Jordan, 2000

At the

outset, I would like to extend my congratulations to His

Excellency on his election as President of the current

session of the General Assembly, wishing him all

success in conducting its deliberations and in arriving

at conclusions beneficial to the international

community. I would like also to express our deep

thanks to his predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, on

his successful efforts in conducting the business of the

fifty-fourth session. Furthermore, I would like to

express my appreciation to Mr. Kofi Annan, the

Secretary-General of our Organization, for his report

and his incessant efforts in the service of the purposes

and principles of the Organization, with a view to

enhancing its role and increasing its effectiveness in

the international arena.

The General Assembly holds its fifty-fifth session

in the wake of the Millennium Summit, which

witnessed a historic meeting of world leaders held

under the auspices of the United Nations. The

significance and meaning of the Summit affirm the

commitment of the international community to the

principles of the Charter of the United Nations. This

should lead to the enhancement of its role as the best

framework for providing Member States with suitable

mechanisms to organize and regulate international

relations on the basis of cooperative partnership,

particularly after the end of the cold war era and its

concepts of polarization and balance of power, which

had in the past instituted division and confrontation,

depleted huge resources and caused widespread

suffering in vast areas of the world.

Since the establishment of the United Nations the

world has witnessed developments that require a

review of the methods and policies adopted so far.

First, calls for democracy and efforts to establish it and

make it a way of life within States should be consistent

with the establishment of democracy in international

relations and within the United Nations itself. It is not

logical to continue urging and calling for the

establishment of democracy on one level while

rejecting it on the international arena, where in fact

there is a dire need for democracy in order to achieve

equality among the Members of this organization —

rich and poor, strong and weak.

During the past few years the United Nations has

witnessed some changes in its methods of work. First

and foremost we must emphasize the need to preserve

the role of the General Assembly. The power of the

Security Council, the executive arm of the Assembly

for peace and security issues, should not be increased

at the expense of the role of the General Assembly and

its various other organs, which are supposed to provide

balance and collective representation of the

international will.

Clearly, there is international consensus that the

present composition of the Security Council does not

provide equitable representation of the international

community and that there is a need to correct this

29

situation. Since all States have expressed their

positions through extended debates, the actions

required have become clearer and more specific.

All Member States, both developed and

developing, agree that globalization and the abolition

of borders and obstacles to economic exchanges

present opportunities and pose risks. Although

globalization facilitates the flow of goods and services

as well as of ideas, it has presented the developing

world with challenges related to deepening the gap

between it and the developed world, particularly in

view of differences in their respective levels of

scientific and technological development.

Globalization has also put the identity and

sovereignty of developing States and peoples to a

painful test. Additionally, it has shown how difficult it

is for developing countries to meet the requirements of

integration into the world economy. While a majority

of developing countries were struggling to enter the

industrial era, they witnessed the entry of the

developed world into an era of information technology.

While they were striving to provide basic services, like

infrastructure, health care, social welfare and

education, they witnessed the frightening acceleration

of technological and economic changes — a

phenomenon that thwarted their hopes of catching up

with developed countries.

While globalization, openness and economic

integration make the world a unified economic

environment, widening differences and deepening

inequalities will inescapably cause damage to all in the

long run. This situation makes it imperative to

reformulate economic relations on the basis of

cooperation and partnership. It also requires action to

reduce differences, rectify economic imbalances and

help developing countries adjust their economies to

meet the requirements of globalization and integration.

Furthermore, the experience of mankind has proved

that poverty and huge economic and social disparities

have always been the root causes of instability and

confrontation.

The Middle East peace process is going through

an extremely sensitive phase. During the past few

weeks and months, major, commendable efforts have

been made to make Palestinian-Israeli negotiations

bear fruit — arriving at a lasting settlement between

the two parties.

Jordan has made an essential contribution in all

phases of the peace process. This contribution was

motivated by Jordan's conviction that peace is the only

real option for all States and peoples of the region.

Indeed, geographic and demographic realities make it

impossible for any party to settle the conflict by

imposing its will or consecrating the status quo in its

favour. Therefore, there is no alternative to establishing

peace on the basis of law, international legitimacy,

justice and equality.

Despite the failure of the recent Camp David

summit to produce an agreement between the

Palestinians and the Israelis, it has enabled the parties

to narrow the gap dividing their positions and made the

requirements for reaching a settlement clearer. This

confirms the need to continue the efforts by the United

States in particular and the international community in

general to build on what has been achieved so far.

