{"id":212400,"date":"1999-08-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T20:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=212400"},"modified":"2019-03-12T20:25:40","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T20:25:40","slug":"auto-insert-212400","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-212400\/","title":{"rendered":"CEIRPP meeting – Press release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Committee on Inalienable Rights
\n of the Palestinian People
\n245th Meeting (AM)<\/p><\/div>\n

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PALESTINIAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE BRIEFED ON CAIRO MEETING,<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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GAZA VISIT AND OTHER RECENT ACTIVITIES<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Observer for Palestine Says Wye River Memorandum Must Be Implemented
\nIn Full and Not Renegotiated; Walter Balzan (Malta) Elected Rapporteur<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>The Wye River Memorandum on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process must be implemented in full and not renegotiated, Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Observer for Palestine, said at a  meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People this morning.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>He said the new Israeli Government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak was presenting new proposals as "small adjustments" to the Wye River Memorandum which, in fact, amounted to an abrogation of that Memorandum and of the Declaration of Principles agreed upon in 1993.  Complicating the situation was settlement activities in gross violation of relevant United  Nations resolutions and specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention.  New encampments were particularly shocking in the context of the  ongoing peace process and agreements entered into.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Also this morning, Ibra Deguène Ka  (Senegal), Chairman  of the Committee on  the  Exercise of  the Inalienable Rights of  the Palestinian  People, reported  on the United  Nations International Meeting on the Convening of the Conference on Measures to Enforce the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which took place in Cairo  on 14 and 15 June.  He also briefed the Committee on  a visit to  Gaza City, after  the meeting,  of  a  Committee  delegation.  The delegation met Palestinian officials, including Chairman Yasser Arafat.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>The Committee also heard another report by its Chairman on his participation at meetings of the Organization of the  Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Organization of  African Unity (OAU), which took place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Algiers, respectively.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Earlier, the Committee elected Walter Balzan (Malta) as its new rapporteur to replace George Saliba (Malta), who had been  reassigned by his government to Washington, D.C.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will meet again at a date to be announced.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Chairman's Report on Cairo Meeting<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal), Chairman of the Committee  on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, briefed the Committee  on the Â鶹APP International Meeting on  the Convening of the Conference on  Measures  to  Enforce  the  Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, which took place in Cairo on 14 and 15 June. He also reported on a visit to Gaza by a Committee delegation.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People  was represented by a delegation headed by its Chairman and comprising Ravan A.G. Farhâdi  (Afghanistan), Vice-Chairman of the Committee, who acted as Vice-Chairman of the Meeting;  George Saliba (Malta), Rapporteur of the Committee and Vice-Chairman and Rapporteur of the  Meeting; Moctar Ouane (Mali), who also acted as Vice-Chairman; and Nasser M. Al-Kidwa, the Observer for Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>He said the two-day meeting had concluded with  the adoption  of a Final Document in which the participants had  strongly supported the convening, at Geneva on 15 July,  of the conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention.  Concerned  about the flagrant violations by Israel of the basic human rights of the Palestinian  people and the continuing settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, the participants had  called upon the High Contracting Parties to strive for concrete results at their conference.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>In accordance with established practice, he said, a report on the International Meeting would be issued as a  publication of the Division  for Palestinian Rights.  A  summary of the proceedings would be included in the Committee's report to the  fifty-fourth General Assembly.  A copy of the Final Document had also been posted on the Internet at <\/span>http:\/\/domino.un.org\/UNISPAL.nsf<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Mr. KA said that while in Cairo, the Committee delegation visited TransCad, a company  contracted in May 1998 to modernize records of the Â鶹APP Conciliation Commission  for Palestine.  The visit enabled the delegation to acquire better understanding of the  various aspects of the project.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Following the Cairo visit, and in response to an invitation by the Palestinian Authority, a Committee delegation had visited Gaza from 16 to 18 June.  On 16 June, Sadi El  Kunnz, Minister of Industry of the Palestinian Authority and Wafeeq Abu Sido, Head of  Protocol of the Presidency, had received the delegation at the Rafah crossing in the Palestinian area of control.  On the same day, the delegation had met with Chinmaya Gharekhan, the Â鶹APP Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>On 17 June, the delegation visited some Â鶹APP Development Programme  (UNDP)  projects, as well as the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the Palestine Red Crescent Centre located near Khan Younis refugee camp.  In the evening, Chairman Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestinian Authority, hosted a dinner at his Gaza City headquarters for the delegation.  At a meeting prior to the dinner, Mr. KA said that he  and Chairman Arafat exchanged  views on the Committee's activities, including the  Cairo meeting; the latest developments in the peace process; the continuing  difficulties of the  Palestinian people; and the support extended by a great number of countries to their cause.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>NASSER AL-KIDWA, Observer for Palestine, congratulated the new  Rapporteur of the Committee, Walter Balzan, and thanked the people of Malta for their continued support for the Palestinian people.  He  described the visit  to Gaza of  the Committee delegation as  historic, adding that the Palestinian people would remain indebted  to the Committee for  the visit to Palestinian soil.  He hoped the Committee's next visit would be to an independent Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. <\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>He thanked the Egyptian authorities for hosting the important Cairo meeting.  The  convening of the Geneva meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions had not been easy, he said, adding that there was an immense campaign, including misinformation and pressure to prevent its taking place.  A statement issued after the session reaffirmed the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>He noted that it was the first time the High Contracting Parties had convened specifically on a single issue — rights of Palestinians.  It was an  extremely important  development  for Palestine and  for  international humanitarian  law.  He thanked the  Committee, the Arab Group and the Non-Aligned Countries for their important role in ensuring the convening of the Geneva meeting.  He said Palestine intended  to ensure a full  follow-up to that meeting.  It also intended to follow closely any violations of Palestinian rights by Israel.  If the situation warranted it, Palestine would request the reconvening of a meeting of the  High Contracting Parties, he added.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Report on OIC Meeting<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Mr. KA, Committee Chairman, then reported on the recent twenty-sixth Ministerial Meeting of the OIC, held at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 28 June to 3 July.  He said the  Council of Ministers had  reaffirmed  its support for the Middle East peace process and for the implementation of all the agreements signed in conformity with the commitments made at Madrid  and Oslo and with Â鶹APP resolutions.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>The Council of Ministers had requested the Security Council to reactivate the international committee to prevent the creation of settlements in Jerusalem\/Al-Quds and in the occupied Palestinian territories, he said.  It had called  for a  greater contribution  by the Â鶹APP towards a resolution of the peace process and stressed the Organization's permanent responsibility vis-a-vis the question of Palestine.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Report on OAU Meeting<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Reporting on the recent meeting of the OAU held at Algiers, from 8 July to 14 July,  the Chairman said that the OAU Secretary-General had highlighted the obstacles that had  paralysed the peace process.  The Secretary-General said that the Netanyahu Government's negative actions  and blockages had obscured all horizons for peace in Palestine, in south Lebanon and in Golan.  He hoped that the  present Government would commit itself to changing that situation by resuming the peace negotiations.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>He said that the OAU Council of Ministers and the Heads of State Summit had  adopted   a resolution requesting Israel to end immediately the confiscation of Palestinian lands,  particularly in Jerusalem\/Al-Quds, in accordance with resolutions of the Â鶹APP  Security Council and General Assembly.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>Statement by Observer for Palestine<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>NASSER AL-KIDWA, Observer for Palestine, said that  the Israeli Government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak, while claiming commitment to the Wye River Memorandum, was nevertheless proposing to forego  the third stage of Israeli redeployment in  the West Bank in  accordance with the existing agreements.  Proposals were being  presented  as  "small  adjustments", which in fact amounted to abrogation of the Memorandum and of the  Declaration  of Principles agreed upon in 1993.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>He said the Wye River Memorandum simply comprised steps to facilitate the implementation of interim agreements, including the Note on Hebron of 1997.  The previous Government had frozen negotiations before the second phase of the redeployment, involving a  shift from total Israeli control to shared control.  Prime Minister Barak wanted to avoid the third phase of the redeployment, which should be effected six weeks after resumption of the Wye River Memorandum and  which involved redeployment  from half  of the 13 per cent of territory which Israel should leave under Wye.  In reality, the Prime Minister  wanted to negate the whole concept of further redeployment and move forward to final settlement.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>That was precisely what  the Netanyahu Government had  wanted to do before signing the Wye River Memorandum by calling for accelerated negotiations on a final settlement instead of implementing the existing agreements, he said.  Mr. Barak's position was only different because he was making his proposals after Wye River.  He may try to institute a  new time-line or negotiate a new one.  It was not a rosy situation, but the Palestinian side hoped nevertheless to see a different Israeli position indicating that they were ready to implement existing agreements.  The Wye River Memorandum must be implemented in full  and must not be renegotiated either in substance or in time-line.  <\/p><\/div>\n

