Call for Recognition of Palestine Sounded as United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People Concludes
Source: United Nations General Assembly
Date: 25 Mar 2010
GA/PAL/1159
(Received from a UN Information Officer)
VIENNA, 25 March -- At the conclusion of the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People today, the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations called for recognition of the State of Palestine now that an ambitious programme to end the occupation in two years had been introduced.
Riyad Mansour said in closing remarks directed at Government representatives: "It is unacceptable to say all the right things while Israel continues to do the wrong things." Governments supporting a two-State solution should find practical ways to bring Israel into compliance, he said, adding that, while Palestinians were willing to participate in proximity talks, "we are not going to wait until they fail". Governments that had not yet done so should recognize the State of Palestine, and the Security Council should give Palestine its "birth certificate". After that, Palestine would apply for United Nations membership so that in 2011 it could raise its flag as the 193rd Member State.
The two-day Seminar, held under the theme "Building institutions and moving forward with establishing the State of Palestine", was organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
Zahir Tanin, Head of that Committee's delegation, noted in three plenary meetings, experts had analysed the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and made specific recommendations for the success of the ambitious new Palestinian Authority Programme -- "Palestine: Ending the occupation, establishing the State".
He also expressed appreciation for the previous day's presentation by Palestinian Authority Minister Ali Al-Jarbawi, outlining the Programme's main points. "We shall keep the focus of the international community on achieving the long-term goals for Palestinian economic and social development and, above all, achieving Palestinian statehood, in accordance with international legitimacy," he said.
During the third plenary meeting, which preceded the closing session, four experts discussed the role of the United Nations in mobilizing and coordinating international assistance to the Palestinian people.
Maxwell Gaylard, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process and United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, explained how some 20 of the Organization's agencies were working in the field. Matthias Burchard of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) highlighted that body's many accomplishments, as well as the numerous constraints it faced, in its work for refugees...READ MORE
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