General Assembly Session 55 meeting 76

Mr. Ahmad (Malaysia)

My delegation is pleased to participate in the debate on the question of Palestine in the Assembly today, which coincides with the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Given the current grave situation in the occupied territories of Palestine, including Jerusalem, it is important for the international community to continue to remind itself on this day of the still-unresolved issue of Palestine and of its responsibility to support the speedy return of the peace process.

Malaysia continues to be deeply dismayed by the spiralling violence that has descended on Palestine, particularly in East Jerusalem and Gaza, as well as in several Arab townships in Israel. More than 280 people -- the majority of them Palestinians and Israeli Arabs -- have been killed since the latest round of violence, which erupted following the provocative visit to the holy sites at Al-Haram Al-Sharif on 28 September by Mr. Ariel Sharon, the Likud leader. In addition to the deaths and destruction of property suffered by the Palestinians, thousands were wounded as a result of the massive use of deadly force by Israeli security forces. My delegation mourns these senseless deaths and offers our profound condolences to the bereaved families as well as to the Palestinian Authority and the people of Palestine.

Malaysia deplores all forms of violence. We strongly condemn the disproportionate and excessive use of force by Israeli security forces against Palestinian civilians, and we call on them to put an end to the collective punishment of the Palestinians through such actions as prohibiting the movement of persons, goods and resources. These actions constitute grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is applicable to all the territories occupied by Israel since 1967. We have a clear responsibility to ensure that the provisions of the Convention are respected and innocent civilians living under Israeli occupation are protected.

Specific measures must be taken to put an end to the violations against the Palestinian people. Palestinian leaders have asked for a United Nations protection or observer force to monitor the situation on the ground, thereby ensuring the safety of unarmed civilians. This proposal deserves the support of the international community. To assist in the restoration of normalcy Israel should withdraw its armed forces, end the restriction of movement of people and goods, lift financial sanctions against the Palestinian Authority and exercise maximum restraint in managing the current volatile situation.

My delegation calls on Israel to return to the negotiating table and to conduct its negotiations with the Palestinian side in good faith, which is dictated by the need to end and resolve the issue once and for all and to serve the best interests of all concerned. Every effort should be made to pursue the goals of peace, security and cooperation cherished by all in the region. All commitments made under existing agreements must be upheld. Clearly, there are no other options towards this end. It is therefore crucial for the international community to encourage the parties to work towards a negotiated settlement. There is no other viable alternative.

Now, more than ever, the United Nations has an important role to play to ensure the realization of the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine, primarily their right to self-determination. This Organization must continue to be involved, both as the guardian of international legitimacy and in the mobilization and provision of international assistance for development. The work of United Nations agencies and committees particularly devoted to the Palestinian issues -- such as the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories -- must continue to be supported.

Malaysia, for its part, has for many years been contributing in cash and in kind to Palestinians through the United Nations or bilaterally. This includes our annual contribution to UNRWA, technical assistance programmes and training of pilots, and upgrading telecommunications as well as other infrastructure.

My delegation fervently hopes that the long quest by the Palestinian people for statehood will be realized soon in fulfilment of their expectations. Malaysia will continue to support the Palestinians in their just and legitimate struggle for self-determination, including the right to establish an independent and sovereign Palestinian State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. This, along with the implementation of all international resolutions on the Palestinian issue, is the only guarantee for lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. We look forward to welcoming the State of Palestine as a member of the community of nations in this Organization. In this regard, we strongly support President Arafat's efforts towards declaring the establishment of an independent Palestinian State.

We are confident that under the courageous and wise leadership of President Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian people will triumph in their just struggle. It is imperative for the international community to lend its resolute support to the Palestinian leadership and people in their unrelenting and peaceful quest for justice, freedom and independence.

Consistent with Malaysia's long-standing and unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their leadership, my delegation will continue to join in sponsoring the four draft resolutions on this agenda item, as we have in previous years.

Mr. Shobokshi (Saudi Arabia)

The question of Palestine is at a critical stage, with serious repercussions that are halting the peace process between the Arabs and the Israelis mainly because of Israeli prevarication despite Security Council and United Nations resolutions and international accords that Israel signed with the Palestinians.

Israel has transformed the peace process into a process of siege and genocide against the unarmed Palestinian people, using brutal military force to besiege and isolate it on its own homeland. The Israeli occupying force has shown itself to be more brutal than any other, since it specializes in killing children and in employing methods that create widows and orphans as if to bring about the total genocide of the Palestinian people.

