Qatar, 2012

At the outset

I would like to congratulate Mr. Vuk Jeremić on his

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-seventh session and to wish him all success.

I would also like to express my thanks to

Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the

General Assembly at its previous session and one of the

most capable Qatari diplomats, for his efforts to ensure

the successful work of the General Assembly. I would also like to seize this opportunity to thank

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his continued work

in support of the role of the United Nations.

These days, the Arab world is experiencing a

difficult and risky period that is, at the same time, full

of hope. As a matter of fact, it is an impressive attempt

to correct prevailing conditions in a region with a

special history, at a time when the world order is rapidly

changing. The current period represents a special, new

and unprecedented experience that forms part of human

history. Today’s experiences differ from the previous

experiences of nations and peoples who participated

in changing times. They accepted the necessary

consequences and bore the costs with the knowledge

that the costs were consistent with moving forward at

the appropriate time in response to ambitions towards

freedom, enlightenment, respect for the dignity of man

and development. But the Arab experience of transition

is unique in its pace and process.

Conditions in the Arab world, seen from afar,

may show disturbances and problems in many places

with images of smoke and flames. However, I would

like, from this rostrum, to reassure all those who are

following the events in the region and may sometimes

feel uncomfortable about what they see and hear. Those

events represent the movement of a nation struggling to

cope with the times and continue its forward march, as

it has many times before. Yet now that march has been

interrupted by obstacles, both external and internal and

regional and international.

Those obstacles have frustrated its will and derailed

its march. But it has recently taken matters into its own

hands after having suffered dictatorship, dependence

and corruption.

We remember that the American political and social

experience was born of a civil war that the country

had to undergo to affirm its unity. Today’s Europe

experienced terrible world wars until it achieved a

degree of unity that could not be achieved by arms or

hegemony. And Asia has seen highly successful cases

of nations advancing and achieving their aspirations,

after long periods of painful new birth.

I say this to assure whoever cares about our part

of the world and its future that what is going on in our

region is natural and historic.

It is not reasonable to expect that people can attain

their freedom as soon as they ask for it. Human history shows that peoples have sacrificed their lives and wealth

to gain freedom. In the same way, dictatorships do not

change at the first signs of revolution but require real

resistance to depose them. The desire for advancement

will not eliminate backwardness except through hard

work. Occupied territories will never be restored by a

mere rejection of the occupation, but by persistence in

demanding rights and by resistance using all legitimate

means.

What adds to the difficulties of the transition in

our Arab world is that it takes place in a time of great

aspirations and a climate subject to all sorts of changes

and complications. Our peoples have had to fight to

change their lives under circumstances that differ

greatly from those faced by others in similar situations.

In America, Europe, Asia and other places, historical

transitions have taken place within certain limits. In the

Arab world, however, that birth has had to take place

under spotlights, before the eyes of the entire world,

under the watchful eye of satellites crisscrossing space

and shaped by electronic media, without any shield or

barrier of any sort.

In order to achieve their objectives, those who

undertake internal and external interventions to peoples

from attaining their legitimate rights do not hesitate

to use all means at their disposal, from exploitation

of the past and its complex legacy to other means of

provocation. They can even use arms, shedding seas of

blood, if other means fail or take too long. All of that

has made our transition from past to future and from

backwardness to development a risky process, under

fire from all corners.

Together with others, we realized the risks inherent

in the current phase of the evolution of our nation and of

the Arab world. If we could ask for one thing during this

session, it would be an encouraging reconfirmation of

the right of our Arab world to continue its advancement

and achieve its aspirations in a new world, a world

shaped by science and technology, a world that the

pioneers who wrote the well-known conventions on

rights and freedom could not have imagined.

On the other hand, I hope that this world gathering

will take a stand that reflects sympathy with the

historic transformations under way in the Arab world.

That would reassure the people who are working

hard and with determination to carve out a place for

themselves in history and who struggle to achieve

freedom and dignity, hoping for a better tomorrow for

future generations.

