May I extend
the warmest congratulations to you, Sheikha Haya, on
your election as President of the General Assembly.
Allow me also to say a word of gratitude and
admiration to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Jordan
applauds the progress achieved in United Nations
reform under Secretary-General Annan’s tenure. In
particular, we welcome the recent creation of the
Human Rights Council and of the Peacebuilding
Commission.
I come before the Assembly today with a deep
sense of urgency. Never has it been more important for
the world community to act decisively for peace in my
region. The recent crisis in the Middle East is a crisis
for all nations. There can be no just global order when
aggression and occupation are permitted to take the
place of international law. When these occur in a
region as strategic as the Middle East, the shockwaves
run worldwide. Our young people are asking, where is
the justice, where is the will, of the global community?
We must answer them by establishing a lasting peace
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based on the international legality that we have
pledged to uphold.
That means a new focus on the core problem. The
region’s contemporary crises are outgrowths of a
central grievance felt throughout the Middle East and,
indeed, the world. That grievance, plain and simple, is
Israeli occupation and the denial, over decades, of
Palestinian rights. Until we end that wrong, conflict
will breed more conflict, year after year.
The Middle East conflict has repeatedly come
before this institution. And the United Nations position
has been repeatedly articulated in resolutions
condemning aggression and occupation, affirming
Palestinian self-determination and supporting a process
for peace. Yet, each year without progress has brought
us another crisis, more suffering and more division. It
is time to take a better path.
We must, of course, respond immediately to help
those who suffer the terrible destruction of conflict. In
Lebanon we must ensure that the Government can
extend its sovereignty and control over all Lebanese
territory. The Arab world and the international
community must make every effort and must support
reconstruction and development. Those are vital
measures; but in the Middle East they are only partial
measures.
We can solve the Arab-Israeli conflict only by
addressing the issue at its core: the restoration of
internationally recognized Palestinian rights. In 2002,
the 22 Arab States — agreeing unanimously — led the
way with a breakthrough peace proposal. Our vision
and our commitment is a viable and independent
Palestinian State living side by side with a secure
Israel. Under the Arab peace initiative, Israel’s security
would be guaranteed and the occupation of Palestine
would end, in accordance with United Nations
resolutions.
Events show clearly that there can be no
unilateral solution to the conflict. There must be a
genuine partnership among all parties, in the context of
international legality and justice.
Such a global partnership for peace is directly
connected to the global partnership for development.
Around the world, nations at peace are moving forward
with economic growth and development: investing in
education, building communities and helping to shape
the future of the world. But no nation succeeds in
isolation. All nations and all people — especially our
young people — must be able to share in a promising
future.
We must make peace a priority. We must do so
now. No session of this great institution could make a
greater contribution to a future of justice and hope.