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| President Mahmoud Abbas |
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BPNIC, October 2007
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Statement by H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas
Chairman of the Executive Committee
of the Palestine Liberation Organization
President of the Palestinian National Authority
United Nations General Assembly
Sixty-second Session
New York, 28 September 2007
Mr. President
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a pleasure for me, Mr. President, to congratulate you
on your election to the presidency of this session. We are
very hopeful that your work and efforts will be successful.
I would like also to convey through you our appreciation to
H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa for the tremendous
efforts she undertook during her presidency of the General
Assembly in the previous session.
On this occasion I would like to express our full confidence
in the role of the United Nations and all its specialized
agencies, given its historic responsibility towards the
question of Palestine until it is resolved in all its
aspects, as it, for many decades, has continued to reaffirm
the national and inalienable rights of the Palestinian
people and to guarantee all kinds of support for our people
in the political, economic and humanitarian fields.
We must refer to the exceptional work that has been done and
continues to be done by the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in
order to preserve the future for generations of Palestine
refugees and to ensure them basic services.
We must also refer to the efforts exerted by other
institutions whether they defend the basic human rights of
the Palestinian citizens, or extend support to us in
educational and cultural fields and in enhancing the role of
the Palestinian National Authority since its inception and
contributing to the building of our national institutions.
I would also like to thank H.E. the Secretary-General, Mr.
Ban Ki-moon, for placing the question of Palestine at the
head of his work priorities and for the high attention he
has given to seeking a solution for the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict and creatively contributing with us to securing the
means that would lead to the re-launching of the peace
process.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Confrontations, wars and conflicts in our region and their
dangerous and tragic repercussions on the peoples of the
regions have become the primary threat to world peace. I
call upon the conscience of the entire humanity and the
international community to act urgently to radically address
these situations without delay. Our experiences over the
past years and decades have proven that the policy of
delaying the settlement of the major conflicts in our region
or partially addressing them just to contain them or to
reduce the dangers of these conflicts or to manage them have
only led to further complication of the situations and the
threat of civil and regional wars and helping terrorism to
grow in an environment conducive to it and to spread to
regrettably become a global phenomenon.
However, this grim picture should not conceal from our eyes
the reality that hope is still alive and that the will of
the overwhelming majority of our peoples, supported by the
international community, are capable of overcoming the
tragic destiny which the forces of occupation, extremism and
aggression and war and terrorism in our region want to force
us into.
Indeed, there are vital and responsible forces in the Middle
East which represent the conscience of their peoples and
have a deep desire to move towards liberation, progress and
democracy. Though these forces work and struggle in extreme
difficulties, they are committed and have the strong will to
overcome the current situations and to create a new future
for the Middle East in which all of its peoples will enjoy
freedom and equality.
There could be no doubt that defending Islam, this religion
of moderation, love and human brotherhood, is the
responsibility of these vital forces in our region to
counter the attempts to defame this monotheistic religion or
to portray it in an unfair and distorted manner contrary to
its spirit and tenets. Islam is a religion of tolerance
against terrorism, killing and assassination. It is a
religion of enlightenment against ignorance, darkness and
backwardness. It is the religion of openness to the world
against closeness and extremism. We all must work together
to preserve the mutual human values which we all realize are
subject today to violation, aggression and defamation. We
must seek broaden human understanding between different
religions, cultures and civilizations, because the attempt
to spread the spirit of animosity between them is one of the
most dangerous means used by international terrorism in the
present time. That is why the dialogue among cultures,
religions and civilizations is necessary today, particularly
since all wars, especially the world wars, were not wars
between religions and cultures but rather wars of interests.
That reality constitutes only one fragment of the overall
picture. Missing opportunities one after another to
seriously address the issues of the peoples in the region
and to reach fundamental and comprehensive solutions to
them, with the question of Palestine at the forefront, will
push our peoples towards the precipice of despair and
frustration and make them easy prey to the forces of
ignorance and extremism.
Is it not time for the international community to seize this
opportunity which we have today to move towards re-launching
the peace process? And to transform the idea of the
international meeting, which has gained, not only the
overwhelming support of the Palestinian and Israeli
societies but also of the world at large, into a new
beginning for negotiations that would lead to an end to the
Israeli occupation of our Palestinian territory and other
Arab territories occupied since 1967 and to the achievement
of the vision of two States?
Is it not time to establish the independent Palestinian
State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital and to find a
just and agreed upon solution to the plight of Palestinian
refugees in accordance with General Assembly resolution 194
in order to put an end to their anguish and suffering that
had lasted for six decades?
Is it not time to put an end to the policies of colonial
expansionism, the seizure of Palestinian lands under
different pretexts, the building of the racist separation
wall, the imposition of siege, the erection of checkpoints
around cities, villages and refugee camps, the continued
policies of collective punishment, and the imprisonment of
more than 11,300 Palestinians in Israeli jails, some of them
imprisoned for more than quarter of a century?
