{"id":127807,"date":"2018-02-05T14:18:51","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T14:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=127807"},"modified":"2019-02-15T15:29:22","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T20:29:22","slug":"global-consensus-on-two-state-solution-could-be-eroding-secretary-general-tells-palestinian-rights-committee-as-2018-session-opens","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/global-consensus-on-two-state-solution-could-be-eroding-secretary-general-tells-palestinian-rights-committee-as-2018-session-opens\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Consensus on Two-State Solution Could Be Eroding, Secretary-General Tells Palestinian Rights Committee, as 2018 Session Opens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
COMMITTEE ON THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE<\/strong><\/div>\n
GA\/PAL\/1402<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
5 FEBRUARY 2018<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
388TH MEETING (AM)<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n

fran\u00e7ais\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

video<\/a><\/p>\n

Global consensus on the question of Palestine could be eroding, making it more difficult to achieve concerted action at a time when it was more important than ever, Â鶹APP Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres told the Palestinian Rights Committee as it opened its 2018 session.<\/p>\n

\u201cNegative trends on the ground have the potential to create an irreversible one-State reality that is incompatible with realizing the legitimate national, historic and democratic aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ongoing settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under Â鶹APP resolutions and international law, must be halted and reversed, he said, adding that violence and incitement continued to fuel fear and mistrust.<\/p>\n

The humanitarian and economic situation in Gaza was dire, he said, expressing extreme concern over the latest shortfall in funding for the Â鶹APP Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).\u00a0 Not only was the human security, rights and dignity of 5\u00a0million Palestine refugees across the Middle East at stake, but also the stability of the entire region, he said, appealing to the generosity of the international community.<\/p>\n

Reiterating the importance of advancing Palestinian unity, he said the two-State solution was the only way to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and to secure a sustainable solution.\u00a0 \u201cThere is no Plan B,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, said his people faced an existential crisis.\u00a0 The year had begun on a demoralizing note, with reckless decisions that further denigrated Palestinians\u2019 rights and aspirations and dismissed a global consensus \u2014 based on Security Council and General Assembly resolutions \u2014 which had prevailed for decades.<\/p>\n

She said the United States decision on 6\u00a0December\u00a02017 to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move its embassy there, combined with subsequent punitive measures, had emboldened Israel\u2019s impunity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem.\u00a0 Further deterioration in the humanitarian situation loomed following the United States\u2019 decision to dramatically reduce funding for UNRWA.<\/p>\n

Underscoring the Palestinian leadership\u2019s call for a collective peace process under international auspices, with the Â鶹APP playing a central role, she said Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, would address the Security Council on 20\u00a0February.\u00a0 He would call on the Council to ensure implementation of its resolutions, salvage peace prospects, appeal for the rights of the Palestinian people, and press for a just, lasting and peaceful solution to a tragic situation, she stated.<\/p>\n

Fod\u00e9 Seck (Senegal), Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, conveyed the body\u2019s deep concern over recent measures taken by Israel, including the adoption by its Parliament of a law that would prevent future Israeli Governments from ceding any part of Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, to an independent Palestinian State.\u00a0 Illegal settlement activity meanwhile continued at a faster pace, despite Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), he said, also expressing concern over the situation in Gaza and that of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.<\/p>\n

Condemning all forms of violence and incitement to hatred and extremism, he called on the international community to pursue its long-running efforts towards inter-Palestinian reconciliation, to guarantee the financial viability of Palestinian State institutions and to strengthen the capacity of Palestinian officials to administer an independent State.<\/p>\n

He drew attention to a Security Council meeting on 18\u00a0December\u00a02017, during which most members rejected the United States decision on Jerusalem, and to the 15-nation organ\u2019s failure to adopt a resolution in that regard, owing to a veto cast by that country.\u00a0 He also recalled the General Assembly\u2019s adoption of a resolution declaring null and void any and all decisions aimed at modifying the character, status or demographic makeup of Jerusalem, and calling on all States to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in that city.<\/p>\n

He said Committee activities in the past year included missions to Mexico and the United Republic of Tanzania, discussions in Nicaragua with members of the Palestinian diaspora in Latin America, and a Headquarters forum from 28\u00a0to 29\u00a0June\u00a02017 \u2014 coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the occupation \u2014 that featured a frank exchange of views between Israelis and Palestinians, he said.<\/p>\n

At the outset, the Committee unanimously re-elected Mr. Seck (Senegal) as Chair and the following Vice-Chairs:\u00a0 Mahmoud Saikal (Afghanistan), Anayansi Rodr\u00edguez Camejo (Cuba); Dian Triansyah Djani (Indonesia); Neville Melvin Gertze (Namibia); and Mar\u00eda Rubiales de Chamorro (Nicaragua). \u00a0Carmelo Inguanez (Malta) was re-elected Rapporteur.<\/p>\n

Also today, the Committee approved its draft work programme for the 2018 session (document A\/AC.183\/2018\/L.2), which outlined such activities as a Â鶹APP forum on the question of Palestine to mark the seventieth anniversary of the 1948 war and the Nakba, to be held at Headquarters on 17 and 18 May.\u00a0 It also featured an international conference on the question of Jerusalem, in cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in Rabat in late June; and Committee visits to Latin America, the European Union and Uganda.<\/p>\n

Several representatives took the floor to express their commitment to the two-State solution and support for UNRWA.\u00a0 Some also called for the State of Palestine to be granted full membership in the Â鶹APP.<\/p>\n

Ms. Rodr\u00edguez (Cuba) said the United States decision on Jerusalem was a grave and flagrant violation of the Â鶹APP Charter and relevant resolutions.\u00a0 She also expressed concern over \u201ceconomic blackmail\u201d related to UNRWA\u2019s funding, she said, urging the Committee to act in that regard.<\/p>\n

Mr. Djani (Indonesia) emphasized the Committee\u2019s role in raising awareness among Governments and other stakeholders, saying he was worried that the Palestinian issue would be overtaken by other emerging crises.\u00a0 On UNRWA\u2019s funding, he said new ways must be found to avert further suffering among Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n

Amal Mudallali (Lebanon) said the only solution to the crisis was a comprehensive and lasting peace through the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital.\u00a0 Lebanese as well as Palestinians were very passionate about Jerusalem, she said, adding that any procrastination in resolving the question of Palestine would give rise to a vicious circle of violence.<\/p>\n

Also speaking today were representatives of Venezuela, Namibia, Nicaragua and Afghanistan, as well as of the League of Arab States.<\/p>\n

For information media. Not an official record.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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