It is a pleasure, Sir, to congratulate you on your election to
the presidency of the Assembly at this session. We
have every hope that your efforts will be successful. It
is also a pleasure for me to convey our appreciation
and pride to Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed
Al-Khalifa for the tremendous effort she undertook as
President of the General Assembly at the sixty-first
session.
I would like to take this opportunity to express
our full confidence in the role of the United Nations
and all of its specialized agencies with respect to their
historic responsibilities regarding the Palestinian
question, responsibilities they will continue to bear
until this question is comprehensively settled. For
many decades, those institutions have continued to
reaffirm the established national rights of the
Palestinian people and to provide varied support for
our people, in the political, economic and humanitarian
realms. Here, we must commend the exceptional
ongoing work of the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA) and other institutions in safeguarding the
future for generations of Palestinian refugees and
providing them with the basic services they need. Our
appreciation goes also to those who have upheld the
basic human rights of the Palestinian people and who
have provided support in the areas of education and
culture and in strengthening the role of the Palestinian
Authority since its inception, as well as in building and
strengthening our national institutions.
I would like also to thank Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, who has given top priority to the Palestinian
question, who has worked to reach a solution to the
Israel-Palestinian conflict and who has placed this
matter at the centre of his concerns. He has, in
addition, creatively contributed to seeking the means to
relaunch the Middle East peace process.
The confrontations, wars and conflicts in our
region and their tragic repercussions for the peoples of
the region constitute the primary threat to global peace.
They call all of mankind to awareness. They demand
rapid intervention from the international community
with the aim of settling this situation boldly and
without delay. Our experience over the years and
decades shows that the policy of delaying a settlement
of the principal conflicts in the region, the policy of
providing partial solutions and the policy aimed at
containing the conflict by limiting the damage only
further complicate things, to the point where, today,
there is a clear threat of civil war or regional war.
Moreover this climate has been conducive to terrorism,
which unfortunately has spread to become a global
phenomenon.
However, this grim picture should not mask the
fact that hope is still alive. Indeed, thanks to the
determination of the vast majority of our people, and
thanks to the support of the international community,
our people are capable of overcoming the tragic
situation that we are being pushed into by the forces of
occupation, extremism and aggression and, by those
who seek to provoke war and terrorism in our region.
There are on the other hand responsible, active
forces in the Middle East, representing the
consciousness of the people and possessing a true
desire for freedom, progress and democracy for the
people. Although these forces are working in extreme
difficulty, they are firmly committed to overcoming the
current situation in order to create a new future for the
Middle East in which our peoples would enjoy freedom
and equality.
There can be no doubt that defending Islam a
religion of moderation, of love and brotherhood; a
human religion is the responsibility of those active
forces in our region who seek to counter any attempt to
undermine that true religion or to portray it in an unfair
manner that is entirely out of keeping with its precepts.
Islam is a religion of tolerance that opposes killing,
terrorism and assassination. It is a religion of
enlightenment, not ignorance or backwardness; a
religion of openness to the world. It is against
extremism and close-mindedness. We need to work
hand in hand to preserve our shared human values.
Those values are today being violated,
undermined and weakened. We need to work to
strengthen human understanding among religions and
cultures because the attempt to foment conflict among
religions, cultures and civilizations is one of the most
dangerous methods used by international terrorism
today.
That is why a dialogue among cultures, religions
and civilizations is necessary today, particularly
because we know that world wars have not been wars
of religion or culture, but rather wars of interest. That
reality is only one fragment of the overall picture. In
fact, missing recurrent opportunities to address the
issues of our region seriously so as to reach bold,
comprehensive solutions, in particular to the
Palestinian question, moves our people to the precipice
of despair and depression and makes them easy prey to
the forces of ignorance and fanaticism.
Is it not high time to take this opportunity, the
beginnings of which we see today, as the international
community is moving towards relaunching the peace
process, which enjoys the support not only of Israelis
and Palestinians, but also of the international
community and the world at large? Is it not time to
move seriously towards negotiating a complete end to
the 1967 Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian
territories, thereby achieving the vision of two States?
Is it not time to create a Palestinian State, with East
Jerusalem as its capital, to settle the refugee issue and
to put an end to six decades of suffering? Is it not time
to reach a fair, agreed settlement under General
Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 1948? Is it not time to
end the policies of settlement expansionism, of taking
land from Palestinians under various pretexts, of
building the apartheid separation wall, laying siege and
creating checkpoints around cities and towns and
refugee camps? Is it not time to end the policy of
collective punishment and of denying freedom to the
more than 11,300 Palestinians who are rotting in Israeli
prisons, some for more than 25 years?
