{"id":111985,"date":"2017-09-06T18:42:58","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T18:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=111985"},"modified":"2020-07-22T00:58:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T04:58:14","slug":"palestinian-rights-committee-adopts-annual-report-reviews-latest-events-while-considering-how-to-enhance-streamline-its-work","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/palestinian-rights-committee-adopts-annual-report-reviews-latest-events-while-considering-how-to-enhance-streamline-its-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian Rights Committee Adopts Annual Report, Reviews Latest Events While Considering How to Enhance, Streamline its Work – CEIRPP Press Release (GA\/PAL\/1396)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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GA\/PAL\/1396<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
6 SEPTEMBER 2017<\/span><\/div>\n
384TH MEETING (PM)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Members Worry about \u2018Shrinking\u2019 Land for Two-State Solution\u00a0as Peace Process Stalemate Continues<\/h4>\n

The Palestinian Rights Committee adopted its annual report today, for submission to the forthcoming session of the General Assembly, heard a review of the latest developments on the ground and discussed myriad ways to improve and streamline its work.<\/p>\n

Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, provided an overview of Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres\u2019 recent visit to the Middle East, noting that, in Ramallah, he had led his delegation of senior officials in a visit to a women\u2019s centre, a museum on the history of Palestine, the tomb of Palestine Liberation Organization\u00a0(PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat and the bunker where the late President of the Palestinian National Authority had spent the last two years of his working life.\u00a0 The Secretary-General had also met with Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and attended numerous meetings with civil society stakeholders on pressing issues including opportunities for youth.<\/p>\n

In the Gaza Strip, the tragic situation in the enclave had been reflected in the people\u2019s poverty and bad living conditions, he said, citing a scarcely used crossing point that resembled an airport terminal designed to serve 40,000\u00a0people daily.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a sad picture,\u201d he added, noting that the Israeli blockade had exacerbated the overall employment, housing and sanitation conditions.\u00a0 Children faced kidney-related illnesses from drinking unclean water, he said, adding that the Secretary-General had met with students who had shared presentations on their concerns.<\/p>\n

Summarizing the Secretary-General\u2019s sentiments, he said there was an expression of hope for a future in which two States could live side by side and that the occupation could end.\u00a0 The visit had also invigorated personnel of the Â鶹APP Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East\u00a0(UNRWA) and hopes for action to address the current situation, he added.<\/p>\n

Responding to a question by a representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr.\u00a0Mansour elaborated on the fragile situation in the West bank city of Hebron, where 1,000\u00a0Israeli settlers and a Palestinian population of 200,000\u00a0lived.\u00a0 Expressing concern that settlers were challenging the status quo by creating the municipal council of Al-Khalil, he pointed out that the occupying Power would not tolerate that type of civic organization in occupied East Jerusalem, where 300,000\u00a0Palestinians lived.<\/p>\n

Committee Rapporteur Carmelo Inguanez (Malta), presented the Committee\u2019s draft report (document\u00a0A\/AC.183\/2017\/CRP.2), outlining its various chapters covering developments on the ground since 5\u00a0October\u00a02016. \u00a0He said they contained a review of the situation relating to the question of Palestine, the Committee\u2019s organization of work and recent activities, including the Chairman\u2019s participation in Security Council debates. \u00a0Chapter\u00a0V informed about various international meetings and conferences organized by the Committee, including the 2017\u00a0Â鶹APP Forum to Mark 50\u00a0Years of Occupation. \u00a0Chapter\u00a0VI provided an overview of the Department of Public Information\u2019s Special Information Programme on the question of Palestine, he said. \u00a0Finally, Chapter\u00a0VII contained the conclusions and recommendations that the Committee would send to the General Assembly.<\/p>\n

Recognizing that 2017\u00a0marked 50\u00a0years of the Israeli occupation that began in\u00a01967, he urged the international community, including national Governments, parliamentarians and civil society, to redouble efforts for a negotiated peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine. \u00a0The Committee \u2014 known formally as the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People \u2014 would continue to urge the Security Council and the General Assembly to play a constructive role in ensuring full accountability and implementation of various Â鶹APP resolutions, which most recently reaffirmed the illegality of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since\u00a01967, he emphasized.\u00a0 The Committee also requested that the Secretary-General present his next report on implementation of Security Council resolution\u00a02334\u00a0(2016) in written form rather than the oral version of his first two reports. \u00a0In relation to Gaza, he said the Committee reiterated the need for the international community to demand an end to Israel\u2019s 10-year-old air, land and sea blockade of the Strip and the lifting of all closures.<\/p>\n

