麻豆APP

 

2026 Conference on the Question of Jerusalem?

“Jerusalem: The Frontline of Displacement and Annexation and?the Key to Just and Lasting Peace”?

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OPENING?REMARKS?by?Ambassador Coly Seck?

Permanent Representative of Senegal to the 麻豆APP and Chair of the?麻豆APP Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People?

?Cairo, Egypt?

18 July 2026?

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Excellencies,?

Ladies and gentlemen,?

It is symbolic that we meet in Cairo, a city of deep history and regional?and international?importance, to speak about Jerusalem.?

A city of faith and spirit.?

A city of memory and meaning.?

A city sacred to three monotheistic religions.?

A city that should unite hearts, not divide people.?

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Jerusalem is not only a place on a map.?

It is a heritage and a responsibility.?

For Muslims, Christians and Jews, Jerusalem carries prayers, history and hope.?

Its streets hold centuries of faith.?

Its walls carry the weight of generations.?

Its Holy Sites belong to the conscience of humanity.?

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And yet today, Jerusalem stands at the frontline of displacement and annexation.?

The situation in occupied East Jerusalem remains deeply alarming.?

Palestinian families continue to face eviction.?

Homes continue to be demolished.?

Communities continue to be pressured.?

Illegal settlements continue to expand.?

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These are not isolated acts.?

They are part of a wider pattern.?

A home is demolished. A family is displaced.?

A neighbourhood is changed. A city is reshaped.?

Step by step.?Street by street.?House by house.?

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This is how annexation advances.?

Not only through declarations.?

But through daily realities:?

Through permits denied.?

Through residency revoked.?

Through land confiscated.?

Through settlements built.?

Through fear imposed.?

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Ladies and gentlemen,?

We must call things by their name.?

Israeli settlements in the?Occupied?Palestinian?Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal under international law.?

They undermine peace.?

They fragment land.?

They deepen mistrust.?

They threaten the viability of the two-State solution.?

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And in Jerusalem, their impact is particularly dangerous.?

Because Jerusalem is not an ordinary city.?

What happens there does not remain there.?

A provocation in Jerusalem echoes far beyond its walls.?

A restriction in Jerusalem wounds far beyond one community.?

A change to its status risks igniting tensions across the region and beyond.?

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This is why the historic and legal status quo at the Holy Sites must be preserved.?

Not weakened.?

Not reinterpreted.?

Not changed by force.?

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The sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif must be respected.?

The Christian Holy Sites must be protected.?

The rights of all religious communities must be upheld.?

Freedom of worship is not a favour.?It is a right!?

Access to holy places is not a privilege.?It is a duty to protect!?

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No worshipper should be stopped because of who they are.?

No religious leader should be prevented from fulfilling?their?sacred role.?

No community should feel that its faith is being pushed out of its own city.?

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Jerusalem’s religious character must not be used as a tool of control.?

It must remain a bridge?connecting people?from the three major faiths.?A meeting point.?A shared responsibility.?

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Yet we continue to hear of restrictions.?

Restrictions on movement.?

Restrictions on worship.?

Restrictions on access.?

Restrictions that fall heavily on Palestinian?people.?

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We also see increasing?Jewish-Israeli?settler violence.?

Violence against people.?

Violence against property.?

Violence against olive trees, churches, mosques, homes and schools.?

Violence against daily life itself.?

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This violence is not only physical.?It is?also?psychological.?

It tells families that they are not safe.?

It?warns?communities that they are not wanted.?

It tells a people that their presence is temporary.?

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But the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem is not temporary.?

It is historic.?It is rooted.?It is living.?It is legitimate.?

The people of Jerusalem are not visitors in their city.?

They are its residents.?Its guardians.?Its memory.?Its future.?

Their rights must be protected.??

Dignity must be respected.?

Resilience must be supported.?

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Ladies and gentlemen,?

The question of Jerusalem is central to the question of Palestine.?

And the question of Palestine is central to peace in the Middle East.?

There can be no just and lasting peace without Jerusalem.?

There can be no peaceful Jerusalem without justice.?

And there can be no justice while occupation, settlement expansion and displacement continue.?

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Peace cannot be built on demolitions.?

Peace cannot be built on exclusion.?

Peace cannot be built by changing facts on the ground and asking the world to accept them later.?

Peace requires courage,?law,?equality?and?respect.?

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The international community has a responsibility to keep alive the vision?and the goal?of two States, living side by side in peace and security, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine.?

This is not only a political position.?

It is a moral obligation.?

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Ladies and gentlemen,?

Today, from Cairo, we must send a clear message:?

Jerusalem must not be a city of fear.?

It must be a city of faith.?

Jerusalem must not be a symbol of dispossession.?

It must be a symbol of coexistence.?

Jerusalem must not be divided by walls of mistrust.?

It must be protected by bridges of respect.?

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Our?Committee will continue to stand for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.?

We will continue to defend international law.?

We will continue to remind the world that Jerusalem is key.?

Key to peace.?

Key to justice.?

Key to coexistence.?

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And if Jerusalem is treated with wisdom, it can still become what it was always meant to be:?

Not a frontline of conflict.?But a doorway to peace.?

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Thank you.?

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