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\t<\/span>He said that complicating the situation were settlement building activities that  were in gross violation of relevant Â鶹APP resolutions and international law, more  specifically, the Fourth Geneva Convention.  The new settlements were particularly shocking in the context of the ongoing peace process and the agreements entered into.  As a High Contracting Party itself, such conduct on Israel's part was a matter of grave concern.  The  illegal settlement building was a negative and dangerous development.  Whether it indicated continuous and further Israeli negative positions at a further stage or was a remnant from the previous Government's momentum remained to be seen.  The Palestinian side remained open-minded and hoped that some serious progress would result, although definitely not on the basis of what Mr. Barak was proposing.<\/p><\/div>\n

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* *** *<\/p><\/div>\n

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Committee on Inalienable Rights  of the Palestinian People 245th Meeting (AM) PALESTINIAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE BRIEFED ON CAIRO MEETING, GAZA VISIT AND OTHER RECENT ACTIVITIES Observer for Palestine Says Wye River Memorandum Must Be Implemented In Full and Not Renegotiated; Walter Balzan (Malta) Elected Rapporteur The Wye River Memorandum on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process must be […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[1753],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1749],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-212400","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-ceirpp","document-subject-palestine-question","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/212400","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\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/212400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=212400"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=212400"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=212400"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=212400"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=212400"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=212400"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=212400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}