State of Palestine, 2007

It is a pleasure, Sir, to congratulate you on your election to

the presidency of the Assembly at this session. We

have every hope that your efforts will be successful. It

is also a pleasure for me to convey our appreciation

and pride to Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed

Al-Khalifa for the tremendous effort she undertook as

President of the General Assembly at the sixty-first

session.

I would like to take this opportunity to express

our full confidence in the role of the United Nations

and all of its specialized agencies with respect to their

historic responsibilities regarding the Palestinian

question, responsibilities they will continue to bear

until this question is comprehensively settled. For

many decades, those institutions have continued to

reaffirm the established national rights of the

Palestinian people and to provide varied support for

our people, in the political, economic and humanitarian

realms. Here, we must commend the exceptional

ongoing work of the United Nations Relief and Works

Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

(UNRWA) and other institutions in safeguarding the

future for generations of Palestinian refugees and

providing them with the basic services they need. Our

appreciation goes also to those who have upheld the

basic human rights of the Palestinian people and who

have provided support in the areas of education and

culture and in strengthening the role of the Palestinian

Authority since its inception, as well as in building and

strengthening our national institutions.

I would like also to thank Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon, who has given top priority to the Palestinian

question, who has worked to reach a solution to the

Israel-Palestinian conflict and who has placed this

matter at the centre of his concerns. He has, in

addition, creatively contributed to seeking the means to

relaunch the Middle East peace process.

The confrontations, wars and conflicts in our

region and their tragic repercussions for the peoples of

the region constitute the primary threat to global peace.

They call all of mankind to awareness. They demand

rapid intervention from the international community

with the aim of settling this situation boldly and

without delay. Our experience over the years and

decades shows that the policy of delaying a settlement

of the principal conflicts in the region, the policy of

providing partial solutions and the policy aimed at

containing the conflict by limiting the damage only

further complicate things, to the point where, today,

there is a clear threat of civil war or regional war.

Moreover this climate has been conducive to terrorism,

which unfortunately has spread to become a global

phenomenon.

However, this grim picture should not mask the

fact that hope is still alive. Indeed, thanks to the

determination of the vast majority of our people, and

thanks to the support of the international community,

our people are capable of overcoming the tragic

situation that we are being pushed into by the forces of

occupation, extremism and aggression and, by those

who seek to provoke war and terrorism in our region.

There are on the other hand responsible, active

forces in the Middle East, representing the

consciousness of the people and possessing a true

desire for freedom, progress and democracy for the

people. Although these forces are working in extreme

difficulty, they are firmly committed to overcoming the

current situation in order to create a new future for the

Middle East in which our peoples would enjoy freedom

and equality.

There can be no doubt that defending Islam a

religion of moderation, of love and brotherhood; a

human religion is the responsibility of those active

forces in our region who seek to counter any attempt to

undermine that true religion or to portray it in an unfair

manner that is entirely out of keeping with its precepts.

Islam is a religion of tolerance that opposes killing,

terrorism and assassination. It is a religion of

enlightenment, not ignorance or backwardness; a

religion of openness to the world. It is against

extremism and close-mindedness. We need to work

hand in hand to preserve our shared human values.

Those values are today being violated,

undermined and weakened. We need to work to

strengthen human understanding among religions and

cultures because the attempt to foment conflict among

religions, cultures and civilizations is one of the most

dangerous methods used by international terrorism

today.

That is why a dialogue among cultures, religions

and civilizations is necessary today, particularly

because we know that world wars have not been wars

of religion or culture, but rather wars of interest. That

reality is only one fragment of the overall picture. In

fact, missing recurrent opportunities to address the

issues of our region seriously so as to reach bold,

comprehensive solutions, in particular to the

Palestinian question, moves our people to the precipice

of despair and depression and makes them easy prey to

the forces of ignorance and fanaticism.

Is it not high time to take this opportunity, the

beginnings of which we see today, as the international

community is moving towards relaunching the peace

process, which enjoys the support not only of Israelis

and Palestinians, but also of the international

community and the world at large? Is it not time to

move seriously towards negotiating a complete end to

the 1967 Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian

territories, thereby achieving the vision of two States?

Is it not time to create a Palestinian State, with East

Jerusalem as its capital, to settle the refugee issue and

to put an end to six decades of suffering? Is it not time

to reach a fair, agreed settlement under General

Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 1948? Is it not time to

end the policies of settlement expansionism, of taking

land from Palestinians under various pretexts, of

building the apartheid separation wall, laying siege and

creating checkpoints around cities and towns and

refugee camps? Is it not time to end the policy of

collective punishment and of denying freedom to the

more than 11,300 Palestinians who are rotting in Israeli

prisons, some for more than 25 years?