Sharon's assault on the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque with a large number of guards is but one link in a long chain of Israeli provocations and violations on Muslim holy sites and shrines. It suffices to refer here to the deliberate fire in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was started by an Israeli extremist in 1969, and to the assault of the Great Rabbi of the Israeli Army and 50 of his followers when they started to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1967. Similar violence was repeated by another rabbi in 1973. Other acts of aggression against Al-Haram Al-Sharif took place in 1998, 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994. Violence was, and still is, Israel's method of dealing with the Palestinians and with their rights in the Palestinian uprising.

The Palestinian uprising is a response to this method of persecution and coercion. Israel alone bears full responsibility for all acts of violence and terrorism. The violent party is the one that uses force, as Israel has done by using military weapons such as tanks, missiles and helicopter gunships against children armed only with stones. What we are witnessing today in occupied Palestine is born out of deep Palestinian despair. The Palestinians are no longer capable of containing their fury, their suffering and bitterness after long years of Israeli prevarication and delay and non-compliance with Security Council resolutions and various agreements with the Palestinians.

The status of the Palestinians has not changed. They are still under the yoke of occupation, with no signs of gaining the right to independence, freedom and safe living like any other people. Israeli settlements continue to grow and so do policies of home demolition and land seizure. Because of unfair Israeli practices, the unemployment rate among Palestinians is three times greater now than at the time of the signing of the Oslo agreements. The Palestinian annual income has fallen by 33 per cent. The Palestinians do not control their resources or their destiny. They are threatened with imprisonment and detention at all times, and for any reason. The Israeli occupying Power has the right to reoccupy areas from which its forces have withdrawn, arrest whomever they want, close borders, lay siege, spread hunger and turn the occupied territories into a great prison where terror and horror prevail.

The current events in occupied Palestine emphasize the fact that Israel has not given up the arrogance of might and the violence of deterrence. The only guarantee for its security is not security as it claims, but its repression of anyone around it, as its acts demonstrate. Israel is not ready yet for an historic reconciliation with the Palestinians in a way that safeguards freedom and dignity and a just and comprehensive peace for all.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia blames Israel for the serious repercussions of recent events and for the massacres it is carrying out on Palestinian territory. From this rostrum, the Kingdom denounces and condemns all brutal Israeli acts, as represented in its military aggression against the Palestinians. These acts contravene all humanitarian principles. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia calls upon the international community and the co-sponsors of the peace process to act immediately to stop the Israeli crimes to which the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people are exposed.

On the basis of its interest in a just and comprehensive peace and in bringing about security and stability to the region, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has supported the peace talks from the very beginning and has participated in the Madrid Conference and in the multilateral talks. The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirms that there cannot be a lasting, just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East without the full restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including its right to establish its independent State, with Jerusalem as its capital. Israel must also implement Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and fully commit itself to the principle of restoring all Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 in return for peace. The right of Palestinian refugees to return to their lands and the right to the return of their property or, for those who do not wish to return, to receive compensation, as well as the full withdrawal from the Syrian Golan occupied in 1967 and the remaining lands in southern Lebanon must be upheld.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirms that Jerusalem is an Arab and Islamic question on which there can be no bargaining or concessions. We cannot give it up because it is part and parcel of the occupied Arab territory, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions. We call on the international community in general and the sponsors of the peace process in particular to take a decisive position to force Israel to halt its aggression against unarmed Palestinians, resume the peace process and implement all agreements with the Palestinians without delay. The sponsors of peace have a special responsibility for the deterioration of the current situation, because sponsorship requires the sponsor to ensure the correctness of the approach to peace and the accountability of those responsible for delaying it. The Arab party has been fully committed to the peace process, has made it a strategic option, has shown all possible flexibility and has affirmed its desire for a just and comprehensive peace. Therefore, the sponsors of the peace process should make all efforts to stop the Israeli Government's serious escalation of events and to force it to respect international legitimacy and implement United Nations resolutions.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirms the demands of the recent Arab summit regarding the need to form a neutral fact-finding committee within the United Nations that will refer to the Security Council and to the Commission on Human Rights its report on the serious deterioration in occupied Palestine and the massacres committed by the occupying force. It should also respond to the Palestinian Authority's request to send international observers to the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, to stop all aggression against children, women and civilians in the occupied Arab territories.

Talking about peace is not enough unless it is supported by actions to achieve it, by full commitment to what was agreed and the implementation of all resolutions of international legitimacy. People will not surrender to injustice nor will they accept living under the yoke of occupation without freedom and dignity, because injustice, with the continued failure of the peace process, will only lead to resistance, a legitimate right to end injustice and aggression. The solution is not to surrender, but rather to achieve peace based on justice.

Mr. Chowdhury (Bangladesh)

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