution to the Palestinian issue.  Patience and prudence had their merits, but they must not result in paralysis.  “We must act,” he said, stressing that Malaysia supported Palestine’s bid for statehood and full United Nations membership. <\/p><\/div>\n

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NASSIROU BAKO ARIFARI, Minister for Foreign Affairs, African Integration, Francophonie and Beninese Abroad of Benin<\/u>, …<\/p><\/div>\n

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… With respect to the Palestinian question, he said the United Nations had the means to find a lasting solution, and it should not shirk its historic responsibilities for a Palestinian State living in peaceful coexistence with Israel.  He supported that goal and called on the Security Council to facilitate a rapid solution so Palestinians’ daily suffering would be relieved. <\/p><\/div>\n

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DOMINIQUE MAMBERTI, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See<\/u>, …<\/p><\/div>\n

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… Courageous decisions also needed to be made for the right of Palestinians to have their own sovereign State and the right of Israel to have security.  The Holy See urged both parties to return to negotiations with determination and resolve, issuing a call to the international community to help foster lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

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NICOLÁS MADUROS MOROS, Minister of the People’s Power for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela<\/u>, …<\/p><\/div>\n

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… Asking why Libya’s National Transitional Council was granted a seat in the General Assembly while Palestine’s admission to the United Nations was blocked, he voiced unrestricted support to the Palestinian national cause.  Moreover, only the Syrian people could decide their fate in light of the right to self-determination. <\/p><\/div>\n

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HINA RABBANI KHAR, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan<\/u>, speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, …<\/p><\/div>\n

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… Reaffirming support for Palestinians’ inalienable right to an independent homeland with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital, and to United Nations membership, more broadly, she said that the aspirations of people in North Africa and the Middle East must be accommodated without external interference, in a manner consistent with the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity.<\/p><\/div>\n

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ESPEN BARTH EIDE, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs for Norway<\/u>, …<\/p><\/div>\n

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Turning to the Middle East, he said Norway’s policy was based on the vision of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.  It was legitimate for Palestinians to turn to the United Nations under current circumstances and he welcomed the call by the Quartet for negotiations on outstanding final status issues to be completed within a year.  Norway looked forward to welcoming Palestine as a full United Nations member.  Stressing the importance of strengthening the United Nations, he said the Organization had not been equipped with the resources to carry out its mandates.  “We define noble objectives, only to undercut them in the budgeting process,” he said.  <\/p><\/div>\n

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FRANCISCO CARRIÓN-MENA (Ecuador<\/u>) …<\/p><\/div>\n

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… Ecuador had recognized Palestine as a State within 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on 24 December 2010.  Thus, it supported Palestine’s admission to the United Nations as a Member State.  …<\/p><\/div>\n

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For information media • not an official record<\/strong> <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General Assembly GA\/11155 Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York Sixty-sixth General Assembly Plenary 28th, 29th & 30th Meetings (AM, PM & Night) CLOSING 'HISTORIC AND UNFORGETTABLE' ANNUAL DEBATE, GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS TIME TO SHIFT GEARS TO CRUCIAL NEXT STEP, 'TURN TALK INTO REAL IMPACT'   World Leaders Came to Express […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2433,1329,1338],"document-source":[1365,1897],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1749,1797,1905,2741],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542,6541],"class_list":["post-198756","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-french-text","document-category-press-release","document-category-statement","document-source-general-assembly","document-source-united-nations-department-of-public-information-dpi","document-subject-palestine-question","document-subject-peace-process","document-subject-peace-proposals-and-efforts","document-subject-statehood-related","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english","document-language-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/198756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/198756\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=198756"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=198756"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=198756"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=198756"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=198756"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=198756"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=198756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}