Is it not time to make Jerusalem a city of peace

for all faiths and religions? Is it not time for Israel, the

occupying Power, to end any work that would change

the sacred nature of that city and all attempts to

displace its inhabitants and to violate sites sacred to

Islam and Christianity? Is it not time for Israel to end

the daily assassinations, displacements, destruction of

houses and seizure of land? Is it not time for our

people to be able to enjoy freedom and independence

on equal footing with all other peoples of the world so

that they can build a peaceful future together with all

of their neighbours, including the State of Israel?

I hope that I will not have to come back to this

rostrum next year to ask the same questions.

There is not the slightest obstacle to the

successful holding of the upcoming peace conference,

because our brotherly, Arab countries have

demonstrated through the Arab Peace Initiative their

true readiness to bring about a just, lasting and

comprehensive peace, from which all States of the

region would benefit. Those States would have normal

relations with Israel, once the Israeli occupation of

Palestinian and other Arab territories had ended and an

independent, sovereign Palestinian State had been

created within the 1967 borders. That is why we are

committed to the substance of that proposed meeting,

which should be held soon with the participation of all

parties concerned.

Let me say quite frankly that not a single

responsible political figure or leader who does not

know that the solution to the problem lies solely

between us and our Israeli neighbours. Reaching such a

lasting solution can only be a result of the many

resolutions of the General Assembly, as well as of the

initiative of President Bush, who has urged a two-State

solution: a Palestinian State living side-by-side with

the State of Israel. It must also be based on the Road

Map, endorsed in Security Council resolution 1515

(2003), the Arab Peace Initiative and the various

negotiations, projects and plans that have been

proposed by many parties since 2000.

I therefore address myself to the Israeli

Government, with whose head I have recently met. We

discussed the important issues in depth, attempting to

end the cycle of lost opportunities so that the

international conference will become a substantial

reality. We can move towards that conference together,

with clear, realistic, detailed plans with a view to

settling all of the final status issues, including

Jerusalem, borders, refugees, water security and other

key issues. I reaffirm here the full readiness of our

people to join a genuine peace process that will lead to

a comprehensive, full agreement on all final status

issues.

As we promised, we will put such an agreement

to a popular referendum that will include all

Palestinian factions and groups so that they can give

their views and opinions on any decision that would

lead to defending and safeguarding peace

comprehensively and strategically.

I also reaffirm that we will continue to deal with

the rebellion that took place in the Gaza Strip. We shall

do so in conformity with our basic laws and so that we

can preserve democracy in our country. Attempts from

whatever group or faction to impose their will and dark

ideas by force and armed revolt will not derail our

democracy. It would be wrong for anyone to think that

our people, which has for decades sacrificed martyrs,

prisoners and the wounded in order to obtain freedom,

independence and democracy and to build a free and

prosperous country, will follow such an armed group, a

closed regime and a closed, backward society.

Some have attempted in the past to play the

Palestinian issue as a political card in the service of

regional interests in order to achieve expansionist goals

or to promote specific ideas or ideologies that would

ignore the true interests of the Palestinian people. But

we who have struggled all our lives for our national

cause, for the protection of the rights and interests of

our people and for rejection of hegemony and

occupation will not allow such a tragedy to reoccur. We

will not allow those who tried to undermine our

national destiny to achieve their aims.

I came to this rostrum to convey a message from

an exhausted people which has long suffered from

occupation, displacement, prison and martyrdom. At

the same time, however, they are a people who, imbued

with dignity and faith, will build their own future, even

though their past has been the work of those who have

plotted against them and against their rights.

I have come to reiterate the words of our

immortal leader Yasser Arafat, who was certain that the

green branch of peace, which never withers or dies

would never fall from his hand. I have come to express

the pain and suffering of every Palestinian man and

woman, of all those who have lost loved ones or whose

loved ones have been wounded, of all those who are

waiting for the release from prison of their brothers,

fathers, mothers and sisters, of all those who remain

trapped on the Iraqi or Syrian borders and of the

millions of Palestinians who are living as refugees on

their own land. I have come to affirm that the messages

of peace of the prophets and the other divine

messengers who trod the paths of our land remain

vibrant, like a tree that continues to grow and bloom. I

have come to affirm that the voice of peace remains

stronger than any other voice in our country. That is

why I urge that we move forward, hand in hand, on the

shining path towards peace, leaving expediency and

short-term interests far behind.

In conclusion, and from this rostrum of the

United Nations, I say to the Palestinian people, both

those in Palestine and those abroad, that an important

historic opportunity is emerging. Therefore, let us be

united in order to make that opportunity a reality so

that our people, who have suffered so long, can recover

their legitimate national rights and achieve the peace,

stability and prosperity to which they aspire and which

they deserve. We also hope that peace will come to

other peoples who are suffering daily, such as the

brotherly Iraqi people, and to those who deserve to live

in security and stability within the framework of

democracy, such as our dear friends the Lebanese

people. Together, let us build a stable world a world

of mutual assistance based on respect for life and for

the right to self-determination. I thank the Members of

the United Nations for their support.