Is it not time to make Jerusalem a city of peace
for all faiths and religions? Is it not time for Israel, the
occupying Power, to end any work that would change
the sacred nature of that city and all attempts to
displace its inhabitants and to violate sites sacred to
Islam and Christianity? Is it not time for Israel to end
the daily assassinations, displacements, destruction of
houses and seizure of land? Is it not time for our
people to be able to enjoy freedom and independence
on equal footing with all other peoples of the world so
that they can build a peaceful future together with all
of their neighbours, including the State of Israel?
I hope that I will not have to come back to this
rostrum next year to ask the same questions.
There is not the slightest obstacle to the
successful holding of the upcoming peace conference,
because our brotherly, Arab countries have
demonstrated through the Arab Peace Initiative their
true readiness to bring about a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace, from which all States of the
region would benefit. Those States would have normal
relations with Israel, once the Israeli occupation of
Palestinian and other Arab territories had ended and an
independent, sovereign Palestinian State had been
created within the 1967 borders. That is why we are
committed to the substance of that proposed meeting,
which should be held soon with the participation of all
parties concerned.
Let me say quite frankly that not a single
responsible political figure or leader who does not
know that the solution to the problem lies solely
between us and our Israeli neighbours. Reaching such a
lasting solution can only be a result of the many
resolutions of the General Assembly, as well as of the
initiative of President Bush, who has urged a two-State
solution: a Palestinian State living side-by-side with
the State of Israel. It must also be based on the Road
Map, endorsed in Security Council resolution 1515
(2003), the Arab Peace Initiative and the various
negotiations, projects and plans that have been
proposed by many parties since 2000.
I therefore address myself to the Israeli
Government, with whose head I have recently met. We
discussed the important issues in depth, attempting to
end the cycle of lost opportunities so that the
international conference will become a substantial
reality. We can move towards that conference together,
with clear, realistic, detailed plans with a view to
settling all of the final status issues, including
Jerusalem, borders, refugees, water security and other
key issues. I reaffirm here the full readiness of our
people to join a genuine peace process that will lead to
a comprehensive, full agreement on all final status
issues.
As we promised, we will put such an agreement
to a popular referendum that will include all
Palestinian factions and groups so that they can give
their views and opinions on any decision that would
lead to defending and safeguarding peace
comprehensively and strategically.
I also reaffirm that we will continue to deal with
the rebellion that took place in the Gaza Strip. We shall
do so in conformity with our basic laws and so that we
can preserve democracy in our country. Attempts from
whatever group or faction to impose their will and dark
ideas by force and armed revolt will not derail our
democracy. It would be wrong for anyone to think that
our people, which has for decades sacrificed martyrs,
prisoners and the wounded in order to obtain freedom,
independence and democracy and to build a free and
prosperous country, will follow such an armed group, a
closed regime and a closed, backward society.
Some have attempted in the past to play the
Palestinian issue as a political card in the service of
regional interests in order to achieve expansionist goals
or to promote specific ideas or ideologies that would
ignore the true interests of the Palestinian people. But
we who have struggled all our lives for our national
cause, for the protection of the rights and interests of
our people and for rejection of hegemony and
occupation will not allow such a tragedy to reoccur. We
will not allow those who tried to undermine our
national destiny to achieve their aims.
I came to this rostrum to convey a message from
an exhausted people which has long suffered from
occupation, displacement, prison and martyrdom. At
the same time, however, they are a people who, imbued
with dignity and faith, will build their own future, even
though their past has been the work of those who have
plotted against them and against their rights.
I have come to reiterate the words of our
immortal leader Yasser Arafat, who was certain that the
green branch of peace, which never withers or dies
would never fall from his hand. I have come to express
the pain and suffering of every Palestinian man and
woman, of all those who have lost loved ones or whose
loved ones have been wounded, of all those who are
waiting for the release from prison of their brothers,
fathers, mothers and sisters, of all those who remain
trapped on the Iraqi or Syrian borders and of the
millions of Palestinians who are living as refugees on
their own land. I have come to affirm that the messages
of peace of the prophets and the other divine
messengers who trod the paths of our land remain
vibrant, like a tree that continues to grow and bloom. I
have come to affirm that the voice of peace remains
stronger than any other voice in our country. That is
why I urge that we move forward, hand in hand, on the
shining path towards peace, leaving expediency and
short-term interests far behind.
In conclusion, and from this rostrum of the
United Nations, I say to the Palestinian people, both
those in Palestine and those abroad, that an important
historic opportunity is emerging. Therefore, let us be
united in order to make that opportunity a reality so
that our people, who have suffered so long, can recover
their legitimate national rights and achieve the peace,
stability and prosperity to which they aspire and which
they deserve. We also hope that peace will come to
other peoples who are suffering daily, such as the
brotherly Iraqi people, and to those who deserve to live
in security and stability within the framework of
democracy, such as our dear friends the Lebanese
people. Together, let us build a stable world a world
of mutual assistance based on respect for life and for
the right to self-determination. I thank the Members of
the United Nations for their support.