The situation in Syria has reached an unacceptable

phase. Hundreds of innocent Syrians are killed every

day, under the fire of a regime that does not hesitate

to use all sorts of weapons against its own people. We

have used all available means to help Syria extricate

itself from the cycle of killing, but in vain. The Security

Council has failed to reach an effective position.

In view of that, I believe that the Arab countries

themselves should intervene, in order to fulfil their

national humanitarian, political and military duties, and

do what is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Syria, the

killing of innocent people and their displacement and

guarantee a peaceful transition of power. We do have

a precedent in that respect. Arab forces intervened in

Lebanon in the mid-1970s to stop the internal fighting

there, and their efforts proved effective and useful. We

urge all countries that believe in the cause of the Syrian

people to provide every type of support to that people

until they are able to secure their legitimate rights.

Despite all the suffering in the Middle East, the

core problem remains the Palestinian question: the

continued Israeli occupation of the Arab territories

in the West Bank, the Golan and Shaba’a farms in

southern Lebanon, the stif ling blockade imposed on the

Gaza Strip and the continued arrest and imprisonment

of thousands of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The

peace process has stalled because of the current

Israeli position that insists on continuing the policy of

settlements in the Palestinian territories and Jerusalem

and refusing to cede them.

Sometimes I would like to ask why the international

community does nothing to implement the relevant

resolutions on the Middle East. Why does the Security

Council not adopt a resolution under Chapter VII that

would force Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza and stop

its settlement activity, a resolution that would return

the peace process to the comprehensive track instead of

the piecemeal approach, which does not lead to results?

I find no answer to my questions.

We firmly believe in the importance of the freedom

of expression and the right of people to express their

opinion based on our belief in the sanctity of humanity

and the dignity of man, who was created by God as

free and dignified. At the same time, we believe that

freedom should not exceed reasonable limits and

become a tool to hurt and insult the dignity of others or

ther dignity of religions, faiths and sacred beliefs. This is a phenomenon that we have seen lately and which has

regrettably led to the killing of innocent people.

We have called and we continue to call for dialogue

in order to exchange information and experience. We

have called and continue to call for dialogue among

civilizations and religions. We have established the

Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue.

We have called and still call for dialogue aimed at

acquainting ourselves with ideas and experiences from

all over the globe and to learn about different faiths in

order to ensure that human culture is interconnected and

everyone has a say in its creation. Everyone should reap

its dividends, based on understanding, appreciation,

knowledge and the full exercise of rights.

I have on previous occasions reiterated the

importance of that question and the need to strike a

balance between respect for sacred faiths and religions

and freedom of expression in order for tolerance to

replace intolerance and acceptance of the other to

replace rejection and stereotyping, which is neither fair

nor right. Today, I would like to take this opportunity to

call on the United Nations, those who exercise wisdom

and reason and those who have decision-making power

at the international level to drsft internationally agreed

laws, procedures and controls aimed at preventing

religions and faiths from being insulted under any

pretext and, at the same time, upholding the right of

mankind to know and express its opinions.

Ms. Flores (Honduras), Vice-President, took the

Chair.

One of the great challenges that we must face is

the question of climate change and its terrible and

destructive consequences for all countries. This

requires us to cooperate and work together to reach

the best solutions to that challenge and overcome our

differences.

I would like to note that the State of Qatar will host

the eighteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to

the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change. The importance of this conference is that it

could produce a road map that could help us deal with

the negative effects of this phenomenon. I would like

take the opportunity of speaking in this international

forum to invite all countries of the world to participate

in the conference so that we may reach an international

consensus on the matter.

Before concluding, I would like to welcome the

election of our brother Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as

President of the Somali Republic, and to wish him

every success in achieving security and stability in that

country, whose people have suffered so much. I call

on the international community to exert greater effort

to help Somalia to reach a solution to its crisis that is

acceptable to all the Somali parties, one that will pave

the way for the return of peace to the country and will

help rebuild the State after the long years of war and

destruction.