When I
stood on this platform in September last year, I
addressed the issue of the threats that beset our world.
Unfortunately, these threats are still present and have
even increased and diversified, and we are not any
closer to achieving the Millennium Development
Goals, which we set for ourselves ten years ago during
the Millennium Summit. We believe that the
malfunction that our world suffers from is due, not to a
lack of resources, but to mismanagement and lack of
justice and equity.
The global economic, financial and food crisis
and the persistence of hunger, poverty and other
challenges facing humanity today prompt us to rebuild
our institutions and formulate our strategies to better
respond to the challenges and crises facing the
international community. The time has come to
reformulate the global economic system in order for it
to achieve justice and equal opportunities for all.
Among the important international conferences and
forums that Doha hosted this year was the World
Economic Forum Global Redesign Summit, which
resulted in many proposals for improving the existing
international structures and cooperative arrangements,
in order to create an international system conducive to
meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. I
call on decision makers to discuss the proposals and
adopt those that are appropriate.
You may all know that our region is still
experiencing the highest degree of tension in the world.
The question of Palestine has been awaiting a just
solution for decades, the situation remains precarious
in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Iranian
nuclear crisis requires a solution. We have repeatedly
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stressed the importance of reaching a solution through
peaceful and diplomatic means, and, in our view, a
fruitful, direct dialogue between the United States of
America and the Islamic Republic of Iran would
contribute to the resolution of this crisis.
The strategic importance of the Arabian Gulf
region stems from its geostrategic position and the fact
that it is sitting on half of the world’s oil and natural
gas reserves and is the source of one quarter of the
world’s production of these two primary driving forces
of the global economy. Let this be yet another
consideration that prompts the international community
to recognize the importance of achieving political
stability and security in the Middle East. This is a
difficult goal that can only be achieved by renouncing
the use of force, freeing the region of weapons of mass
destruction, without exception, and settling bilateral
disputes and regional conflicts on the basis of
international law, the United Nations Charter, the
resolutions of international legitimacy and the
principles of justice and equity.
Israel’s persistence in violating international law
and humanitarian values was reflected in the acts of
piracy committed against peace activists who tried to
break the unjust and inhuman siege imposed on the
Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. This prompts us
again to call upon the international community to stand
as one in demanding that Israel lift the blockade
immediately and fully.
We are now at a historic juncture in the process
of the settlement of the question of Palestine. For
everyone should realize that the Arab countries will not
accept the peace that Israel wants to impose as it
pleases and outside international legitimacy. A lasting,
acceptable and secure peace must guarantee the rights
of the Palestinian people, especially the establishment
of a Palestinian State, with Jerusalem as its capital.
For reasons some of which we can understand
and some of which we fail to understand, this first
decade of the twenty-first century has been blighted by
the blind attack that has come to be known as the war
on terrorism. Thus the fresh start of a new century has
been hamstrung by a quagmire of distortions and
damage, some, if not all, of which could have been
avoided. We recognize the existence of certain
practices that clearly fall within the scope of terrorism,
but in this regard we emphasize two premises.
First, we disagree with the attribution of this so-
called terrorism to the Islamic religion, because — in
addition to being incorrect — that ascription is
historically unjust and is refuted by evidence from
recent history. In the twentieth century, including the
second half thereof, unjustifiably violent actions
occurred in the United States of America, Europe and
Asia, but no one has characterized those acts of
terrorism as American, European or Asian. Rather,
those acts of violence are attributed to their underlying
political, economic, social and even ideological causes,
without reference to any religion, country or idea. By
contrast, what we have seen and suffered in the first
decade of this century — what is called the war on
terror — is a phenomenon unprecedented in
international politics. It has plunged us into a kind of
war with no limits, end, logic or legal or moral
conditions. Some of this is still happening and,
although we note that the current United States
Administration has discontinued the use of the term
“war on terror”, we are still looking forward to clearer
and bolder initiatives.
The other premise that we disagree with is that
we believe that even though the phenomenon of
terrorism does exist it should not be addressed by
waging wars. That approach has not achieved security,
peace or prosperity. On the contrary, it has spread
destruction everywhere, deprived millions of people of
their livelihoods, spread fear, caused the displacing and
killing of millions of people as well as economic and
financial crises that have shaken the stability of the
world, and undermined efforts aimed at dialogue
among cultures.
I do not want to take up too much of the
Assembly’s time, but we believe that the situation in
which we find ourselves after the first decade of this
intriguing century should not be allowed to continue,
and its corrosive ramifications should not go
unchecked. What we fear is that the war on terrorism
may turn into a series of financial transactions
concluded with armies of mercenaries who are given
free rein to kill outside of any international or human
legitimacy. That is a very dangerous prospect.
In this first decade, we have faced major
challenges. We should resolve that war is not the way
to deal with such challenges. Rather, we should come
to terms with ourselves, with this era and with its
concomitant progress, and determine to turn the new
decade and the decades that follow into an era in which
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major challenges are addressed with more in-depth
understanding and knowledge.
Proceeding from our belief that dialogue is the
most effective way to resolve conflicts, we have set out
to seek a resolution to several political crises in our
region by promoting dialogue between the concerned
parties, whether in Lebanon, Yemen, the Horn of Africa
or the Sudan.
At the national level in the State of Qatar, we
pursue human-centred development policies based on a
holistic approach in dealing with human development.
We have set ourselves the goals of modernization,
reform and development in order to build a modern
constitutional State of law-based institutions that
guarantee citizens their freedoms, rights and
responsibilities. We have taken concrete steps towards
enhancing our development capabilities, including our
health, educational and cultural institutions, which we
hope will reach international standards, as well as
enhancing national industrial enterprises to utilize
natural resources in our country. God has granted our country an abundance of
hydrocarbon fuel reserves. We have endeavoured to
make the best use of this wealth, employ its revenues
in the service of Qatari citizens and improve our
various human development indicators because we,
like other inhabitants of planet Earth, are anxious to
address the impact of climate change. Our interest in
clean energy, particularly natural gas, is on our list of
priorities. And to contribute to the reduction of carbon
emissions, we have developed policies that aim to
benefit from clean and renewable energy sources.
Through this approach, we hope to contribute
nationally, regionally and internationally to the
establishment of peace, stability and security, as well
as to the development that comes with them. Thus, we
hope to assume our part of the collective responsibility
for the common good.