Jordan

I wish to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session. I wish him every success in leading us as we work to strengthen the role 15 08-53135 of the United Nations in promoting international relations in the spirit of the Charter, which is the most important international pillar of the rule of law. I also thank his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for his good efforts to ensure the success of the previous session. In addition, I wish to commend the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his efforts to reform the Organization so that it can play a more effective role in addressing emerging global challenges. In his introductory statement on 16 September 2008 (see A/63/PV.1), the day he assumed the presidency of the Assembly, Mr. d’Escoto Brockmann referred to many important political and humanitarian issues. For example, he mentioned the need to improve United Nations organs to enable them to adapt to the major changes that have occurred in the international sphere in the 63 years since the Organization was established following the Second World War. He also stated that the Organization should be improved so that it can better address the accelerated changes that have taken place since the end of the cold war and the era of polarization — changes whose effects have begun to be felt over the past two decades. In that context, Jordan believes it is essential to revitalize the role of the General Assembly as envisaged in the Charter, so that the international decision-making process can be further democratized. Jordan supports the trend towards rebalancing the relationship between the General Assembly and the Security Council. A week ago, at the 5th meeting, the Secretary- General introduced his report on the work of the Organization (A/63/1), in which he assessed the world situation. In the report, he made clear that we face challenges that encompass all human activities, transcending individual countries and regions. Hence, we must examine the dangers posed by those challenges — many of which have their roots in ideology and similar motivations — in order to find appropriate solutions and move effectively forward together. Among the challenges cited by the Secretary- General are the lack of progress in international trade negotiations, high energy costs and basic food prices and climate change. While we support the Secretary- General’s assessment, we should like to add that additional challenges are posed by continued military occupation, denial of the rights of peoples to self- determination and freedom of expression, the growing crisis of intercultural conflict and the scourge of international terrorism and extremism. The most important role being played by the United Nations in the Middle East region has been and remains that of the custodian of international law. On the one hand, it governs international relations and is the standard by which we measure progress made in the international community; on the other, it embodies a strong, objective approach to the maintenance of international peace and security. Because of our strong belief in the role of the United Nations, we view the Organization as the basic framework for finding a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, putting an end to the occupation of Arab lands and redressing the injustices suffered by the Palestinian people. For decades, the Arab States have taken many initiatives and made many proposals, based on international legitimacy, to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict so that the Palestinians can be liberated from Israeli occupation and can live in dignity in their own homeland. To that end, in 2002 the Arab States jointly submitted a comprehensive Arab Peace Initiative. It sought to end the 60-year-old conflict as well as Israel’s occupation of Arab lands — Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territories — since 1967, in exchange for a comprehensive peace that would include mutual recognition between Israel and the Arab States, including the State of Palestine, and the establishment of normal relations between them. The Arab Peace Initiative was and continues to be an open and clear invitation to Israel to become part of our region without conditions or restrictions. While the Initiative was widely welcomed by the nations of the world and was adopted by 57 States members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Israel ignored it and began to build the wall of separation, in defiance of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, and intensified its settlement activities, which threaten its chances to make peace with the Palestinian people and the Arabs. The President took the Chair. The efforts of the Quartet are essential to move the political process forward and to find a solution that, in accordance with international legitimacy, ends the Israeli occupation, dismantles the settlements, fulfils the aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish 08-53135 16 their own State in their homeland, including East Jerusalem, and enables the refugees to return to their homes and villages, from which they were expelled in 1948. From this rostrum, Jordan affirms that it supports the negotiations that resumed at Annapolis and values the strategic option of peace reaffirmed in the Arab Peace Initiative and the two-State solution. At the same time, we believe that the challenges faced by the negotiations as we approach the end of the year require the international community to demand that the parties to the negotiations meet their commitments and that the Quartet make further efforts to achieve the desired results regarding final status negotiations and the fulfilment of the Road Map obligations. The final months of 2008 will be a critical period in the course of those negotiations. Therefore, it is imperative that Israel have the political will to resolve the ongoing conflict, after more than six decades. In addition, the Palestinian people should be supported on their own land and the Palestinian National Authority should be strengthened to help it to continue fulfilling its obligations, improving the conditions for Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories and building State institutions. That also requires Palestinians to bridge their differences against the backdrop of the Arab Peace Initiative and to promote the position of the Palestinian National Authority both on the international scene and in the context of the negotiations. While all parties strive to reach a final solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel continues its illegal practices of seizing Arab land in order to change the demographic make-up of the occupied territories through the building of settlements and the separation wall, and changing the status of Jerusalem, in clear violation of international law, the principles of international legitimacy and the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Recent speed in building Israeli settlements