Is it not time for the city of Jerusalem to become a city of
true peace for all peoples of faith from all religions, and
for Israel, the occupying Power, to cease all actions aimed
at altering the character of the sacred city, imposing siege
on it and forcing its inhabitants to leave, and desecrating
the Christian and Islamic holy places in the city?
Is it not time for Israel to cease its acts of killing,
assassinations, dispersion and the destruction of homes and
confiscation of lands and homes which are occurring daily?
Is it not time for our people to enjoy freedom and
independence in equality with all other peoples and to build
their peaceful future side by side with their neighbors,
including Israel?
I hope I will not return to this podium next year asking the
same questions as there is no obstacle to provide all means
of success for the forthcoming peace meeting, particularly
since the brotherly Arab countries have shown their true
readiness, through the Arab Peace Initiative, to achieving a
just, lasting and comprehensive peace, which will be
beneficial and fruitful to all parties in the region through
the development of normal and comprehensive relations when
the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory and the
other occupied Arab territories has ended and the sovereign
and independent Palestine State is established based on the
1967 borders.
It is in this spirit that we look forward to the substance
of the proposed meeting and to an invitation for all
concerned parties to attend.
Let me frankly state that there is no politician or
responsible leader concerned with his people's interests who
does not know well the solution between us and our Israeli
neighbors that can be achieved and can last. This solution
is embodied in the many resolutions adopted throughout the
successive sessions of the General Assembly, the initiative
of President Bush for the two-State solution - Palestine
side by side with Israel, the Road Map which was endorsed in
Security Council resolution 1515, the Arab Peace Initiative,
and the outcome of negotiations and plans presented by many
parties from 2000 and until now.
Hence, from this podium, I address the Israeli Government,
with whose Prime Minister Mr. Olmert I had important and
in-depth discussion and dialogue, so that we may end the
spiraling of lost opportunities and to make the opportunity
of the international conference real and substantive. We
should go together to this conference holding in our hands
clear, detailed and realistic bases to solve all the final
status issues, especially Jerusalem, borders, refugees,
water and security and other key issues.
From this podium, I wish to reiterate our people's full
readiness to be involved in a true peace process that would
lead to a comprehensive and complete agreement on all final
status issues. We will present this agreement, as we
promised, for a popular referendum to all of the Palestinian
people - all segments and wherever they may be - so they can
give their views and decision on what has been reached. Thus
we can fully and strategically preserve the peace.
I would also like to affirm that we will continue to
address, in accordance with our basic law and other laws,
the coup d'etat that took place in the Gaza Strip, in order
to preserve democracy in our country from the ventures of
any group which wants to impose by force its control or its
own dark ideas and through armed rebellion. Anyone who
thinks that our people, who presented throughout decades the
martyrs, the wounded and the prisoners for the sake of
freedom and independence and the building of a free,
progressive and democratic state, would follow those who
want to impose by armed force upon them a closed and
backward regime and society, is extremely wrong.
Some have attempted in the past to transform the question of
Palestine into a card to be used to serve regional interests
or to realize expansionist goals or to promote specific
ideas and ideologies, disregarding the true interests of the
Palestinian people.
But, we are the ones who struggled and devoted all of our
lives for the independence of our national decision, for the
protection of the interests and rights of our people, and
the rejection of occupation and control from any side. We
will not allow for the tragedy to happen one more time or
for any attempt to manipulate our national destiny to
achieve its goals.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I came to this podium to convey the message of a tired
people burdened with the wounds of occupation, dispersion,
imprisonment and martyrdom. Yet they are also a people
imbued with the spirit of human dignity and the faith that
their future will be made by their own hands even though
their past was determined by those who conspired against
them and their rights.
I came to reiterate the words of our eternal leader Yasser
Arafat, confident that the olive branch - the branch of
peace - which does not fade or die, will not fall from my
hand.
I came to convey the pain and suffering of every Palestinian
man and woman, every one that lost a martyr or injured,
everyone that awaits the freedom of a brother, father,
sister or mother in prisons, and those stranded on the
Iraqi-Syrian borders and the millions of Palestinians living
in their homeland or in refugee camps, affirming that the
message of peace delivered by the prophets and bearers of
the Divine messages from our land will grow and flourish and
that the voice of peace in our country will be louder than
any other voice.
For all this, let us move forward hand in hand on the
shining path of peace, without narrow agendas or temporary,
short-term interests. In conclusion, allow me to address our
Palestinian people in the homeland and in the diaspora to
tell them that there is an important opportunity on the
horizon. Let us together unit to make this a reality so that
our people can regain their national, legitimate rights and
achieve the peace, prosperity and stability for which we
have so long aspired and which our steadfast and patient
people so deserve.
We also must work so that peace will come to the peoples who
suffer and bleed daily like the brotherly Iraqi people and
to the peoples who deserve a secure and stable life within
the framework of democracy such as the dear people of
Lebanon.
Let us build a stable and cooperative world based on respect
for life and the right of peoples to self-determination. I
thank you, Mr. President, and I thank all of members of this
international organization for their support and positions.
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