The achievement of lasting peace in the region

requires the realization of the national rights of the

Palestinian people, primarily the right to independence

and the establishment of their State on their national

territory, with the Holy City of Jerusalem as its capital.

This means reaching implementable and

sustainable solutions to the main issues, which are the

subject of the permanent-status negotiations. Regarding

the issue of territory, Israeli forces must withdraw from

the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, in

accordance with Security Council resolution 242

(1967), so that a Palestinian state may be established

on those territories, with internationally recognized

borders. Any security arrangements that may be agreed

upon must not be based on any claim of sovereignty as

a result of occupation.

The solution of the refugee problem must also be

based on rules of international law and the various

international conventions and on the basis of General

Assembly resolution 194 (III), which emphasizes the

right of return and compensation to the refugees.

Persons who were displaced as a result of the June

1967 war must be able to return to their homes in

implementation of Security Council resolution 237

(1967).

The issue of Jerusalem is the key to peace in the

region, and it must be solved on the premise that East

Jerusalem is Palestinian territory occupied since 1967

to which resolution 242 (1967) applies. East Jerusalem

should be under Palestinian sovereignty so that it may

30

become the capital of the independent State of

Palestine. Arab and Muslim rights to the Islamic and

Christian holy places in Jerusalem must be preserved.

In no way can Israeli sovereignty over these holy

places be accepted.

The status of Jerusalem and its spiritual and

religious importance make it imperative that the city be

an open city where freedom of worship and access to

the holy places is guaranteed for all believers in God.

Jordan has suffered immensely during the past

five decades as a result of the situation arising from the

Palestine question, particularly the refugee problem.

There are more than 1.5 million refugees living in

Jordan. This amounts to 41 per cent of all refugees

registered with the United Nations Relief and Works

Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

(UNRWA). This is in addition to the people displaced

as a result of the June 1967 war. As a result of the

refugee situation, Jordan has shouldered heavy

financial, economic and social burdens.

Jordan will be subject to pressures that will

threaten its stability and that of the region if the

settlement does not satisfy its legitimate vital interests.

Refugees and displaced persons in Jordan will only

accept a settlement that recognizes their fundamental

rights to return and to compensation.

It is well known that the vast majority of these

refugees have Jordanian citizenship as a result of the

unity that was established between the Hashemite

Kingdom of Jordan and the West Bank in 1950. The

declaration of unity at the time provided for the

preservation of all Arab rights in Palestine and for the

inalienability of the rights of the refugees.

Upholding the right of return will, therefore,

enable every refugee to exercise freely his or her

personal choice. Jordan must safeguard and preserve

the rights of its citizens, which is its responsibility

under national and international laws. Any solution that

does not satisfy the rights of Jordan and its citizens will

not lead to the establishment of a just and lasting

peace.

Since the question of the refugees and their

continued suffering has caused grave damage to Jordan

and placed heavy burdens on it, Jordan demands

rectification of the damage and losses that it has

incurred. This rectification needs to include suitable

and adequate compensation. Jordan will endeavour, by

all possible means, to ensure that its legitimate claims

with regard to this issue are considered.

It is worth mentioning that the Jordanian-Israeli

peace treaty stipulates that the solution of the refugee

problem must be based on international law and that it

should be dealt with bilaterally and in parallel with the

permanent status negotiations. It also established a

mechanism to deal with all financial claims between

the two parties.

The rights of refugees and displaced persons to

return and to compensation, and the rights of Jordan

under international law and the resolutions of

international legitimacy, take precedence over other

considerations. Jordan, therefore, will only accept a

settlement that will preserve its legitimate rights and

ensure a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.

Otherwise, the conflict will remain open and volatile,

perpetuating the seeds of instability in the region. The

position of the refugees in Jordan is vital to the success

of any settlement to be reached.

Also on the question of refugees, Jordan once

again emphasizes the importance of supporting

UNRWA to enable it to carry out its mandate, which

must continue until a solution to this question is fully

implemented. Jordan, as host to the largest number of

refugees and the largest donor to UNWRA, expresses

its appreciation of the Agency's role and calls upon the

international community to provide it with the needed

financial resources to carry out its humanitarian tasks,

particularly at this sensitive phase of the peace process.

It also expresses appreciation to the donor States for

their contributions.