threatens to erode all progress achieved so far in the peace process. We reject all Israeli measures that aim to create a new status quo in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in East Jerusalem, including threats to the Islamic and Arab character of the holy city. We reaffirm that Israeli violations in the holy city, and particularly in the Bab al-Magharibah area, contradict the norms of international law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, The Hague Convention of 1954, as well as the July 2008 decision of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. As Jordan has played a historic role in the supervision and maintenance of Islamic holy places in Jerusalem, we call upon Israel to comply with its pledges and obligations and to put an end to those illegal practices. Unless there is justice for the Palestinian people, our region will be subjected to a long era of destabilization. But ours will not be the only region affected by that destabilization, because the feelings of injustice, disappointment and anger will increase as a result of stagnation in the peace process. This will fuel extremism in its various forms and manifestations and will be used as a pretext by those who would like to destabilize the region and the world beyond. I would like to congratulate the brotherly people of Lebanon on having achieved national reconciliation, on the election of a President and the formation of a Government of national unity. I also congratulate them on embarking on an extensive and profound process of national dialogue aimed at strengthening Lebanese State institutions and seeking ways to defend Lebanese territory and sovereignty. Concerning Iraq, we welcome the remarkable progress made in that brotherly country and the improvement of the situation at all levels. Jordan recently reopened and adequately staffed its embassy in Baghdad. His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan recently visited the brotherly country of Iraq; his visit was widely welcomed at the Arab and international levels. We encourage all channels of political and economic communication between Iraq and other Arab countries, and we encourage the Iraqi Government to continue its approach to developing channels of national reconciliation in order to build upon the progress achieved so far in the areas of politics and security. Such progress encourages Iraqis to return to their country from neighbouring States and the building of a society based on political diversity and free of sectarianism, factionalism and other harms to society. Making the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction is a prerequisite for ensuring the peace and stability of the region. In 1970, based on our belief in and support for the preventive goals of nuclear non-proliferation, we, joined other countries in 17 08-53135 the world and the region, with the exception of Israel, in acceding to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We call upon the international community and influential States to bring pressure to bear in order to ensure accession by all countries to that international Treaty in order to achieve a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East in accordance with international agreements, and to put an end to nuclear military programmes in the region once and for all. Concerning the Iranian nuclear issue, we believe that every nation should exercise its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. But, at the same time, we call for a resolution of that issue, based on a peaceful approach and on negotiations. In that regard, Jordan attaches great importance to promoting security and stability in the Arabian Gulf area in accordance with the principles of international legitimacy, good- neighbourliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of States. We welcome any effective contribution by Arab States that would maintain undiminished security and stability in our region. Jordan and the whole region have suffered from the scourge of international terrorism. That has made us more vigilant, cautious and determined to effectively combat terrorism with a view to eradicating it. Jordan upholds international counter-terrorism conventions and values international cooperation in that area. We have also taken the necessary national measures, including legislative measures, to combat that scourge effectively and to support international efforts to combat it. Manifestations of extremism in the region are often based on politicized pretexts that serve the narrow interests of certain groups. Such groups misrepresent the true Islamic religion and use it as a cover for their deeds, thereby threatening the forces of moderation and projecting an incorrect image of Islam to the world. In that regard, His Majesty King Abdullah II, in his Amman message, called upon all Muslim nations to project the proper image of Islam. As we are about to celebrate the first decade of the auspicious reign of His Majesty King Abdullah II, we are very proud of the great achievements made during his reign and look forward to even greater achievements in the years ahead. During that decade, Jordanian participation in peacekeeping operations expanded, reaching a cumulative total of 60,000 men and women who have served in 20 missions on four continents. That contribution reflects our serious and unreserved commitment to enhancing international peace and security. By the end of 2008, our economy will have doubled in size since a decade ago. Per capita income will have grown by 65 per cent. Exports and investment will have increased threefold. Jordan has implemented ambitious reform plans towards the liberalization of foreign trade and the enhancement of the business environment. We have strengthened the programmes and institutions of good governance and political development, enhanced the role of women and the protection of human rights, combated corruption and made breakthroughs in the areas of health and education. The Government is also carrying out ambitious programmes towards political, economic and social reform and development in accordance with the national agenda, with a view to achieving a better future for the country. This is of particular importance because young people represent 60 per cent of our population. In spite of all those efforts, programmes and successes, successive crises in our region continue to present great challenges to our development process. Those challenges are exacerbated by the severe current economic crises and increased prices of food and fuel, leading to increased inflation of about 15 per cent. Here I would like to reaffirm that international efforts to address economic challenges should take into account the voices of countries such as Jordan so that all may benefit from international efforts to address the challenges of the international economic, food and energy crises, in particular through programmes and mechanisms that take into consideration the specific situations of those States.