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62nd Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly 70th Session
The world was just one major provocation in Jerusalem away from a descent into an unprecedented religious war, the General Assembly was told today as it took up the question of Palestine and heard the introduction of four draft resolutions on that matter.
With conflicts in Syria and Yemen, a major refugee crisis, and violent extremism combining to create growing instability across the region, the question of Palestine took on even greater significance, said Mogens Lykketoft, the Assembly President. Expressing particular concern at the latest escalation of violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank, he called for strict compliance with international law.
Also sounding the alarm, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine said that the situation was unsustainable and that the international community, particularly the Security Council, must overcome its paralysis before all was completely lost and the two-State solution was destroyed. The question of Palestine was at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and its lack of resolution had a far-reaching impact in the region and across the globe.
The Israeli delegate said that if the Arab States had accepted the existence of a Jewish State alongside a State of their own, Israelis and Palestinians would have been spared decades of needless conflict. But instead of saying yes to living side-by-side with Israel in peace, the Palestinians had said no: no to peace and no to the existence of a Jewish State. He asked why they launched violent waves of terror every time they had the opportunity for statehood.
“Sadly, no end seems to be in sight” to the suffering, said the representative of Pakistan, who argued that durable peace could only be achieved through political solutions and not by heavy-handed tactics and the use of brute force against unarmed civilians. While the Council continued to “procrastinate and dither” for political reasons, the prospects of a two-State solution faded.
While several speakers alleged that Israeli settlement construction was to blame for the inaction, the representative of Lebanon commended the European Union’s request for clear marking of products from the settlements. Economic issues were also spotlighted by the representative of Nicaragua, who asked how it was possible for the Palestinian people to exercise their right to development without the necessary political and economic space, which had been usurped by Israel.
Before taking up the question of Palestine, the Assembly concluded its debate on the global awareness of the tragedies of irregular migrants in the Mediterranean basin, begun on Friday, 20 November. It heard from a score of speakers on that item, including Iran’s representative who, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, noted that many developing countries had hosted millions of refugees with their scarce resources, which had gone largely unnoticed.
The representative of India, meanwhile, said that Security Council resolution 2240 (2015) seemed to suggest that those risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean were doing so out of greed and not to escape persecution and death. It seemed that the Council had decreed that people could not flee for their lives unless they used vessels whose sea-worthiness met the standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Following the conclusion of the Assembly’s meeting on migrants, the body approved, without a vote, the extension of the work of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) to 7 December.
Also speaking during that debate today were representatives of Brazil, Romania, Portugal, Argentina, Montenegro, Slovenia, Sudan, Canada, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Benin, and Malaysia. Representatives of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Interpol also spoke. Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan spoke in exercise of the right of reply.
On the question of Palestine, additional statements were made by representatives of Indonesia, Malta, Iran on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, Kuwait on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bahrain and Venezuela. A European Union representative also spoke.
The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 24 November to conclude its consideration of the question of Palestine and take up the situation in the Middle East.