Peace in the Middle East cannot last unless it is

comprehensive. This makes the establishment of peace

on the Syrian track essential and a sine qua non for

peace in the region as a whole. Negotiations on this

track must, therefore, resume in order to reach an

agreement ensuring the return to Syria of the occupied

Golan Heights to the line of 4 June 1967 in

implementation of Security Council resolutions 242

(1967) and 338 (1973).

Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon on the

basis of Security Council resolution 425 (1978) is a

positive development that will hopefully serve as a

foundation for the implementation of other Security

Council resolutions, leading to the achievement of a

comprehensive peace in the region, which has suffered

for many decades from the depletion of its resources

31

and the energies of its peoples. Only peace will provide

security for all. It should lead to ending the arms race

and to using the resources for the development of the

region and making it free from weapons of mass

destruction.

Ten years have passed since the beginning of the

Gulf crisis caused by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. As a

result, the region as a whole continues to suffer. Iraq

continues to pay a heavy price as a result of continued

comprehensive sanctions imposed on it, which caused

and continue to cause unprecedented mass suffering for

the Iraqi people.

Jordan calls for launching a new thinking and a

new look at the situation in Iraq in order to put an end

to the suffering of the Iraqi people, especially since the

collective sanctions, which are the severest of their

kind in United Nations history, have not achieved their

goal of consolidating peace and security. They have

instead led to results that, in the long run, will give rise

to dangers threatening the region as a whole. The need

to implement and comply with Security Council

resolutions does not conflict with the maintenance of

Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity, nor with

refraining from action that violates those resolutions.

Iraq is an integral part of the region and its continued

subjugation affects security and stability in the region

as a whole. Jordan calls for the settlement of all matters

related to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on the basis of full

implementation of relevant Security Council

resolutions, including those dealing with Kuwaiti and

other prisoners of war, and missing persons.

Jordan continues to suffer severe economic

hardships as a result of compliance with relevant

Security Council resolutions. Large segments of

Jordan's economy have, as a result, sustained huge

losses. It is, therefore, imperative to put an end to the

negative effects of the sanctions on Jordan by showing

better understanding of its situation, reviewing the

policies and methods used in dealing with the sanctions

regime and giving a more just interpretation to the

relevant resolutions.

Because of our strong belief in the role of the

United Nations, Jordanian armed forces participate

effectively in its peacekeeping operations in several

areas around the world. As a result, Jordan today is the

second largest troop contributor to peacekeeping

operations. While commending the report (A/55/305)

of Mr. Brahimi's Panel on United Nations peace

operations, Jordan wishes to reiterate the need for the

provision of adequate means and resources to enable

peacekeepers to achieve their noble objectives. We call

for a constructive and thorough discussion of the report

in order to produce the best possible means to attain

that goal. In this spirit, we underscore the importance

of conducting consultations with States that contribute

to peacekeeping operations, before the adoption of

major decisions concerning and affecting the status of

their forces.

On another note, we feel that the startling

developments witnessed by our world today, at various

levels, make it increasingly necessary to rely on the

United Nations to develop and establish norms in all

matters pertaining to human security. The ongoing

dialogue on the need to establish complementarity and

balance between State sovereignty and human rights

only reflects the importance of this issue. Sovereignty

should not provide a cover for violating human rights.

Hence, greater emphasis should be placed on the

importance of objectivity, non-selectivity and

impartiality when dealing with human rights issues.

It is illogical to continue to keep silent about the

suffering of whole nations whose dignity is being

undermined and whose human rights are being

violated, while prominence is almost always given to

other partial issues for purely political considerations.

With the onset of the third millennium the world

is entering a new epoch that necessitates the formation

of a new pattern of relations in the international arena

based on our collective responsibility to develop and

safeguard what has been achieved so far. Our world

needs to establish a new paradigm of international

relations based not on confrontation and exclusion, but

on new foundations of openness and real partnership.

Integration, which encompasses the overlapping

and interdependence of interests, presupposes

partnership and solidarity among nations to help them

manage change and ease the lack of confidence and

hesitation associated with the fear of failure. The

international community's willingness to encourage

and support the will to change will certainly reinforce

the capacity to deal with such change with minimum

losses and convince those taking such a risk that

today's world is not based on a zero-sum option and

that the challenge that we all face is: How can man,

regardless of ethnic background, economic situation or

religious belief be the primary beneficiary of the

32

development achieved by humanity in modern times?

This is the acid test we all face today. Will we succeed?