Jordan, 2009

First of

all, I would like very warmly to congratulate you, Sir,

on your election to preside over the General Assembly

at its sixty-fourth session. I am certain that, thanks to

your recognized experience and wisdom, you will be

able to enrich our discussions and provide an

appropriate framework for our deliberations. That will

ensure that, through our joint efforts, this session is a

productive and special one that strengthens the role and

improves the work of the Organization as the principal

international body for multilateral action and the

fulcrum of our joint efforts. I should also like to

commend your predecessor, Mr. Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann, for his efforts during the previous session,

which we appreciate. I also thank and commend His

Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

We are pleased to see concrete trends towards

enhancing multilateralism in the United Nations. We

are convinced that such a course of action is the best

and most effective way to reach agreement and take up

the complex international challenges we face. These

challenges cannot be confronted by one country on its

own, because they are transnational and complex in

nature and require concerted international action under

the auspices of a single international organization in

which all participate. Although some have doubted the

effectiveness of the United Nations and its ability to

address the challenges and problems of the twenty-first

century, there is no doubt that, because of the

universality of its membership, it remains the ideal

forum to address the current challenges facing peoples

and Governments, of which we are all aware. As we

are all aware, the current tendency to marginalize

multilateral efforts — particularly those of the United

Nations — has negative effects that only make

problems more complex, instead of helping to

overcome or resolve them.

The United Nations and its subsidiary organs

require reform, including financial and administrative

reform, so that the Organization can be fully effective

in addressing present and future international

challenges. Such challenges have arisen as a result of

structural and systemic changes since the establishment

of the Organization, as well as technological

advancements, such as the information and

communications revolution, and the well-known

effects of globalization. All of this has made the world

a global village in which everybody feels the negative

effects of problems and challenges such as

desertification, climate change, terrorism, poverty,

pandemics and the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction.

Among the major achievements of the United

Nations is its pioneering role in seeking to eliminate

colonization and occupation in order to ensure the right

of all peoples to self-determination. Although the

Organization has assumed ongoing responsibility for

the question of Palestine, Israel has, unfortunately,

been occupying Palestinian and Arab territories since

1967 to prevent the Palestinian people from exercising

their right to self-determination by creating an

independent State on their national soil in the West

Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on

the basis of the line of 4 June 1967. Israel continues

also to occupy the Syrian Golan and some Lebanese

territory. For their part, the Arabs adopted the Arab

Peace Initiative at the 2002 Beirut Summit and have

reaffirmed its principles at all subsequent Arab

summits, including that held in Doha last spring.

Discussions continue on the two-State solution

and on a comprehensive peace, which would permit the

establishment of an independent Palestinian State and

enable Syria and Lebanon to recover their occupied

territories. That would provide a just and agreed

solution to the question of Palestinian refugees in

accordance with the provisions of resolution 194 (III),

45 09-52586

which would ensure peace and security, with

recognition of Israel by all Arab States. Israel

continues to reject the Arab and international option of

a just and comprehensive peace and a two-State

solution under the international terms of reference and

the Arab Peace Initiative. Therefore, a good-faith

response reflecting genuine and positive political will

must be forthcoming.

There has been unprecedented support in the

international community — including in the Arab

world and among the Palestinians — for the

considerable and sincere efforts being made by United

States President Barack Obama and his Administration

with a view to the holding of serious negotiations

leading to the two-State solution and the establishment

of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, which

would be in the interest of the United States, Palestine,

the Arabs, the Israelis and the entire world. We in

Jordan, under the auspices of His Majesty

King Abdullah Bin Al Hussein, son of His late Majesty

King Hussein, continue to strive tirelessly to attain that

noble objective, which our people deserve.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan fully supports

the statement made by United States President Barack

Obama on 23 September (see ). It provided a

clear vision of a definitive solution and of terms of

reference that would end the 1967 Israeli occupation in

order to permit the establishment of a viable,

independent Palestinian State with contiguous territory,

living side by side in peace and security with Israel,

and achieve peace among Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

With regard to the political terms of reference for

negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis,

President Obama stated that the final-status issues of

security for Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees

and Jerusalem were key to successful negotiations. We

appreciate the importance of his comments regarding

the illegality of the settlements.

Thus, President Obama has demonstrated his firm

commitment to a two-State solution and a

comprehensive peace in the Middle East. Since his first

day in office, he has continued to seek to create a

constructive atmosphere conducive to the swift

resumption of serious negotiations, on all issues and on

all tracks.

The international community as a whole must

also shoulder its responsibility to ensure the swift

resumption of negotiations and their success. In that

connection, I wish to express our appreciation and full

support to His Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas

for his commitment to peace based on genuine

partnership, fundamental Palestinian and Arab

principles and the international framework, as well as

his sincere engagement on behalf of the Palestinian

Authority in all efforts to achieve a two-State solution,

which was demonstrated once again at the tripartite

meeting organized by President Obama in New York at

the beginning of this week.