He went on to call upon international donors to fulfil all their pledges so as to expedite the provision of humanitarian assistance. \u00a0The Committee also emphasized the need to recognize the importance of the seventieth anniversary of the expulsion of Palestine refugees from their homeland in\u00a01948. \u00a0It recommended shifting from a humanitarian to a political and human rights framework that could take into account the legal obligations of all stakeholders, including those in the Gaza Strip. \u00a0There was essential need for a Palestinian unity government to carry out governance and security functions in Gaza and exercise control over the crossings, he said. \u00a0He underlined the responsibility of States and private entities not to contribute to grave Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.<\/p>\n

Many speakers voiced support for the aspirations of the Palestinian people and efforts to drive forward the process of ensuring a two-State solution. \u00a0Some said not enough was being done, with Rafael Dar\u00edo Ram\u00edrez Carre\u00f1o (Venezuela) stressing the need to ensure that Israel upheld the relevant Security Council resolutions. \u00a0Israeli settlements were in practice a form of colonization intended to weaken the likelihood of a two-State solution, he added.<\/p>\n

Jerry Matthews Matjila (South Africa) said it was clear from the testimony presented today that peace was moving further away. \u00a0The days marked every single year were a reminder of the torturous journey that Palestinians continued to endure, and of humankind\u2019s inability to react to the oppression that the Palestinian people suffered.\u00a0 People in South Africa had taken on the Palestinian cause \u201calmost as if it is our cause\u201d, he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m worried the ground is shrinking. \u00a0Where will they return?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaime Hermida Castillo (Nicaragua), emphasizing that the situation was getting worse by the day, called upon the Committee \u201cto pause ad recall what we are doing\u201d. \u00a0It was important to be more organized and streamlined as Palestinian people continued to struggle under injustice. \u00a0\u201cEverything that we do in this Committee must address that struggle,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Some speakers cautioned that actions, not words, were sorely needed, with Neville Melvin Gertze (Namibia) pointing out that beautiful and powerful reports often ended up unimplemented.\u00a0 He joined Alexander Temitope Adeyemi Ajayi\u00a0(Nigeria) in pledging to stand by the Palestinian people\u2019s quest to ensure respect for their rights, and to support efforts to implement the Committee\u2019s report with a view to ensuring that no one was left behind.<\/p>\n

Anayansi Rodr\u00edguez Camejo (Cuba) said that despite all efforts, \u201cwe are at a stalemate\u201d, as settlement activity, destruction and confiscation continued unchecked.<\/p>\n

Mr. Mansour expressed, in closing remarks, his clear awareness of the Committee\u2019s deep frustration, while whether asking members could imagine the frustration of millions of Palestinians, many of whom often asked him: \u00a0\u201cHave you ended the occupation?\u201d\u00a0 There was no silver bullet, but only a cumulative struggle, he said, citing ongoing peaceful demonstrations that were liberating occupied land every week.\u00a0 Such stories should inspire all, he said, emphasizing that more remained to be done, creatively and by thinking outside the box.\u00a0 \u201cWe will not stop until the occupation ends and there is a State of Palestine,\u201d he declared.\u00a0 \u201cI tell my people that this Committee is working for them.\u00a0 They love you and want to name streets after you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previewing forthcoming events, Committee Vice-Chair Mahmoud Saikal\u00a0(Afghanistan) outlined various activities including a 2\u00a0November lecture to mark the 100th\u00a0anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and its impact on the Palestinian people. \u00a0On 29\u00a0November, the Committee would convene a special meeting to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, marking\u00a02017 as the fiftieth anniversary of the military occupation and the seventieth anniversary of the General Assembly\u2019s adoption of the partition resolution. \u00a0The General Assembly was also scheduled to consider the \u201cQuestion of Palestine\u201d on that day, he added.<\/p>\n

The Committee will reconvene at a time and date to be announced.<\/p>\n

For information media. Not an official record.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

French Text<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GA\/PAL\/1396 6 SEPTEMBER 2017 384TH MEETING (PM) Members Worry about \u2018Shrinking\u2019 Land for Two-State Solution\u00a0as Peace Process Stalemate Continues The Palestinian Rights Committee adopted its annual report today, for submission to the forthcoming session of the General Assembly, heard a review of the latest developments on the ground and discussed myriad ways to improve and […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2433,1329],"document-source":[1753,1897],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2517,5358,1937,2005,4317,2013,1741,1857,2349,1805,1745,3689,2137,1917,2741],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542,6541],"class_list":["post-111985","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-french-text","document-category-press-release","document-source-ceirpp","document-source-united-nations-department-of-public-information-dpi","document-subject-access-and-movement","document-subject-ClosuresCurfewsBlockades","document-subject-economic-issues","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-governance","document-subject-hebron","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-incidents","document-subject-living-conditions","document-subject-occupation","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","document-subject-right-of-return","document-subject-settlements","document-subject-situation-in-the-opt-including-jerusalem","document-subject-statehood-related","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english","document-language-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/111985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/111985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=111985"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=111985"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=111985"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=111985"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=111985"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=111985"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=111985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}