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Mr. President,
Thank you for arranging today’s important session. It is the annual reaffirmation by this august House of its commitment to legitimate struggle and inalienable rights of the Palestinian People.
The session coincides with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, observed yesterday. The day reminds us that peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine has remained one of the major challenges for the international community for last six decades.
As we are now into the seventh decade of our collective failure to meet this challenge, prospects of a final settlement are still elusive. The collective voice of peace and compassion emanating from various chambers of the United Nations continues to be ignored. Such open defiance of international community diminishes the prospects of peace and prolongs the suffering of Palestinians living under occupation.
One institution in the UN that has held aloft the cause of peace in the Middle East is the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Yesterday, we were briefed on its annual report. We greatly value its work under able leadership of the Permanent Representative of Senegal Ambassador Abdou Salam Diallo. We also thank its Rapporteur, the Ambassador Saviour Borg of Malta for his invaluable contribution.
Mr. President,
The resumption of Israel-Palestine direct negotiations in September this year had rekindled hopes for all of us for sustainable peace in the Middle East and permanent political settlement of Israel-Palestinian question. But hopes and optimism appear to be short-lived as the window of opportunity for meaningful and sustained negotiations is once again closing.
The major hurdle for a long term sustainable political process is the settlement activity by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Settlement activity is a major provocation. It violates international law, vitiates the atmosphere conducive for negotiations and mutes the voices of peace and compassion. For us, the most disquieting aspect of the settlement activity is the ongoing effort to remove traces of Palestinian heritage by altering status of centuries-old cemeteries, mosques and churches. This activity is endemic in East Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem. It is being done in the name of creating new housing space or commissioning other buildings. East Jerusalem is witnessing renewed settlement activity in neighbourhood of Ramot and Pisgat Zeiev. Regrettably, violence by Israeli settlers against their Palestinian neighbours is corollary of settlement activity. Israel must stop this illegality. It must also end a calculated ambiguity on settlements in the West Bank, with a categorical renunciation of any new project. Until Israel renounces construction of new housing and commercial projects in Occupied Territories, the settlement activity will continue to derail the negotiations and cast its ugly shadow on the peace process.
Any meaningful and viable negotiation process must run in parallel with improvement in lives of the Palestinian people. For now, millions of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories live under shadows of check-points, road-blocks, military siege and separation walls. Recent measures taken by the Israeli authorities to ease restrictions on movement in the West Bank and improve Gaza access offer some hope. Such measures must be sustained by a deeper political commitment to improve livelihoods in Palestine --- through respect of human rights, freedom of movement and unrestricted flow of commerce.
Pakistan’s delegation would take this opportunity to call upon the International community to increase its assistance to Palestinian Authority, especially regarding plans for building the state-institutions. Many independent studies, including ‘Economic Monitoring Report’ of the World Bank, have praised the Palestinian Authority for institution-building and delivery of public services. The World Bank and the IMF have projected 8% growth rate in the West Bank and Gaza. This economic boom and entrepreneurship, which shows resilience of the people of Palestine, can be a solid edifice for the Palestinian Statehood. It holds immense promise for lasting peace in the region and must be complemented by generous development assistance.
We would also urge the Member States to address the financial challenges faced by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for the Near East (UNRWA) in its working. Pakistan, despite its financial constraints by unprecedented floods this year, will continue with all possible support to UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority.
The International Community must act to rekindle the hopes of peace through a meaningful negotiation process. As stated by the distinguished Permanent Representative of Egypt on behalf of Non-Aligned Movement, we must remain united in our demand that Israel must respect its legal obligation as an Occupying Power. We believe that lasting settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict cannot be achieved without addressing the root cause of Israeli occupation of the Arab territories. The solution, therefore, requires Israel's complete withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and all other occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan and in South Lebanon.
We also look forward to substantive and objective investigations by the Secretary General’s Panel of Inquiry on Freedom Flotilla-incident of 31 May 2010. The Panel must diligently pursue the matter. Justice must prevail and those affected must be duly compensated.
Mr. President,
Pakistan shares the collective objective of the international community for an independent, sovereign and viable State of Palestine --- with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, living side-by-side and in peace with all its neigbours. We are supportive of lasting peace for all the inhabitants of the Middle East, irrespective of religion, ethnicity and nationality. Peace has eluded the region for far too long. Peace cannot elude the region forever.
Thank you.