This constructive and appropriate atmosphere has

been marred by the actions of Israel, which refuses to

halt its settlement activities, including in occupied East

Jerusalem, where it continues to take unilateral action.

Its excavations continue under and around the Al-Aqsa

mosque and other areas that are part of the Islamic and

Christian cultural heritage. It continues to demolish the

homes of Arabs and to expel them. Israel is doing this

in order to alter the demographic character of East

Jerusalem, which has an Arab religious and historical

identity. It is at the heart of the occupied territories and

is inextricable from them. The Security Council and

the General Assembly have declared those Israeli

actions null and void.

From this rostrum today, we ask Israel to return

to the peace process that everyone supports and to put

an end to its illegal measures, including its settlement

activities, in order to create an atmosphere conducive

to the resumption of serious and productive peace

negotiations on all tracks, in particular on such issues

as monitoring mechanisms that include clear timetables

and benchmarks for assessing the status of mutual

implementation once negotiations have ended.

There can be no doubt that the United Nations

has a direct role and an obligation in this regard, given

its permanent responsibility for the question of

Palestine, alongside the role of the Quartet, which we

fully support. The Organization could also play a

bigger part in the negotiations and verification

mechanisms, as well as on other crucial issues.

We reaffirm the importance of the role of the

members of the Quartet — the European Union, the

Russian Federation, the United States and the United

Nations. The blockade on Gaza must be lifted. Every

day, our people there are suffering tragically, and they

lack basic commodities. It is unacceptable and

unreasonable that the siege should continue and the

09-52586 46

situation persist. The inhumane blockade must be

ended and Gaza must be rehabilitated.

We hope that Palestinian reconciliation efforts are

successful, and we fully support Egypt’s efforts in that

regard. We should pay particular attention to the report

of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the

Gaza Conflict (A/HRC/12/48), and we hope that it will

promote the necessary follow-up.

The United Nations has played a central role in

establishing an international human rights protection

system and international mechanisms for promoting

human rights and fundamental freedoms. The

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is honoured to have

been a member of the Human Rights Council twice

since its establishment. We appreciate the international

recognition of our policies on the protection of human

rights and fundamental freedoms, adopted by my

country under King Abdullah II.

In addition, the United Nations provided the

impetus for international efforts to establish the

International Criminal Court as a permanent

international judicial body to try cases of war crimes,

crimes against humanity and flagrant violations of

human rights. Jordan actively participated in the Rome

Diplomatic Conference that brought about the adoption

of the Court’s Statute. We had the privilege of chairing

the first meeting of States members of the Court.

The United Nations has also played a significant

role in codifying international humanitarian law: its

Charter prohibits recourse to the use or the threat of

use of force in international relations. The

Organization subsequently supported the adoption of

the major international conventions on that issue, in

particular the four Geneva Conventions, of which we

are marking the sixtieth anniversary, as well as the

1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural

Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

The United Nations has made great progress on

the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,

in particular nuclear weapons, through the unlimited

extension in 1995 of the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Here,

we call for compliance with the other decisions

accompanying the decision to extend the NPT from

1995 and for recognition of the Middle East region as a

zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of

mass destruction.

We affirm our country’s commitment to the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,

while also reaffirming our legitimate right to the

peaceful use of nuclear energy and to strengthening

control mechanisms that would prevent peaceful

programmes from being used as a cover for military

ones. We are resolved to make peaceful use of nuclear

energy, and we have adopted all the agreements,

documents and verification mechanisms of the

International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan supports all

international efforts to bring into force the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We encourage

countries to adopt and ratify the Treaty so that it may

enter into force as soon as possible, which would be a

step forward towards nuclear disarmament. We call for

adherence to Security Council resolution 1887 (2009),

adopted on 24 September.

My country has always been and will remain at

the forefront in the fight against terrorism and

extremism and in working to bring religions and

civilizations closer together, as well as in transmitting

the true and admirable essence of Islam and its noble

human values. We have therefore adopted important

initiatives, including the Amman Message issued by

His Majesty the King, and its accompanying document,

the Good Word.

Jordan supports comprehensive national

reconciliation in Iraq among all segments of the

population, with no exception. It supports efforts to

consolidate peace and security in Iraq in all spheres so

as to ensure civil peace, territorial integrity, political

independence and sovereignty and to stop all external

interference in its internal affairs so that that brother

country can fully recover its place in the region and in

the world at large.

Finally, Jordan is committed to international

peace and security. We participate actively in

peacekeeping operations. The number of personnel that

we contribute to the various peacekeeping operations

in which we are taking part is growing and becoming

geographically broader. This demonstrates that we are

truly playing an active role in the United Nations,

because we are backing up our words with action. It

also shows our clear political resolve to contribute to

serious multilateral action within the United Nations

system.

47 09-52586

I would like to reiterate that we will do what is

necessary, and more, to strengthen multilateral

international action for efforts to implement a two-

State solution and to achieve comprehensive peace in

the Middle East, and for anything that contributes to

international cooperation and to bringing together

diverse civilizations, which would enrich the lives of

our societies in the world that we share.